911 is a number no one in the U.S. ever wants to call, but in the case that you do, you want emergency responders to get to your location as fast as humanly possible. When you currently call 911, your wireless carrier sends your location info to the 911 dispatcher so they know where to send help. Google's recently been testing a system of its own to handle this process, and it has the potential to be considerably more accurate.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Google ran tests of its system on Android phones in December and January for residents of Florida, Tennesse, and Texas. During these tests, Google's system proved to be more accurate than that of the carriers' 80% of the time.
How much better is Google's system? When a carrier sends your location data to a dispatcher, it's typically within a radius of 522 feet from where you're actually at. With the system Google trialed, it was accurate within 121 feet. Along with the higher accuracy, Google's system was also able to send the location info faster than carriers could.
This new tech will be showcased at a conference later in the week, and assuming everything goes well, Google plans on expanding it to all Android devices at some point in 2018.
While this may not be as exciting as some of the stuff that's in store for Android P, it's an important feature that I'm more than happy to see Google working on.
Verizon Prepaid gets affordable $30/month plan and 3G mobile hotspot
