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Broke your ankle somewhere in Manitoba’s vast wilderness? Crashed your car on the highway somewhere outside Toronto? With location technology startup What3words, Canadians now have a new way to tell emergency responders exactly where they are — even if they don’t know themselves. And some emergency services in Los Angeles and Arizona have embraced the technology, too.

What3words’ approach is emblematic of just how profoundly smartphones can change our lives. Latitude-longitude coordinates have been around for centuries, but they’re difficult to use, even with GPS satellites whizzing by overhead to pinpoint location…