GPS Tracking Systems » GPS tracking cell phones

84% of survey respondents want child tracking service

Rich — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:13:58 +0000

Tele Atlas, the road navigation data company being bought by TomTom, has published the results of a wireless GPS survey. Among other findings the study reports that:

84 percent of respondents expressed interest in “child locator” services that would show a detailed route to where their child is currently, and 47 percent expressed interest in “friend locator” services.

A healthy willingness for subscribers to pay for such services: Approximately 74 percent of respondents with a minor child indicated an acceptance of monthly fees for “child locator” offerings, and nearly 40 percent of respondents indicated wiliness to pay for “friend locator” offerings. Of note, respondents expressed heightened interest for such offerings if provided via ad-sponsored models.

GPS Business News points out the great discrepancy between what people say and what they do, noting that the adoption rate for child tracking services is very low, despite the availability of such offerings.

DIY anti-theft tracking for your car

Rich — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:05:34 +0000

This is just cellular (not GPS) tracking, but it is a way cool and super-cheap way to make an anti-theft tracking device for your car. Basically, you record the phone’s international mobile equipment identification (IMEI) number, connect the phone to your car’s battery and set it to auto answer. Check out the video. You won’t believe how simple this.

TeleNav Track review

Rich — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:20:35 +0000

It’s not often that we see a full and detailed review of a GPS fleet tracking service, but that’s exactly what CIO has posted — a four-part review of TeleNav Track. They didn’t find much not to like about it either, other than the limited number of phones supported (the service is currently only offered on AT&T and Sprint/Nextel phones).

TeleNav Track is available in several packages according to a business’s needs, and at various pricing levels. TeleNav Track features include GPS navigation and wireless forms, dispatching and barcode scanning.

Related posts:

AmberWatch Mobile GPS tracking service

Rich — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:47:28 +0000

The nonprofit AmberWatch Foundation has announced the new AmberWatch Mobile GPS tracking service for cell phones, designed to help protect children from sexual predators and other risks.

Scheduled to become available beginning in September 2007, AmberWatch Mobile’s services will include text-message, voice, web and email alerting systems that provide:

Alerts: Individuals will be able to send alerts, which include their GPS location, to family and friends to indicate that they need assistance.
Location Views: Select family and friends who will be able to view a loved one’s location on a map from a PC or mobile phone.
Scheduled Checks: Parents will be able to set up “scheduled checks” so they will be automatically notified that their children are where they should be, like arriving at home from school.
Phone Tree: When a loved one feels threatened and sends an alert, if their primary contact is not reachable, the system will continue to be active until a secondary contact is reached.

Approximately half of the proceeds from product sales go to the Foundation in support of its programs educating children and their parents on how to stay safe from sexual predators.

GPS tracking of school buses

Rich — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 23:59:41 +0000

WXIA-TV in Atlanta reports on GPS tracking of school buses. The tracking, done via Sprint Nextel cell phones, has seen costs plummet recently:

“This technology was something that used to be 1500-2000 dollars per bus and that information was not real time,” reveals Robert Lacey, Sprint/Nextel education account manager.

“With technology it brings it down to anywhere from $200 to $300 dollars per bus for the hardware. And, $1.00 to $1.50 a day for service fee.

Technorati tags: GPS tracking GPS tracking of school buses

GPS cell phone tracking meets social networking

Rich — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:55:50 +0000

Earlier this week, Loopt announced a partnership with Sprint Nextel’s Boost Mobile to offer a social networking service on GPS cell phones. According to the companies, this is:

…the first-of-a-kind location-based social mapping service that enables young mobile phone users to share their location, status messages, photos and other on-the-go experiences with friends from their Boost Mobile phone. Unlike other social location services, Boost loopt, available to all Boost users on November 20, automatically updates the location of everyone in a private network of Boost customers and displays that information directly on a map on the phone. Boost loopt even sends an alert when a friend in the network is near, putting an end to missed connections in the mall, at the movies or around town.

Technorati tags: GPS tracking

GPS cell phone tracking and privacy

Rich — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 00:40:34 +0000

A British site, the Guardian Unlimited, has a good story on GPS cell phone tracking. Would you willingly trade your right to privacy for convenience? Tim Hibbard thinks so. He predicts that “convenience will rule:”

People are very willing to give up their privacy… You just have to give them a good reason to do so. If you can assist a person in their everyday life, they will be more than happy to divulge their current location. For example, you can synchronise your calendar with your GPS device and be alerted when you need to leave for an appointment, following a route that’s been automatically generated based on real-time traffic conditions. Or you can be alerted when you are six blocks from a store that contains an item that is on your online shopping list.

Technorati tags: GPS tracking

GPS tracking teens by cellphone

Rich — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 22:04:31 +0000

Here’s an article in the Lawrence Journal-World about GPS tracking of teens by cellphone. The article begins:

Nat Caron, like more than half of today’s teens, carries a cell phone.

The 15-year-old keeps a tiny, silver phone in his pocket to keep in touch with friends. But he’d gladly give up the device if he knew his parents could use it to track where he was at every second.

“That’s creepy,” he says. “We should have freedom.”

With Global Positioning System technology booming around the world, several cell phone companies have begun offering services that allow parents to locate their children’s cell phone locations through their own cell phones or by logging onto a Web site.

Depending on who you are, the technology might be a safety feature and way to keep your family connected, or an invasion of privacy designed to control children.

Technorati tagsGPS tracking, GPS tracking teens