Mobile GPS tracking services: find employees, children, friends
May 17, 2007
The number of GPS tracking services are on the rise. From finding employess, children, friends or pets it appears that location services are creating a demand that mobile carriers are happy to meet. Keep reading for a quick roundup of what is on offer.
| Name | Available | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| uLocate/WHERE | Sprint Nextel (US) | US$2.99 per month |
| MapQuest FindMe | Sprint/Nextel/Boost (US) | US$3.99 per month with US$10.00 a month unlimited data plan, or US$5.99 for 300kb of data a month. |
| Loopt | Boost Mobile (US) | US$3 per month, pay-as-you-go |
| Buddy Beacon | Helio (US) | included in All-In Plan, starting at US$65 per month for 500 peak minutes |
| Trace a Mobile | O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile (UK) | £5 a month (~US$10) with 120 free traces a year |
| Follow Us | O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile (UK) | pay as you go, one-time £1.25 per phone, 25p per call |
Autodesk has recently announced the launch of Autodesk Insight over the Vodaphone Spain network. Autodesk Insight helps dispatchers schedule routes and find employees using a browser-based interface. The product is helpful for managing deliveries and service calls, and customers can be notified of delays.
Meanwhile, uLocate Communications gained another US$11 million in investments from international venture capital firm Venrock and returning investors GrandBanks Capital and Kodiak Venture Partners. Among other features, uLocate’s WHERE widgets give easy access to directions, weather, golf courses, roadside help, and a “brewery finder.” Like Ask Mobile GPS, ULocate only works on Sprint phones at this point. And uLocate recommends you get an unlimited mobile data plan before you get too involved in locating things.
In the UK, mobile tracking services such as Follow Us and Trace a Mobile help subscribers keep a handle on children and elderly relatives, as long as they are carrying a registered mobile phone. In Sweden, Petlink Development helps find lost dogs through SMS.
In the US, however, similar mobile tracking services are harder to find, since most carriers disable GPS on their phones. And there are privacy concerns. Even child-oriented kajeet doesn’t enable parents to track their children. And friend finders such as StreetHive, Mologogo, Buddy Beacon and Loopt let subscribers control who they give their location to.
Entry Filed under: autodesk, boost mobile, buddy beacon, follow us, kajeet, loopt, mobile advertising, mologogo, orange, petlink, sprint, streethive, t-mobile, trace a mobile, ulocate, vodafone. .
1. Interview: Andrew Grill, GM Sales and Marketing of Seeker Wireless on location based services « inbabble.com | July 20, 2007 at 10:42 am
[...] my question to Andrew was: There are a few location awareness services available now. Can you provide a couple of examples (get out your crystal ball!) of where you think these may end [...]
2. Noemi Pinero | June 29, 2008 at 1:46 am
Do you have a system that would allow me to track my
75 year old dad’s whereabouts? He is suffering from mild
dimentia and is extremely forgetful. He refuses to carry a
cell phone (can’t figure it out). I was wondering if you have
a device that I could install in his truck that could inform me
of his location/whereabouts….as I am very afraid that one day
he might not remember how to get back home. Does your
company have this type of technology and does it even
exist? Please let me know…..anxiously awaiting a response.
Sincerely,
Noemi Pinero
Concerned daughter, Miami Florida
3. Ken Walker | August 7, 2008 at 8:24 pm
In responce to Noemi Pinero, yes there is something out there like that, “TRAVELER-TRACK”. Check out the website for full details. We have the devices and the ability to do realtime tracking with updates every two seconds – unlimited for an unbelievably low price compared to our competitors! We truely do “realtime” tracking while others do “locates”. The big difference is: with locating services, they do just that – not good when you have someone or a vehicle thats on the move. Realtime tracking services will actually follow the device no matter where it goes and delivery its location updates as frequently as every two seconds as stated above on a Streets and Cities map.
4. alexey | August 28, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I recommend you to try http://gps-trace.com – free personal online monitoring service. With it you can track and locate old and young members of your family.
It is free for use, this means you do not need to pay if you are not using it. And it allows to send up to three SMS per day that are used to activate/locate tracking device or for delivering notification about some event to your phone (like geofence, speed limit, alarm button, etc).
It contains large amount of features, see http://www.gps-trace.com/?page=orange for their listing.