AT&T is now offering a new tracking service called FamilyMaps that allows people to track the location of any cell phone on AT&T’s network from a mobile phone or PC.
The person being tracked receives a text message informing him or her that he or she is being watched. Multiple messages are sent, just in case one text message reminder wasn’t enough.
Users can either track someone in real time by viewing the location on a map or they can set up the service to send them text message alerts or e-mails with location information.
Users can only track phones that are part of their family plans. This means that stalkers looking to keep tabs on their old flames won’t simply be able to type in their ex-lover’s phone numbers and start tracking, explains C/Net.
The service uses satellite GPS technology and cell tower triangulation to pin-point the location of the phone. The service is not supported on prepaid or AT&T Go Phones. It costs $9.99 for two phones and $14.99 for up to five phones.
Location-based services are expected to generate a lot of money for carriers in the future, says C/Net.
Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel have each been offering “tracking” services for more than a year.
- Sprint’s Family Locator has lowered the price of its service from about $10 a month to $5 a month. Its location accuracy is anywhere between a few yards and a few hundred yards. Nextel’s Mobile Locator costs $15.00/month, with Text Messaging – $20.00/month.
- Verizon’s Chaperone costs $9.99/month. You can locate your child’s phone with the Chaperone Parent application and press a button to get turn-by-turn directions with VZ Navigator.
- Alltel Family Finder costs $9.99 per child phone.
- Wherify’s Child Locator is designed specifically for children and seniors. The $179 device is worn on the wrist like a watch and costs $20-$50/month.
But free applications like Loopt are now available. They let users visualize one another using their cell phones as well as share information. Loopt is available on Boost Mobile, Sprint Nextel, Verizon, AT&T, MetroPCS, select BlackBerry devices, the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1.
Other services, include FourSquare, Whrrl, and Brightkite, Shizzow and Don Park’s Ice Condor.
What makes “free” tracking services different from the fee-based services offered by cellular providers? With cellular-provided tracking services, the person being tracked doesn’t need to run an application on their phone. Free services also let the person being tracked turn it off.
Friends on Fire is a recent Facebook app from Yahoo. It was built by Yahoo’s Fire Eagle, the service Yahoo launched last year to manage location data. You can update your location through Fire Eagle through GPS, Wi-Fi triangulation, etc.), then Yahoo sends the information out to the networks you belong to that work with Fire Eagle.
Google Latitude lets users share their locations and is built into Google Maps for Mobile and iGoogle, which lets users create a customized home page.
Geofencing is used to detect when a device enters or exits a specified area and generates a notification. It’s used for tracking children, vehicles and wildlife.
Fierce Wireless says their Top 5 Free Android Apps are; Beetaun (a recommendation engine, offering suggestions from trusted friends and contacts), BreadCrumbz (exploits Android’s GPS, Google Maps, camera and microphone to enable users to create first-person travelogues complete with annotated photos and spoken narration), chompSMS (messaging with an iPhone-like onscreen keyboard, signatures, chat-style bubbles), Locale (determines location, automatically changing the device profile accordingly), and TuneWikix (delivers karaoke-like lyrics synchronized with audio and video playback along with social networking).
Travelbygps, Mapping Hacks, O’reilly Geo and Planet.osgeo have more.
