Category: GPS Tracking System News

• September 8th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

On numerous occasions this summer, kayaks were being stolen from a local kayak rental company in Massachusetts. Despite getting creative and trying different ways to lock the kayaks up securely, they just kept disappearing.

After dozens of kayaks had been stolen, the owner became very frustrated. He decided to take control of the situation and purchased two inconspicuous GPS tracking systems. According to the Metro West Daily News, owner Michael Aghajanian said, “We tried locking things up tighter and what not but the person got into everything. I felt defeated. I’m pretty persistent so I brainstormed. I didn’t care if we lost more boats. My goal was to catch him.”

Aghajanian installed a GPS tracking system on two brand new kayaks and left them out as bait for the thief. After the GPS tracking systems were installed, the kayak thief struck again. Only this time, he ended up getting caught.

• September 2nd, 2011
• Jackson Parker

Need driving directions but don’t have an internet connection? No problem. According to recent press releases from Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) Navigon, Navigon has just launched a new GPS navigation system for mobile phones operating Windows software.

The new GPS will system can provide an excellent navigation experience, with offline mapping support. According to ZDNet, “There are times when you need to use GPS navigation without a connection and Navigon will be launching their latest software on Windows Phone soon.”

New map management and update capabilities will enable users to pre-load only portion of the maps they’ll actually use, freeing-up the space for other things. In addition, NAVIGON FreshMaps offers quarterly map updates.

• August 29th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

Did you know that if you lose your iPhone, you can easily track down its location using an app and the phone’s GPS system? There are several apps available that can help. These apps use your phone’s GPS to pinpoint its location, in some cases to within a few meters. Some of them let you remotely erase the data on a missing phone and even take a photo of a person using the phone, if it has a front-facing camera.

Find My iPhone is a free app that can locate a missing iPhone. It can be used by anyone with an iPhone 4, iPad, or 4th generation iPod touch (iOS 4.2 or later required).

• August 24th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

Yesterday firefighters found a woman and her three young children who became lost while hiking Meriden Mountain at Camp Sloper in Southington, Connecticut. The mother of three ultimately helped rescue herself and her family using the GPS tracking system on her cell phone. Good thing there’s a cell phone signal up there!

The woman and her three children, aged 6 to 9, began their hike around 6:30 p.m on Monday evening. They hiked up the mountain and became lost after stepping off the trail, according to Fire Lt. John Folcik. The woman called 911 around 8 p.m. and remained on the phone while Southington and Meriden firefighters searched for the stranded family.

• August 23rd, 2011
• Jackson Parker

In Mexico many families are constantly living under the threat of being kidnapped. It is a scary but true reality. Kidnappings are up 317 percent in the past five years, according to a recent Mexican congressional report.

Wealthy and upper class Mexicans living in fear of being kidnapped are turning to GPS tracking devices as a precautionary measure. People are spending thousands of dollars to have GPS tracking-enabled RFID chips implanted under their skin and the skin of family members.

However, scientists are claiming the tracking devices don’t work, according to The Washington Post.

The chip, implanted in the tissue between the shoulder and elbow, sends a signal to a GPS tracking device that the wearer carries. The chip relays a signal to an external Global Positioning System unit the size of a cellphone, but if the owner is stripped of the GPS device in the event of an abduction, Xega can still track down its clients by sending radio signals to the implant. The company says it has helped rescue 178 clients in the past decade

According to the Post, this claim seems very unlikely to be true.

• August 22nd, 2011
• Jackson Parker

The fight between LightSquared and the GPS industry is heating up again. LightSquared is accusing the GPS industry of failing to follow US Department of Defense (DoD) GPS filtering standards, and the GPS industry saying in return that LightSquared clearly doesn’t understand the technology it is trying to sell.

LightSquared is proposing to create a nationwide satellite-based voice and Internet data service. It received conditional approval to do so from the FCC in January as long as the company could show that its operations wouldn’t interfere with existing GPS systems, a fear expressed by GPS device manufacturers and users alike. Tests completed this spring demonstrated that GPS systems would indeed be interfered with by LightSquared proposed operations. LightSquared said in June not to worry, though, since it had developed a technical solution to the interference problem.

LightSquared asked the FCC why it needs to change its operations when the GPS interference problem clearly resides with an irresponsible GPS industry that is only interested in “squatting for free on someone else’s licensed spectrum.”