GPS

In response to the Webware Challenge to make cell phones into better lifelines, many (hundreds) of people added comments and wrote to me personally to say the main solution to finding people who are lost or stranded should be better cellular phone coverage, cell phones with emergency satellite radios, or dedicated emergency locator beacons. I support all of these ideas, but as I said in a previous post, I still think we could use a "fail-safe" notification system that alerts friends, families, or authorities when a person goes missing. If a person is unable to make a call … Read more

It's a simple fact of life: Good ideas often miss something obvious that would make them great ideas. One example is GPS devices for locating lost or missing children.

Many of the tracking technologies we've seen are basically one-way systems--you stick a sensor onto a backpack or clothes, then the parent tracks it with a main unit. But why not make it work the other way around as well?

The "i-Kids" safety system promises to do just that, giving your child a device that allows them to touch a single button that alerts you to … Read more

There have been a few dozen good responses to the post I wrote about new technologies or services that could help find people who get into trouble while traveling. See A Webware challenge: Make cell phones better lifelines.

It begins with notification. You don't send out rescue parties until you know someone is lost, and my initial proposal simply allows the alarm to be raised earlier. Several people rightly commented that it would be difficult to create a "flight plan" system that people would actually use. But I will not dismiss this idea just yet; some of … Read more

Technology's anorexic trend in has claimed another victim, this one a GPS device. Taiwan's Power Digital Card claims that its "Guide Dog" is the world's thinnest navigation kit, according to Navigadget. Even if it's not, this dog still hunts. Its roster of impressive features includes a 4-inch display, built-in antenna, 3D gaming, Web browsing, e-mail and a "parking sensor," whatever that is. We can't verify all these claims, but they already had us with the 4-inch screen.

Like many Japanese and European parties that Americans have arrived woefully late to, (see also: soccer; 3G networks; Law, Jude), the personal navigation device is just now going mainstream.

Though it's obviously not the only to do so, ViaMichelin released its first personal navigation device for the North American market this week after ignoring us for six years in favor of our apparently more direction-challenged European counterparts.

Using SiRFstarIII GPS receiver technology and NAVTEQ digital map data, the X-930 model can give voice and text directions for driving in the car and walking down the street.

Weighing in at … Read more

Shortly after we got the crushing news of James Kim's death, I received an e-mail from a human resources person here at CNET. She wrote, "I would love to see a Web site dedicated to the safety of employees. Employees should be able to submit their travel routes and whereabouts. Whether it's on a road trip or visiting an apartment listed on Craigslist, providing information on where employees are and the related circumstances may be extremely helpful in the event that an emergency or dangerous situation occurs."

I forwarded this idea to several people who run … Read more

It's war out there on the open highway. And we're not talking about road rage, either. The true enemy's most feared weapon of choice (to some people, we hear) is the radar gun.

Highway patrol officers still get a good laugh at those puny radar detectors people pathetically tried to use in the '80s. But there's a new toy in town, and it's called the Inforad GPS V3. Available in Europe, as reported by Shiny Shiny, this gadget starts flashing and beeping like a banshee whenever your car approaches a speed camera.

There's just … Read more

Jaguar is the first auto manufacturer to offer its customers internet tracking of their cars. Sourcing the technology from MicroTRAKgps (a company that may one day be known more for testing the envelope of English language capitalization than for GPS technology) Jaguar will offer "JaguarWatch" as a dealer-installed accessory. It uses a combination of GPS and GSM cellular technology.

Jag owners go to a personal portal to find their car, setup alerts for keyless movement, browse its speed and location history or set a "GeoFence" which will alert them when the car leaves or enters certain … Read more

The 2007 Nissan Altima takes a step toward live traffic data for the masses as the least expensive car to offer XM NavTraffic from the factory. It's the first Nissan to offer NavTraffic though its cousin, the 2007 Infiniti G35, offers the system as well.

NavTraffic gathers traffic data from a hodgepodge of sources that vary by metro area, and the information is then beamed via XM satellite down to your car for display on its navigation screen. The quality of the info varies by market.

It's not free: First, you need to option your Altima with GPS … Read more