Inilex one-ups LoJack for GPS car security [Video]
There's a new GPS car security player in town. Inilex lets you check out what's going on with your car from the Web, as well as letting you secure it using your mobile phone.
Announced today at Demo 07, security company Inilex is launching its own GPS car security system. Like competitor Lo Jack's early warning system, Inilex has a GPS hardware unit that's installed in your vehicle and alerts you if your car is moving when you're not in it. The unit also lets you know how fast your car is going. You can secure your vehicle via phone or a Web-based interface. What's really cool is that Inilex has created a way to make your own perimeters called "geo fences." Going outside of or (in some cases) entering these virtual perimeters will automatically alert you by cell phone or e-mail.
Inilex is marketing geo fences as a good way to keep track of teen-age drivers. Maybe a better use for geo fences is leaving your car with a valet. Everybody wants to avoid getting a valet attendant like the one from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but there's no way to be sure. Setting a half mile QuickFence around your location is a smart way to keep your car close by or at least let you know when it's clearly being used inappropriately. QuickFences can be set using your cell phone, and you can automatically set a radius around your car's present location.
Inilex's Web-based interface allows you to view and set your security options in real time. You can see where the car is, and you can set up customized geo fences on a map. The more expensive Inilex package even lets you start your car and toggle the door locks.
I would have liked to have an Inilex system in my car when it got stolen a couple weeks ago, and I think most vehicle owners would too. Inilex seems geared toward the luxury crowd at a bit more than $1,000, with a monthly service fee after the first year. It's cool being able to check up on your car over the Web, and the uses for this on the business side, especially for tracking and securing service vehicles like taxis, is just plain smart. If Inilex could team up with Dash and other traffic monitoring systems, having GPS in your car could help others too. Previous GPS stalking tracking coverage here.