kensteele

Using this service from Sprint called family locator, it uses GPS to pinpoint the location of your PCS phone. Since I leave one phone in my car at all times, always on, hooked up to the car power adapter, the battery should last for a week easily if unattended and will ALWAYS provide the exact GPS coordinates to the network. All I have to do is go online on my laptop and perform a quick locate and a map appears (see below for both types of map examples) showing you exactly where your car is located.

Recently when I was out of town in North Carolina, my car was parked at the airport for 4 days and three times a day everyday I checked online to make sure it was still parked at the airport. If the map suddenly showed my car elsewhere, I would simply dial the police in Missouri/Kansas and tell them my car is at the intersection of 5th and Main and it shouldn't be there, go check it out.

What's also cool is this application not only works on your computer but also on your PCS phone, so you can download a Java application that shows a map with your car's location so it's pretty portable. For those times you leave your car parked in the parking lot at your friend's house or a strange hotel, etc.

Not sure if a thief will power off the phone or simply discard it (they might just use it instead) but I got a plan for that, too. I can't believe the accuracy, sometimes it is around 15 yards. Not trying to sell the service or anything but it's a start; step 1 to what I am trying to build as inexpensive protection for my car from theft and vandalism.

User 51221

that's a great find!! i wonder if other cellphone companies have that also??

jasoncd

iTrader: (2)

Very nice! I was just thinking about something like this today.

Style2k6

Verizon is working on it don't know when they will release their version. The real function for this it to keep track of your kids but I guess this works also but leaving the phone in the car all the time kind of defeats the purpose of having the phone IMO. I wonder why Lexus did not make that an option I know BMW and I believe BM have some type of tracking as an option. Also Verizon does have a nav application that you can download onto your phone and it works pretty much like the nav in your car.

TimboIS

Cool idea, but unless you wiried in your own adaptor, the cigarette adapters DO NOT supply power unless the ACC power is on.

kensteele

The key to this app and others like it is that it not only provides gps for the phone which you are using but it also will pinpoint the gps locations for other phones that you have listed on your account. You are correct the intended purpose is for family location but the key to leave "another" phone in the car, a phone besides your primary phone. The other phone acts as your gps locator beacon. A bunch of phones now run telenav and garmin apps which are gps apps with maps and directions that show you were you are now but I can now use my handset to show me where other phones are located, not just mine.

I'm don't know how BMW can do this. I don't know the BMW that well but I'm almost positive they don't have this installed in their cars.

kensteele

I start my car everyday so in just a few minutes, my phone goes fully charged and it stays that way until I shut off the car....then the phone goes on it's own battery. From that point, the battery on my phone will last a week easily. When I got back home from my 4 day trip (left the phone powered on in my car), I came back to find my battery on the Samsung still at 3/4 full.

The charge on a Sanyo phone will go two weeks on a regular battery and three weeks on an extended battery and set to sleep with no help from the car charger. these phones make perfect gps beacons, I just charge them overnight maybe once or twice a month. No car charger needed.

ULTiMaX99

iTrader: (5)

that's cool... sorta like lojack hahah

gshb

how much is the sprint service? wish verizon had this feature...

TimboIS

That's pretty good. My Sony Ericsson lasts about 4 days, 1 1/2 days if BT is active.

kensteele

$9.99 a month for up to 4 phones.

Style2k6

This is from BMW's website:
BMW Assist with Bluetooth Wireless Technology

BMW Assist is a Global Positioning System and wireless communication system for Automatic Collision Notification, Emergency Request, enhanced Roadside Assistance and Stolen Vehicle Recovery services. Bluetooth® wireless technology is standard with the BMW Assist option. For more information on BMW Assist


Mercedes also has something simular. Curious as to why Lexus did'nt make this an option

kensteele

4 days is still a long time, on a day to day basis I'm sure you can get to your phone every 4 days. CDMA phones can go into a deep sleep when they go unused or not moved, of course this long battery life is with no talk time at all.

EBMCS03

BMW doesnt have this. you can not go on the web and track your car. What BMW assist offers is basically the same as lo jack. If the car gets stolen they will turn on the system and track your car.

kensteele

Kinda like OnStar. Or maybe LoJack.

I realize Sprint didn't create GPS technology. There are creative ways of using GPS. The difference is you can check on your car from time to time all by yourself without calling for assistance. Right from your laptop or from you PCS phone. You can locate multiple targets at a time and you can place your phone wherever you want. I can put a phone in my luggage at the airport and my bag won't get "lost". If I fly to Minneapolis and my bag goes to Indianapolis, I will know. Phone also works in my other cars. The key piece that I don't think BMW has is the user-interface for the customer. Does that mean the BMW owner has to call someone to ask where their car is? If that's the case, I stand corrected, that's almost as good.

Another plus for Sprint Family Locator is the tracking where you can put in a location (Work) and a time (8am) and if your phone does not hit Work at 8am, a text message will alert you. Just set up a Safety Check for the same spot in the parking lot all night every hour and if your car misses one of the checkpoints (your car moves), you get the alert on the next hour/minute. Very cool!

So back to the car, when BMWs are stolen, most of them aren't recovered I guess. Why not? How are criminals defeating the GPS, I would like to know since it might help with this solution to know how they operate. Does the BMW GPS depend on a clear view to the (GPS) sky? The solution doesn't. If your car goes into a large parking garage, the network will use cellsite triangulation to get a fix (obviously not as good or accurate as asyn. gps) so unless your stolen car goes deep underground you can still get a general location. So does the BMW GPS depends on car battery or the ignition being on? I'll try to do some research on this, maybe Lexus should have incorporated something similar.....