Category: GPS Tracking

GPS Tracking Systems For All Facets of Life

If you have ended up going out and buying your own personal GPS tracking device you are going to come to a point when you are going to begin to need to get your tracking house in order. You will be flooded with a mountain of data about the location of the person, pet, or asset that you are tracking and you are going to need to turn all that data into meaningful information. Your device is going to need to fit inside of a meaningful system of interpretation.

Fortunately, most GPS tracking devices already come with a built in system that will help you analyze the raw data captured by your GPS. A car tracking system will put the data on a GoogleMap like interface and so will a covert personal tracking system. If you are using a fitness GPS tracking system like the Garmin Forerunner 405 or Edge 705 then this too will come with software that will help you turn the raw data of your workout into something that you can actually do something with.

And this brings us to a very interesting thing about GPS tracking, there is a system for tracking almost every aspect of our lives. You can track yourself when you are driving, working out, playing with your pets, or working and you can do the same for any other person that you love including your spouse or your children. With all this GPS tracking going on, it is no wonder that we have a hard time keeping it all straight in our heads.

So in order to help us all get a better understanding of the GPS tracking systems out there here is a list of the different types of systems:

GPS Car Tracking System

There are two different types of GPS car tracking systems. One system works in real time and transfers information from the tracking device via GPRS to a server where you can access the information once it has been filtered through a GPS tracking software package. The second type of car tracking system involves the device simply recording the location data. The user will then have to retrieve the device and manually download the coordinates from the device to a personal computer that has GPS tracking software installed.

Each system is going to have its benefits and draw backs. For starters, real time GPS vehicle tracking systems are extremely powerful and can provide actionable information for a person tracking a car or other type of vehicle. If you need to know where something is right now so that you can route a company vehicle or to get your teenager help then you need real time tracking. But there is a serious drawback with this type of tracking system – it costs a lot of money.

Not only do you have to buy the hardware for this system, which can be pretty expensive as far as GPS devices go, but you also have to pay for a tracking software and data transfer system. This can be as little as a monthly cell phone bill to hundreds of dollars per month. But for the people that need this type of tracking service is there is nothing better.

Another potential drawback to this system is that the battery life of these devices can be severely impaired by constant communication with the tracking servers. Sending messages via GPRS while constantly computing position information from the GPS satellites orbiting the earth is not conducive to long battery life. Even devices that transmit data every 5-10 seconds can only last several hours under these conditions.

The data logging GPS tracking system is different. It often can provide continuous GPS tracking for long periods of time, dwarfing the battery life of a real time tracking device. These devices are also relatively inexpensive – costing under $200 for some makes and models. This makes GPS tracking an option for many more people who could benefit from this type of service. It is also great for tracking something covertly since you won’t have to go and replace the batteries in the device very often.

The downsides of this device is that you have to wait until you recover the device to get any of the information recorded by it. If you are trying to monitor a teen driver this simply won’t be a practical car GPS tracking system for you. You might wait weeks before finding out that they went 60 mph in a 35 mph zone and that type of activity has to be punished immediately.

However, there are plenty of applications for both GPS car tracking systems that will inevitably make them both viable candidates for a variety of tasks involving tracking with GPS.

GPS Child Tracking System

Almost all useful GPS child tracking systems are going to be in real time or, at the very least, on demand. These might be a kids GPS watch, a piece of clothing that has a GPS device installed, or a stand alone device like the AmberAlert GPS. The way these work is that you install the device on your child. The tracking company then makes the devices location available via the Internet of mobile phone.

If you are at work you can check up on your child’s location. If your child doesn’t come home from school on time you can check on their location. Pretty much anytime that you are interested in know where your child is or you are concerned about their safety you can check up on them.

Many child tracking systems are going to employ GPRS. GPRS is a cell phone technology that allows for the transmission of information wirelessly. Some devices will even use GPRS to determine the devices location, making it a GPRS tracking system.

GPS Fitness Tracking System

Still another tracking system that can be used by a person is a fitness GPS tracking system. One might use a specialized fitness device like a Garmin Forerunner 405 to gather information on a workout or training session. The GPS, often in conjunction with a heart rate monitor, will record all sorts of useful things and then once it is downloaded onto a computer turn that hard data into something extremely useful for serious athletes. They will be able to see graphs, charts, and maps of their workouts – interacting with their bodies in a way that they never would have been able to without a GPS.

The vast majority of fitness GPS devices are not real time trackers. Instead, they are simply data loggers. If you think about, there is really very little reason for a fitness device to provide tracking in real time since the person wanting to see the information would be outside doing the exercise. It would kind of defeat the purpose of the tracking.

GPS Dog Tracking System

The final system that we are going to cover today is going to be dog GPS tracking systems. If you were unaware that you can track a pet with GPS then now you know that it is possible. In fact, Zoombak, a prominent dealer in personal GPS tracking devices, has re-purposed their device for the express purpose of serving as a dog tracker.

When you think about this, it makes a lot of sense. Dogs tend to wander around, and if you live on a lot of land or in an area without a lot of private fences then your dog can really wander far away. This can be very alarming for children and people who have a dear attachment to their pet. Companies have realized this and made pet GPS tracking systems a reality.

There is nothing particularly special about these devices other than you can do everything that you could do with a person with a pet. Almost all pet trackers are real time GPS tracking device since it really doesn’t do you much good to know where a pet has been once you know where they are right now.

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GPS tracking systems are only going to be expanding in our lives. It is time we got used to the idea of using GPS for all of these various activities and got along trying to figure out what is the best use this tracking capabilities and how we can make society better with them in place.

Different Types of Portable GPS Devices

Being able to find a portable GPS solution for your GPS tracking needs is going to be very easy. There are literally hundreds of units available to the person who is willing to keep their options open. You can find old GPS units that are not as powerful but are much, much cheaper or you can go with the top of the line in the GPS category of your choice and get the latest in functionality, but you are going to have to pay a premium for it.

Your search for a portable GPS might leave you a little bewildered when it comes to all the different choices available to you. Which unit should you buy? Will it meet your needs? Is there a better or a cheaper or a more useful GPS out there? Hopefully this article will provide information to help the person searching for the right GPS for them find it. Below is a list of a variety of different GPS devices that can be very portable and easy to use:

Navigation GPS

Garmin Nuvi 760 Portable GPS

Most people know about GPS because of the navigation models that have flooded the market. The earliest models were once hundreds of dollars, but now you can buy a navigation GPS for under $50. This type of device is going to be used mainly inside of a car, truck, or van and is going to be used to help a person get from point A to point B. Modern portable navigation GPS have a variety of different features including Bluetooth compatibility, real time traffic updates, weather announcements, text-to-speech turn-by-turn directions, and a few others. These add a little bit to the experience of users, but when it comes down to it these GPS devices are really just beautiful portable maps.

Marine GPS

Marine GPS, as you might have guessed, are meant to be used on the water. They provide fisherman, boaters, and other aquatic aficionados access to important location information that we once turned to the stars to establish. With a good chart plotter you can find your way back to your favorite ocean fishing spot, a really nice beach, or a hidden island somewhere off the coast. These devices are surprisingly affordable and if you already own a boat you are probably going to be rich enough to buy one of these portable GPS units.

The maps on these units is much like a navigation GPS except they might not have the same types of features as these navigational cousins have. What traffic is there on the open seas? What good is Bluetooth going to do you out on the ocean? That is why these devices generally ignore these features. But what you will get is a great GPS that is going to help you move about the water with confidence that you are heading toward your destination.

Geocaching GPS

Garmin eTrex Geocaching Portable GPSGeocaching is a sport, or a hobby depending on who you talk to, that is very similar to a treasure hunt. How it works is that a person hides an object somewhere in the world. They then post the GPS coordinates of where they hid the item on a website like http://www.geocaching.com. Any person can then go on this website and jot down the coordinates of the treasure, or cache as it is called in the geocaching world. The person then goes to that cache using portable, hand-held GPS device like the Garmin eTrex H. Once they find it they take whatever treasure was hidden inside and then replace it with a treasure of their own.

Geocaching is great for kids, hikers, and people who need a little motivation to get outside and get moving. Most caches are going to require that you use your brains and muscles together, making this a great sport for people who like to be active but also enjoy a mental challenge as well.

Golf GPS

A golf GPS is a portable GPS device that is going to help golfers get a better understanding of where they are on a golf course at any given point in time.  They act as expert caddies that know the distance from any spot on the course to the hole, and with GPS helping out they are even more accurate than the best golfer around.  These devices can be pretty expensive, but a golf GPS is a must have for a golfer who has trouble choosing the right club for the shot or who is constantly traveling to new courses.  The Garmin Approach G5 is probably the best golf tracking GPS out there, but there are a few free applications available for the iPhone and Blackberry mobile phones.  All of these are extremely portable and extremely useful for the golfer.

Fitness GPS

Garmin Forerunner 310 xt Portable Fitness GPSFitness GPS are meant to be portable by their very nature.  What good is a fitness GPS going to be if you can’t take it out with you and a run or on a bike ride?  Not very much.  As a result manufacturers make these devices small and highly mobile.  Some of the best fitness GPS equipment comes in the form of a wrist watch, the Garmin Forerunner series.  There are also GPS devices for cyclists, kayakers, and swimmers – giving them all a very technical look at their workouts.

These devices are really great because they help athletes improve their performance by being able to gather accurate and robust data on their workouts.  They can then use this data to improve their routines and concentrate on parts of them where they need the most work.

While not everyone is going to need to buy a fitness GPS watch, everyone would benefit from these powerful training aids.

Covert GPS Tracking

Another form of portable GPS devices are covert GPS tracking devices.  These units are designed to provide tracking information on a person or asset.  They are often installed covertly so that the person or assets doesn’t know about their presence.  These are often installed on cars to track them, but they can also be installed in boxes, bags, backpacks, or even clothes.  They can even be small enough to be comparable to a a USB memory stick!

The thing about covert GPS tracking device is that they are not going to be cheap, especially if you get one that has real time tracking capabilities.  If you just want a plain old vanilla data logger then you can find one for under $200.  If you want a real time tracker that has any type of battery life then you are going to have to drop a pretty hefty sum on it.  In addition to that you are going to need to pay for the tracking service and access to the GPS tracking software, which is probably going to run your anywhere from $15-$50 a month.

Car Tracking GPS

Car GPS tracking is a lot like covert tracking except that you don’t care if the person driving the car knows you are tracking them.  This is great for helping a teen driver drive safely or for recovering a stolen vehicle.  If you are going to be using the portable car tracking device to help your teen drive better than it is highly recommended that you discuss this with them and give them all the help and information they need to know to be a good driver.  No amount of GPS tracking is going to be able to make them a good driver unless they know some of the basic skills that make up a good driver.  For that they need a parent.

Theft recover GPS tracking is another use of car tracking GPS.  While these devices can easily be blocked using a GPS tracking blocker, these devices are still relatively useful in because they do have a very high recovery rate.  If your car gets stolen all you need to do is log on to your GPS tracking software service and you will be shown the exact location of your car in real time.  This makes it very easy for the police to use to find your vehicle and make an arrest.

Fleet Tracking GPS

Finally, the last category of portable GPS devices is the fleet tracking GPS.  These units are made specifically for businesses that need a better way to manage, dispatch, and protect their vehicle fleets.  Most consumers are not going to need this level of tracking so you probably won’t need to know too much about this type of tracking service.  What you do need to know is that these devices are extremely expensive but often have wonderful results for businesses that employ them.

I mean, just think about how useful it would be to be able to route, give directions, and monitor your vehicles with the assistance of portable GPS devices.  The ease of it would be ridiculous.  Generally speaking, small businesses have more success with the use of fleet tracking GPS than larger fleets – but almost universally there is an improvement when this technology is employed.

Which Portable GPS Do You Need?

As you can clearly see from the above analysis, there are three different types of portable GPS units. There is the unit that works like a mobile map. This GPS device is going to use the data it gathers from the Global Positioning System in conjunction with some mapping data already installed on the device. The coordinates that the GPS calculates via trilateration are placed somewhere on the mapping application and then displayed for the user to see. The navigation, marine, golf, and geocaching GPS all fall into this category.

They generally have rich displays that provide a lot of information to their users. Usability and intuitive interfaces are among the top priority for these devices, and that means they need to have a reliable connection to a GPS signal, bright, readable screens, and an easy way to navigate about the menus. Major names in these niches include Garmin, TomTom, Magellan, Lowrance, and Navigon.

The second category of portable GPS devices that we see in the list above is passive GPS tracking devices. This is the type of unit that does not have a digital map display but instead keeps a log of the GPS coordinates of where the device has been. This log is taken passively and is to be downloaded later for interaction with a secondary GPS software package. This software will interpret the information gathered by the tracking device and then spit it all back out in a way that is useful and makes sense to the user.

This type of device can be found in the fitness GPS and covert GPS tracking categories. Items like the Garmin Forerunner 405, Garmin Edge 705, and the TrackStick all fall inside this grouping. While both the Forerunner 405 and Edge 705 have a graphic display, this serves more of a fitness function than a GPS function. Things like speed and distance traveled are displayed rather than their position in the grander scheme of things. In order to get that type of information you have to download your workout history and run it through a GPS software to see where your workout took you.

The TrackStick has no graphic display whatsoever and is purely a passive tracking device. All you do with this GPS tracker is turn it on, place it where you want it to be, and let it do the tracking for you. When the battery runs out or when you no longer want to track that particular person or object you just remove the device and download the data. Your GPS tracking software will then interpret the data and put it on a map for you – but this map is going to be on your personal computer rather than on the portable GPS tracking device itself.

And finally, the last category of portable GPS devices are real time GPS tracking units. This set of devices differs from passive GPS trackers in that the information gathered by the device is communicated in real time to the GPS tracking software. You don’t have to wait to download the tracking log from the device as it sends out the data actively at set intervals.

These real time GPS tracking devices use a system know as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) that is part of modern cell phone networks. It is the means by which this information is communicated to the GPS tracking software. If the GPS is unable to connect to a network where it can transmit the data you cannot get real time tracking with these devices.

As you can clearly see, the number of portable GPS units is astounding. Depending upon what GPS niche you are looking to get a device in will impact your level of choice significantly. There are some brand names that span many different categories, which the GPS giant Garmin being the dominate force in many categories, but there is no one clear leader in all fields of GPS devices. Be sure to read up and get informed about any particular device you are thinking about buying. While all of them are going to be using GPS to do what they do, not all portable GPS devices are equal.

4 Types of Tracking Devices Explained

When you think about tracking devices these days your mind will automatically go to toward thinking about GPS. Our culture has enough exposure through experience, news shows like 60 Minutes, and crime show dramas that GPS tracking can be incredibly useful for law enforcement purposes. But we are also beginning to realize that the ability to have tracking devices on our person at all times is also a desirable condition. We think of how useful it would be to attach a GPS watch to an Alzheimer’s patient so that if they wander off they can be easily located by their family. Or we might see how beneficial it might be to be able to monitor our teen’s driving while they are out on the road using the family car. We may even see how easily a tracking unit could help us make a decision about whether or not a spouse is cheating on us, the location information provided by a data logging GPS confirming our suspicions about their fidelity.

With all this utility staring us in the face it is no wonder that we are becoming a GPS-centric society. New devices and new ways to track things are being introduced at an ever increasing pace. Tracking technology still has a long way to go, and as our ability to make more powerful satellites, more accurate time pieces, and more sensitive GPS receivers continues to grow our ability to do more with tracking devices will increase. As this happens, more and more of our tracking dreams will become a reality.

In the mean time, lets take a look at the current state of tracking devices to help us get an idea of what is possible and where things might end up going to.

Cell Phone Tracking Devices

iPhone GPS Tracking

The first tracking device that most people are going to recognize is the cell phone. This is probably the most widely used tracking device today but very few people actually realize that there cell phone can be used to track their movements. All a cell phone needs is a signal from a cell phone tower and to be turned on for it to be one of the most powerful tracking devices on the market.

The way this particular device works is going to depend on your cell phone make and on the provider that you use, but you can summarize how each works by bringing up the principle of trilateration. How this works is that the cell phone does some fancy math to determine its location based upon the know location of either a cell phone tower or a GPS satellite, telling the mobile phone exactly where it is at any given moment in time. (I have explained this concept in my post about how GPS tracking watches work, so you can see that article if you want a more in depth explanation.)

This has obvious implications as a personal tracking device. Since most people use cell phones in some capacity almost everyone is going to be able to be tracked in this way. Now some phones and phone service providers like to make the tracking function of their phones widely know – for example the iPhone, Blackberry, and other smartphones will shout this information from the top of their lungs – but there are a lot of other phones that offer this functionality that can be used as tracking devices on a consumer level. The reason that I say on the consumer level is that the police and other first responders have the ability to track cell phones of all varieties, thanks in part to a 2005 law requiring this functionality for emergency response purposes.

Some mobile providers will offer consumer grade tracking on their phones as part of a family tracking plan. I have seen rates for this starting at $5 a month – which is really inexpensive for those who already have the data plan that these programs often require. But there are also ways to get GPS tracking on your cell phone for free. I have compiled a list of free GPS applications for cell phones, but these services are generally restricted to certain phones and require that you have a robust data plan to take full advantage of their functionality. They are extremely powerful and cheap, but even cheap GPS tracking can be expensive if you can’t afford a data plan for your phone.

Vehicle Tracking Devices

Another type of tracking device that people are going to think about are vehicle tracking devices. These are really commercial grade trackers that offer a whole host of important fleet management features for businesses and corporations. Some of the better devices can do much more than simply track the movements of a vehicle. They can:

  • Give directions to a driver, making routing and other business related activities much easier and much more efficient.
  • Monitor important vehicle metrics like speed and direction as well as other vehicle performance indicators like the ease of stops and starts.
  • Cute an idling engine that has been running too long.
  • Turn off vehicle lights that have been left on by a driver.
  • Give GPS coordinates to the authorities in case of a theft or medical emergency.
  • Serve as an electronic and positional time card, helping workers work harder while on the clock.

The thing about vehicle tracking systems is that they are anything but cheap. The tracking device itself will run you several hundred dollars depending on the level of functionality that you want the device to have.  GPS bus tracking devices are going to be different than GPS fleet tracking devices because they will do different things. They will therefore have different costs associated with them.

Another things about vehicle tracking that is going to raise the price a bit is paying for the tracking service with your provider. This can range from tens of dollars per unit to hundreds of dollars per unit. Most companies are going to give you a reduced price for each unit you track, but there is little you can do to reduce costs here expect for try and find a free GPS tracking software package. These do exist, but instead of money you will have to invest time to get the system to work just like you want it. For some individuals it is just going to better to go with a paid tracking service.

Car Tracking Devices

Very similar to vehicle tracking devices, car tracking devices are used track a car or vehicle but they often lack some of the functionality that the more commercial grade vehicle trackers might have. For example, a car tracker usually doesn’t have the ability to lock and unlock doors, cut the engine, or notify a driver if they are idling too long. A vehicle tracker does this because that is the market it is catered to (businesses with fleets of vehicles it wants to monitor) while car trackers appeal to individuals who want to see where their car is or to recover a stolen vehicle. In the world of GPS car tracking, there are two main uses: to monitor an individual’s activity or to recover a stolen vehicle.

There are a few different reasons why a person might want to install a GPS tracking device inside of a car for the purpose of people monitoring. One reason is that the person might be a suspect in an ongoing police investigation and the police want to monitor their activity without the cost associated with physical surveillance. Using GPS is a lot more cost effective, and as long as a warrant has been obtained, they can track an individual for as long as the court deems appropriate.

Zoombak GPS Tracker

Another reason might be to keep track of a teen’s driving habits. By installing a GPS device in their car you can get a lot of information about how they drive, where they drive, and when they drive. This can be used to enforce family driving rules and create a safe environment for them to drive in. Teen drivers have one of the highest incidents of fatal car crashes of the age groups recorded by insurance companies, so finding a way to help them drive safely should be the top priority of any parent. For some, this means using a GPS tracking device as an aid.

Still another reason to install a car tracking device would be to see if a spouse is cheating on you. While most of the time a tracking device is only going to tell you where your spouse has been, this knowledge can be extremely useful in determining the truth about their actions. If they said they are going to a friends house but their car ends up somewhere else then you know that something might be going on with them. You can call them very innocently and ask them how so-and-so’s house is going and if they tell you that everything there is fine even though they are not there you might know that something is up with them and that you should maybe investigate things further.

For each of these uses you will notice that being able to do a lot of the stuff that GPS vehicle tracking can do is superfluous. What a person in this situation needs to do is be able to track the movements of a person – and not always in real time either. While it is nice to be able to track a teen in real time or to see if a spouse is cheating as it happens, a data logger will generally do just as a good.

However, when it comes to being able to recover a stolen vehicle having a real time GPS tracking device is going to be a good idea. That way, when the criminal takes away your vehicle the police can have real time tracking information that will lead them right to your property. That way the criminal can be caught and your property can be returned to you. One of the major theft recovery GPS tracking devices is LoJack and it has been around for years. It is very effective at helping police find stolen property.

GPS Tracking Watches

Finally, the last tracking device that we should talk about are <link>GPS tracking watches</link>. A GPS watch is exactly what it sounds like – a watch that has all the functionality of a GPS device. When you take a look at it, there are two main types of GPS tracking watches and each type has a corresponding use. There are watches that act as data loggers and there are watches that act as real time trackers.

Garmin 405 GPS Tracking Watch

A data logger might be something like the Garmin Forerunner 405. This is a fitness GPS tracking watch that is the top of the line and has tons of really cool features. It is great for serious athletes who want to take their training to the next level and is even better for multi-sport athletes. When paired with a heart rate monitor it provides some of the best workout metrics of any device on the market. It is also a stereotypical example of what a data logging GPS tracking watch is good for. The device logs workout information like speed, altitude, direction, total time working out, and heart rate. This watch is just a data logger marketed toward runners and is the ultimate fitness tracking device.

GuardianLion LEO GPS Tracking Watch

A real time tracker might look something more like the GuardianLion Leo. This is a full featured GPS tracking device that fits on your wrist. It combines the best of cell phone technology with the power of GPS location data to create the ultimate safety device for kids and those suffering from Alzheimer’s. It allows parents or caretakers to have a real time knowledge about the location of their charge and even allows them to get into contact with that individual through the watch itself! This is extremely powerful technology and until recently these watches were so bulky as to be comical. Apparently, the GuardianLion Leo is small enough to fit comfortably on a writs and actually looks something like a normal watch.

The Future of Tracking Devices

The future is going to be portable, personal tracking devices. As we can already see with the GPS tracking watches and cell phones, the technology is making great strides toward becoming more and more consumer friendly. It is being packaged and delivered in a way that is very palatable for consumers and this means that tracking devices are going to be here for a very long time and in many different forms. If I had to put money on one become dominate it would have to be the cell phone, but the future is by no means certain. We will just have to wait and see what happens – but I know this for sure, GPS is going to be a big part of my childrens’ lives and an even bigger part of their childrens’ lives.

Picking Your GPS Vehicle Tracking System

Like with most other forms of GPS tracking, when it comes to vehicle tracking using GPS there are two main types: real-time tracking and passive, logging tracking.  Depending on why you want to track a certain vehicle will determine which method of tracking you employ.  However, it is important to note that GPS vehicle tracking is more viable today than it has ever been in the history of GPS or vehicle tracking so there are going to be a lot of different options for the person serious about finding an option that works best for them.

There is also going to be a distinction between those who want to track a vehicle with GPS for personal use and those that want to employ vehicle tracking for a business.  The equipment and the systems used will differ in quality and design, but not necessarily in how they work – they will be using GPS tracking technology to find, record, and report the location of a vehicle to someone.  As we will see, it is how these devices do this that matters.

Real Time GPS Vehicle Tracking

When most people think about GPS based vehicle tracking they think of tracking that occurs in real time.  If a vehicle is at 101 North Main Street then a person is going to want to be able to look at a computer running some GPS tracking software and be able to tell that.  If the vehicle then turns left down Michigan Street they want to be able to tell that this has occurred within a reasonable amount of time – say 5 seconds.  This is the power of real time GPS tracking.

But there are several things that you have to realize if you are going to choose this type of GPS vehicle tracking system:

  1. Tracking devices that offer updates in real time are often anything but cheap.  It can run you hundreds of dollars just for the hardware that gets the tracking off the ground.  On top of the hardware purchase there is going to be a service fee of some amount depending on the company that you choose to service your GPS tracking plan.  Different companies will work with different hardware and some companies will charge you more than others for access to your real-time tracking information.  Most companies are going to make your tracking data available through a GoogleMaps-like interface, so it should come down to who is going to offer you the best price for the services that you really need.
  2. Not all GPS tracking devices are created equal.  The more modern the device the more likely it is going to have the latest technology in terms of GPS receptiveness and communication technology.  For example, the newer SiRFstarIII chipset is widely accepted as being superior to other previous GPS chips.  It acquires a signal much faster and can even get a GPS signal where many other older GPS chipsets cannot.  You are also going to want to make sure that your GPS has access to GPRS, a system that will allow your GPS tracking device to transmit the data it gathers on the vehicle to the software that will display it for you on your computer screen.
  3. In addition to the paid services you can get some GPS tracking for free.  Probably the best vehicle trackers are cell phones, especially since there are tons of free GPS tracking applications for them.  While you won’t get a lot out of this type of free service, if you put some thought and work into you can use a free tracking program to do all sorts of cool stuff.  It normally doesn’t scale too well, so this type of tracking is only really going to work for an individual, a family, or a small business that want to track their vehicles with GPS.

Most people who choose to use real time GPS vehicle tracking fall into one of two categories, they want to use it for GPS fleet tracking or they want to track a single person.  The reasons that business would choose to track their vehicles with GPS are obvious.  Most small businesses that employ some form of GPS tracking generally see an increase in the number of services orders that their fleet fulfills in just two years time.  The average increase they see is around 25%, making GPS tracking a very useful tool in the chest of a business owner.

If used appropriately, real time fleet tracking can improve worker productivity, create a positive work environment, improve vehicle routing, streamline fleet maintenance, and encourage efficient work habits.  This can be a win-win for employees and employers alike if deployed with tact.

Then there is using real time GPS tracking for personal use.  Here is a list of some of the reasons that a person may choose to use a personal GPS vehicle tracking system:

  • Track a teen with GPS while they drive.
  • Catch a cheating spouse in the act.
  • Know when a spouse with an erratic schedule is on their way home.
  • Keep connected with family members while on a long road trip.

This list is by no means exhaustive and is simply supposed to be a small indication of the different things that a person can do with this type of technology.  The possibilities are really limited by our imagination and ingenuity.

GPS Vehicle Tracking Loggers

Data loggers are a completely different beast.  While they do work off the same basic GPS principles that real time trackers work off of, they do not have the all important real time capabilities that GPRS gives a real time tracker.  Loggers are mostly used in covert GPS vehicle tracking done by police or by private parties to help them get a better understanding of a person’s activities.  For example, there was a GPS vehicle tracking logger at the center of the warantless GPS tracking case.  This device was used by police, who had a warrant by the way, to track down the activity of a suspected stalker.  They installed it on his car and waited about two weeks.  The evidence was then downloaded on the police computers where they were able to place the suspect at the scene of a stalking incident that happened during the time when the GPS tracking was active.

The GPS vehicle tracking equipment used in this type of tracking is often much cheaper than other their real time tracking counterparts.  You can generally get one of these devices for under $200 and they can provide location information for months since they track vehicles passively.  Also, you won’t have to worry about an expensive service fee because these devices have no such fee.  They don’t use GPRS nor do they need to communicate with a third party.  All GPS tracking software is going to be installed locally on one of your own computers so no one else has to know about the data that you gather.

Also, data loggers (like GPS tracking sticks) generally have a much longer active battery life than do real time GPS trackers.  This is because transmitting data via GPRS can be very taxing on a units power supply.  Without constant power it can be difficult to get real time information on a target that you want to track in secret and going back to the scene of the tracker could lead to having it found out by the person you want to track covertly.

This makes it great for covert GPS tracking or for tracking a person in secret.  While real time tracking is certainly going to be more useful if you want to take action on data while something is actually happening, data logging can be just as useful for vehicle tracking.

Which GPS Tracking Solution Best Meets Your Needs?

When you come to the final analysis you will have to weigh your budget constraints with your tracking wishes.  I don’t think that there are many people who would prefer a data logger over a real time tracker, but money is a serious limitation for some people and they simply cannot afford the cost associated with live tracking capabilities.  No matter which option you go with you can be certain that there is a GPS vehicle tracking device out there for you, your needs, and your budget.

Golf GPS Tracking

Knowing where you are at at any given moment on a golf course can be huge for your game.  Today, you can know the distance from ball to hole with a simple simple handheld device – a golf GPS tracking device.  This can be a stand along GPS, like the Garmin golf GPS Approach G5, or it could a mobile phone that has one of the golf GPS software upgrades installed on it.  Either way, you are going to get  some important improvement for your golf game by being able to make an appropriate club selection for your next stroke.

Handheld Golf GPS Units

There are several stand alone golf GPS units out on the market today.  These units are small enough to fit comfortably inside the pocket of your pants and can certainly fit inside your golf bag to be pulled out at a time convenient for you.  Here are several different GPS models designed specifically with golfers in mind:

Golf GPS Review: Garmin Approach G5

The Garmin Approach G5 is the cream of the crop in terms of personal golf GPS tracking units. The case is durable so it can jostled around a bit in your golf bag. It also is waterproof, so if you accidentally throw your golf clubs into the drink you won’t have to worry about destroying your investment (but we don’t recommend throwing anything into the water – its is just bad form). This GPS has a touch screen and comes preloaded with thousands of golf courses preloaded on the device. This device uses some of the latest GPS receiver technology to give golfers of all skill levels personalized and accurate distances to help users improve their club selection and their scores.

One of the great parts about the Approach G5 is that you get to look at the golf course you are on with a lot of detail. And since you can know your position on the course to within a couple of yards thanks to this Garmin’s high-powered GPS tracking receiver you can make full use of this detail. You don’t need to eye a hole and think that it is 100 yards away – you can get the full power of a constellation of 20+ global positioning satellites to give you your location in real time. This means that you can use the Approach at your buddies ball and then at your own in a matter of minutes without you both having to buy one of these devices.

The Approach G5 also will let you touch a spot on the course map so that you can get a picture of how far away your next shot is. If there is a bend in the hole that you want to get to but you don’t have the skills to bend your shot so that you can safely land in the fairway with every shot you simple touch the point you want your ball to land and pick the appropriate club for the task. You won’t have to guess anymore and your game will be more about being able to hit the ball well instead of about how well you judge distances.

If you are serious about keeping your game above board you don’t have to worry about breaking one of the USGA rules about golf GPS units – the Approach G5 meets all the golf GPS tracking rules that this organization has set.

One of the cool features that the Approach G5 has is that is can act as a digital score card for your foursome golf party. Keeping track of one of those pencils and score cards can be a real pain, especially if you are walking the course. You want every second of your time out on the greens to be about making the next shot, not about where you put that pencil.

Golf GPS Review: GolfLogix GPS

A little lower down the chain of quality golf GPS units is the GolfLogix GPS. This device is also made by Garmin, but doesn’t offer the awesome eye candy and functionality that the G5 does. It is still a very solid GPS for golf enthusiasts and comes at a significantly lower price than the G5.

This GPS will recognize the course that you are playing on automatically and will give you distances from the front, middle and back of the greens. It is light weight (5.3 oz) and incredibly durable. If you are thinking about getting a stand alone GPS tracking device for your golfing needs this is certainly going to be one that you have to at least consider.

It doesn’t provide the touch screen capabilities of the G5, but for users who just want to know distances to the green this unit will do just fine. It is one of the most well known golf course GPS units on the market today and comes with great support from the GolfLogix.

Golf GPS Tracking Applications For Mobile Phones

But if getting a dedicated golf GPS systems is not up your alley then you might want to consider turning your smart phone into one. We have already listed several different free GPS tracking software packages that let you turn your smart phone into a GPS tracking machine, but there is also a golf GPS program that can be downloaded for free as well.

If you have an iPhone or a Blackberry and want to us it as a golf GPS you should head over to the GolfLogix website. In addition to being the operators of the dedicated golf GPS unit mentioned above, they also offer free GPS applications for the iPhone and Blackberry mobile phones. This means that in addition to being able to install a regular GPS tracking software on your phone to let you know where you are or to let your loved ones know where you are you can also use it a golf GPS. In fact, you can even use your iPhone or Blackberry for both GPS functions at the same time!

If you are in the market for a golf GPS range finder but you don’t want to fork out hundreds of dollars and already have a smartphone then then you might want to consider getting one of these free applications. I don’t even think you need a good data plan for it because it doesn’t send data out of the phone like a normal GPS tracking application might. All you are doing is using your mobile phone’s computer to use the GPS information gathered from your phone to run against the mapping software produced by GolfLogix.

If you have any experience with any of the golf GPS tracking solutions let us know about it in the comments below.

GPS Car Tracking, GPS Blockers, and Stalkers

There is more news coming out of Wisconsin related to the world of GPS tracking.  A La Crosse man was convicted of stalking his estranged wife with a GPS tracking device installed in her car.  Apparently, the man was just keeping tabs on her because of some custody issues that they were working out.  If a police complaint about the convict is true, he used the GPS device to track his wife as far as Iowa, harassing his her with his presence.

He entered an Alford plea to the charge, which means he thinks he is ‘Not Guilty’ but still thinks a jury will convict him, and will suffer two years of probation and six months of local confinement – meaning that the person who once used GPS tracking to stalk will now have his location tracked with GPS.  How ironic.

But this particular case is not of necessarily of interest because of this irony but because of two other things that have happened in the past couple of  months.  The first is that police in Wisconsin can GPS track cars without warrants according to a Wisconsin VI District Court of Appeals decision issued in March of 2009.  This means that police can place a tracking device on any person’s vehicle that they feel like could be a suspect in a case without any warrant.  If they thought that you were somehow a part of the mafia they could place one in your vehicle without you knowing and expect you to like it.

What makes this interesting is that apparently this same ability doesn’t transfer over to private citizens, or at least private citizens with restraining orders on them.  This is great news for all of us that might fear a neighbour or complete stranger might be stalking us and be well within their rights.  Apparently, only the police can stalk people without getting in trouble with the police …

But this leads to a related thing that is kind of interesting about this whole story – that GPS tracking blockers can be pretty useful devices.  If you are having someone stalking you with a real-time tracking device installed in your car then there is no better way of getting them off your back than installing one of these devices (Update 4/16/2012:  GPS jammers are illegal and should not be used).  This isn’t something that most people are going to need and certainly isn’t something I would recommend having just in case – but if you are being harassed or stalked by someone with even the littlest bit of technical knowhow or if they seem to be showing up in places they shouldn’t know about then getting a GPS tracking blocker may be a good, safe thing to do.

The other thing that made this particularly interesting is just how widely available GPS tracking is.  Even a stalkers in Wisconsin can get their hands on it.  Just a few years ago GPS navigation units were over $500 – well outside the range of most people both then and now.  Today, however, you can make your own real-time tracking device for $40 upfront and a $30 monthly fee with a cell phone and some free GPS tracking software.  These types of tracking devices are very easy to set up and take very little skill to do.

But even without cheating and using a cell phone, some covert GPS tracking devices are fairly reasonably priced these days.  An effective real-time tracking device can be purchased for well under $200, with some GPS loggers coming in at under $100.  A GPS logger isn’t going to need a monthly subscription either, making it very easy to purchase and use extensively (but probably not by a stalker – so you are probably going to be good).

GPS is just going to become more prevelant as the years roll on and we are going to have to deal with GPS tracking on a much higher level than ever before.  I can forsee in the future a time when letting someone GPS track your location is a sign that you are in a serious relationship with them, much like giving them acess to your email account might be today.  Teens will track their boyfriends and girlfriends for the one day that they are a couple, only having to find a way to cleanly break such intimate knowledge.  This may seem funny now, but in five years I really think that this is going to be a reality.

It may seem a little scary, but GPS tracking is going to be the norm rather than the exception.

Bus GPS Tracking Software Used For The Common Good

GPS tracking devices have been installed in many commercial and government vehicles for several years now, but it hasn’t been until recently that companies and governments are beginning to make this information know at a much broader level.  They are sharing the information with the people, empowering them to make informed decision about how they want to make us of public and private services.  Most recently, D.C. has seen the debut of 2 bus GPS tracking systems that offer bus riders information about the whereabouts of city buses gathered through GPS.

If you live in the DC area you have probably heard some of the chatter going on about how this GPS tracking stuff is making its way into the hands of regular citizens.  In early July, 2009 the D.C. government launched Where’s My Bus – a website accessible from the Internet and certain mobile phones – that will show a user the distance the next bus is from the stop of their choice on the downtown Circulator system.  This system was developed using open source software in an effort to save money and to give citizens a voice in the programs development.

Then, just a few weeks later, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) launched its own bus awareness webpage that utilizes GPS tracking and an algorithm that calculates arrival times for buses in that system.  This GPS tracking software, called NextBus because of the proprietary information and process that runs the system, provides a much more robust user experience but ended up costing taxpayers a hefty $3 million.

Having two different GPS bus tracking systems unveiled in such a short amount of time really affords those interested in this type of technology a real opportunity to learn something about the different methods of development and what you can expect from governments in the future.  With the Circulator system you have a home-grown, open source software that can be further developed on in later years.  With the NextBus system you have the WMATA buying the software package from another company who owns the rights to the software and the traffic algorithm – development and improvement of the system will happen on their terms.  Which method is better?  Which method provides better results?  Let’s take a look and see.

Circulator Where’s My Bus?

Where is My Bus GPS TrackingWhere’s My Bus? boasts a super simple and straight forward user interface that appears to track two or three dozen different buses.  As you can see from a screen shot of the actual landing page at http://circulator.dc.gov/ it is not going to be winning any design awards anytime soon.  But what this simple interface allows is compatibility on both mobile phones and smartphones as well as being compatible with Internet browsers.

From a development perspective this saves a lot of time and effort.  It can be a real pain to build a rich interface for a computer bases browser and then have to create a simpler version of the exact same information for mobile phones.  The fact that this is what the developers were doing is made clear by a quick look at the html code of http://circulator.dc.gov/ – nothing but simple html written in DTD XHTML Mobile 1.2.

Where is My Bus GPS Tracking Route ScreenWhere is My Bus? is also very simple in how it communicates the next arrival of a bus, as illustrated by the screen shot to the left.  You are given the bus number (which I am sure no user actually knows) along with the route that the bus is on.  Then you are given how far away that bus is from that specific stop.

This tracking system is very simple, but it gets the job done. Sure, there are a few things that the developers could have done to make it much cooler, but they were trying to make both a webpage for desktops and a webpage for mobile phones.  This is hard to do since one uses a 17 inch monitor while the other uses a 3.5 inch display.

My List of Future Improvements:

  • Integrate with GoogleMaps’ travel time engine to get rough estimates as to when buses will arrive at stops.  While this is anything but fool proof, mixing the distance information made available by the GPS tracking technology on the bus with however Google calucates travel time should be better than nothing, right?
  • Get a map on the page already.  This can be done by integrating with GoogleMaps or some other similar mapping application.  Why this hasn’t already been done is beyond me, but probably has something to do with time and money.  This is the obvious next step to making this system that much better.

WMATA NextBus

The WMATA NextBus is simply amazing when compared to Where is My Bus? in terms of features.  Just take a look at the eye candy:

NextBus Bus GPS System Home

But in addition to the eye candy you have a full featured GPS bus tracking system.  For example, if you want to know when the next bus is going to arrive a certain stop all you need to do enter the number in box #1.  Or, if you don’t really know your stop number but you know your route, the direction you are traveling, and the stop you want to catch the bus at you just enter this information and you will get the next three estimated arrival times (as seen in the darker blue box).  Not the distances the bus is from the stop, but a real estimated time until the bus will reach that stop.  This is very useful information.

You will also notice that there is a little phone icon in this dark blue box.  This has a phone number to call in addition to the route and stop number code for your convenience.  How this works is that if you dial the number listed and then enter the route and stop code provided you will with the estimated arrival times.  This is great for people who have a little ways to walk before reaching their bus stop or who will be without computer access for a while but still want to use the bus to get home.

NextBus Bus Tracking GPS System Google MapAnother great feature available on the NextBus GPS tracking bus route system is that it also offer a GoogleMap-like interface for you to see where buses are on a route and when they might be.  It also lets user click on a stop and get the next three estimated arrival times for buses on that route.  This is a very cool feature for users.

I’m not very sure that there are any things that should be added to or improved upon this bus GPS tracking software, but I don’t know how accurate the time predictions are or how usable the system is on a cellular phone.  If this works just as well on a mobile phone as it does on a computer then this system is really neat.

Usability and Which Tracking System Has It

Which one would you rather use?  I know for certain that the NextBus system is more useful than the Where is My Bus? system.  Both are GPS tracking software packages that that give bus riders direct access to this GPS information gathered by these buses, but they do so in very different styles.  The style I like the best is definitely NextBus.  Its maps and time estimates make it much more user friendly and actually caters to how people think about catching the bus.

I mean no one is going to be able to instantly look at a bus being .4 miles away and go, “Okay, the bus is .4 miles away.  A bus traveling on a city street goes about .1 mile every 2 minutes at optimal driving conditions.  But today there is a little bit of traffic that I estimate will make it 20% slower.  I should get to the bus stop no later than 9 minutes from now just to play it safe.”  That is way too much math in public.

While the Where is My Bus? system is a good starting point for development, it is not even in the same league as the NextBus system in terms of usability.

But as a city administrator I would much rather go with the open source version that was cheaper to develop but offers less functionality.  Chris Willey, Washington’s interim CTO, put it this way, “We built it intentionally open so somebody else could make it better.  If you want to find out when is the next bus, we left it open for the community to figure that out. It’s really about creating a community of developers who are creating applications for government.” While this may not give certain people warm fuzzies all over it is sound thinking and wise decision making.

Knowing that a bus is .4 miles away is still useful information – it is just not as useful as know that it will be getting to the stop in about 8 minutes.

Final Analysis<

In the end, I am glad that government entities and private companies are taking up the call to provide useful GPS tracking systems for the common good.  Buses, trains, and trolleys can all benefit from the use of GPS devices.  It is just a shame that the cost to do so is $3 million (the cost of the NextBus GPS bus tracking system).  There needs to be a cheaper, open source solution if governments are going to be able to implement this functionality for all citizens on all lines of public transportation.  That is why the Where is My Bus? tracking system is so interesting – it holds out the hope for a free GPS tracking system for municipalities and states all across the nation and the world.

How To Create Your Very Own GPS Tracking System For Your Car

Creating your very own GPS system for cars is really a lot easier than you think.  In days long past you would to have had a hell of a lot of technical experience, a great understanding of how to create software, and a lot of money to get something like real-time GPS tracking to work for yourself.  You would have had to buy a ton of equipment that you would never normally use and spend countless hours coding software and making firmaware so that your devices could interact with your software.  This process would be both time and money intensive and very few of us would be able to get through it.

Today, it is a totally different story.  All you need to create an awesome, real-time GPS tracking system for your car is a navigational GPS that has bluetooth capabilities and a cell phone that can run a free GPS tracking application called 3dtracking.  It will also help to have a good cell phone plan with your provider that has plenty of data sending capabilities.  That is it.

The Equipment Needed

The GPS

The very first thing that you are going to need is going to be a GPS navigation unit.  This is because the 3dtracking software must have access to coordinates generated by a GPS device in order to provide real-time GPS tracking information.  Without some form of GPS information to feed your cell phone that is loaded up with this free GPS tracking software you are not going to be able to get yoru desired results.

While I don’t personally have a navigational GPS, I have heard some good things about the following devices that have Bluetooth capabilities:

If these prices are still to high for you personally then you might want to consider trying to find a refurbished GPS.  A refurbished device can sometimes come at a very steep discount (from 20%-50% in some cases) and it should work just as well as a ‘new’ device.

In some cases you won’t even need to own a stand alone car navigation GPS for this system to work. If you own a phone with GPS tracking capabilities already installed into the phone then you don’t need to connect to an external GPS device via Bluetooth.  Everything that you are going to need is going to be inside the case of that cell phone.

The Cell Phone

3dtracking published a list of compatible cell phones for their system.  If you do not own one of these phones then you will not be able to use this system as I am describing it.  Here is a list of the cell phones that is currently compatible with this software:

  • Lenovo P930
  • LG KS10
  • Nokia 3230
  • Nokia 3250
  • Nokia 5320
  • Nokia 5500
  • Nokia 5700
  • Nokia 6110
  • Nokia 6120
  • Nokia 6121
  • Nokia 6210
  • Nokia 6220
  • Nokia 6260
  • Nokia 6290
  • Nokia 6600
  • Nokia 6620
  • Nokia 6630
  • Nokia 6670
  • Nokia 6680
  • Nokia 6681
  • Nokia 6682
  • Nokia 7610
  • Nokia E50
  • Nokia E51
  • Nokia E60
  • Nokia E61
  • Nokia E61i
  • Nokia E62
  • Nokia E63
  • Nokia E65
  • Nokia E66
  • Nokia E70
  • Nokia E71
  • Nokia E90
  • Nokia N70
  • Nokia N71
  • Nokia N72
  • Nokia N73
  • Nokia N75
  • Nokia N76
  • Nokia N77
  • Nokia N78
  • Nokia N79
  • Nokia N80
  • Nokia N81
  • Nokia N81 8GB
  • Nokia N82
  • Nokia N85
  • Nokia N90
  • Nokia N91
  • Nokia N92
  • Nokia N93
  • Nokia N93i
  • Nokia N95
  • Nokia N95 8GB
  • Nokia N96
  • Panasonic X700
  • Panasonic X800
  • Samsung SGH-D720
  • Samsung SGH-D730
  • Samsung SGH-i400
  • Samsung SGH-i520
  • Samsung SGH-Z600

(Be sure to check the compatible cell phone list over at 3dtracking’s website in case this list has become out of date)

Some of these phones are rather inexpensive (some can be found for under $20) while others will cost over $200.  Which phone you choose will depend largely on your needs for the cell phone and whether or not you want to use it for more than just GPS tracking.

Once you have one of these phones you are going to want to make sure that you have a good data plan for your phone.  This way you can send data to the 3dtracking servers without incurring exorbitant fees.  Right now, AT&T wireless is offering a unlimited data plan for its phones for $35 a month.  This would put your access to real-time GPS tracking information for your car at roughly $1.17 per day.

3dtracking software

In order to download the free 3dtracking software simply go here.  There are onpage instructions for what to do depending on whether or not you have a Windows-based PDA or a smart phone.  Once you have downloaded the application and installed it on your phone or PDA you will do a brief 3 step application process and will be ready to begin tracking with your cell phone right away.

Total Cost to You

The startup cost of this GPS tracking system for cars can be pretty steep, coming in at over $400 if you buy some of the higher end equipment.  With a $35 unlimited data plan that would bring the first year total out of pocket expense to somewhere between $800 and $900.  The second year of operation would be $420.  While this certainly isn’t cheap, if you already have the GPS navigation unit and the compatible cell phone you won’t need to spend any money out of pocket so your expense will probably be $0 unless you have to upgrade the data plan on your phone to handle the load.  Free GPS tracking is certainly better than not free GPS tracking.

What Will You Track?

From where I sit there are two main applications for this type of GPS tracking system for cars.  They are tracking a teen driver and snooping on a spouse suspected of cheating.  For the former you should be completely up front and honest with your teen about what you are doing to their phone and why you are doing it.  They should know that you are concerned about their safety and that you want to make their driving experience as safe as possible.  Then you should work on some sensible rewards and punishments for your teen drivers.  Making sure they they buy into your GPS tracking system is key if it is going to be useful to them and to you.

IF you are tracking a spouse that you suspect of cheating you should not let them know that you are tracking them.  To do this, you might have to buy a special phone that you put in their car for them so that they don’t realize what is going on.  You will have to leave the phone on and recharge the battery often, but the ability to know if they are cheating or not can certainly be worth the price.

But this set-up, especially one where your phone has GPS capabilities built in, can be used in many more applicaitons.  A few of them are to:

There are practically as many things that you can do with this technology as you can dream up, so sit down, grab a beer, and dream.  This GPS tracking system for cars is definitely going to blow your mind if you let it.

Free GPS Tracking Applications and Software

You can get GPS tracking for free. There are a couple of different ways to get real-time tracking for your family, friends, or co-workers, but the vast majority of them have something to do with cell phones. Below is a list of several different free GPS tracking services that you can take a look at and decide which one is going to work best for you and your family.  Not all these free applications are available on all mobile devices, so be sure to look at the specific application’s compatible device list to see if your cell phone can run this free GPS tracking software.

InstaMapper – Cell Phone Tracking Made Simple

InstaMapper is a free cell phone tracking application available for download and installation on a cell phone. Getting an account is free and only takes a minute or two (be sure to have a valid email address ready for the registration process). After registering you will install an application on your cell phone that is going to provide all the tracking data. This application, when running, will periodically send the phone’s GPS coordinates to InstaMapper servers where they will compile the data for your own use.

Once your GPS coordinates are there, you can login to your account and see your location on an interactive Google map. This can be great for finding your way around a new place or figuring out exactly how to get someplace (this does require that your cell phone have internet access).  Also, if you want your family or friends to know where you are you can give them the login credentials to your account or you can embed a map of your location on a web property (such as a web page, blog, or Facebook profile). Alternatively, you could send them a link that will take them to a map on the InstaMapper website that will look like this.

This free application also lets you record 100,000 locations per mobile phone, organizing them into different tracks and exported in a variety of formats. This volume of locations is equivalent to several months of 24/7 tracking! Now that is a lot from a completely free GPS tracking application.

This is a very powerful application for anyone looking to let other know about their position in the world. Here is a list of compatible phones for this application.

If you are interested in this option, you should really consider looking at to get one of the many Boost Mobile cell phones that are compatible with these devices. According to the InstaMapper website, data plans can run as little as $0.35 per day, which comes out to around $11 per month, making it one of the most economical GPS tracking devices ever – and with an anticipated battery life of 8-12 hours this has many different potential uses for people and for companies.

If you are going be using this cell phone GPS tracking to monitor a teen driver, to check up on a cheating spouse, to monitor workers while they operate company vehicles, or just to get a better picture of where you have been or are at in the world then InstaMapper should be a very strong candidate for your GPS tracking needs.

3dtracking – Bringing GPS Tracking To PDAs

3dtracking is another application that can be downloaded for cell phones that can provide real-time GPS tracking, but unlike the InstaMapper application this is also available on a range of PDAs. For devices that are compatible with this software see their list of compatible devices.

Being an application compatible with PDAs, it lets you integrate a GPS device that you already own (like an automobile navigation unit like a Garmin Nuvi 760) with a web-enabled or cell phone PDA.  This can be extremely useful for those that already own these devices and who want to take advantage of one of the many free GPS tracking apps out there.

Here is a mock-up combination of devices from the 3dtracking website:

A possible example of a set-up for using 3dtracking is a Windows Pocket PC device (such as an Ipaq) that is used with a GPS receiver (Bluetooth or wired). The application will obtain the GPS data from the receiver and then transmit it back to our servers (if your device is both a phone and a PDA (e.g. the i-Mate/Qtek range of products) then it can connect via GPRS. If not, you can transmit all your data to our servers when you sync your PDA to your computer). Once on our servers, you can log in at any time to see your traveled route on either Google Earth or Google Maps. Just select your starting date and time, as well as your end date and time, and our systems will show you exactly where traveled and your speeds along the way.

You can make this data available to other people in a similar fashion to InstaMapper: you can give someone the login credentials to your account or you can put a map on a web property that you own.  However, it does appear that in order to put your map up on a website you must be able to edit information in the <head> html section of the webpage.  This is not possible on websites like Facebook, MySpace, or WordPress.com.  It is possible on Blogger, a self hosted WordPress blog, or a static html page that you might create.

In the end, this is an adequate system if you already have one of the devices mentioned on the list – but if you are just starting out and don’t own a device yet you might want to give InstaMapper a shot if you want to share your position data with someone else.

Mologogo – A Free Social Cell Phone Tracking GPS

Mologogo is like the Facebook of free GPS tracking applications for cell phones.  You can access the location of yourself or your friends from your phone or the web, giving you a quick picture of where everyone is at any given moment of the day.  This is great for people who are constantly on the go and love to keep their friends close.  You can get alerts when people on your friends list are close to you, or you can search to see if your friends are around a certain point of interest (like the club you are at), and stay updated with local weather and traffic conditions all from the same screen. Mologogo also lets its users engage in mobile chat, so you don’t need to burn up text messages if you don’t have an unlimited plan but want to have a quick conversation with a friend in your area.

Mologogo also lets you interact with all this data from a PC.  You can get a picture of where your friends are at at that very moment, you can add new friends to your account, and you can even show your location on your own webpage or blog (just like InstaMapper and 3dtracking).  Your ability to engage with others via your position information with this free cell phone tracking application is pretty phenomenal and offers something that neither of the two previously mentioned applications are able to provide as easily.  This is definitely the most social of all the GPS tracking apps I have seen.

If you want to know if your phone is compatible with this application then you should take a look at the following compatible phone list.  What this list essentially includes is any Nextel, Sprint, or Boost Mobile phones that is able to support Java and also has a GPS receiver installed. Mologogo is also able to be used on Blackberries, Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phones, and SmartPhones on any mobile provider as long as there is an external or internal GPS with the device.

The social aspect of Mologogo is really the best thing about it.  If you want to use your cell phone as a GPS tracking device for the purpose of connecting with your friends then there is no better application on the market.  But it does lack some of the useful features that make InstaMapper such a good application for a wide range of applications.  You simply cannot go wrong with Mologogo if you just want to stay connected to your friends.

LiveTracker – A Blackberry GPS Tracking App In Beta

LiveTracker is currently in beta development and is only available for Blackberry devices. It is still free, so users of the Blackberry should definitely consider using this free software on their phones.  One main perk is that you don’t need to register an account to use this software – all you do is download the software from the SkyLab website and install it on your phone. Start running the application and it will begin recording and sending your location coordinates that it gathered via GPS to the LiveTracker servers.

The ability to share locations with this app is still a little limited – you can only send tracking links via EMail, PIN, SMS, and MMS. You cannot currently embed your location like you can with all the other free GPS tracking applications already mentioned. While this is not that big of a deal for some users, embedding is very important to some users. However, since this software is still in beta you have to realize that these are probably features that the developers are planning on implementing at some point.

If you use a Blackberry you still might want to check this out if you are just trying to dabble in what cell phone GPS can provide.  It might not be as cool, powerful, or full featured as InstaMapper, 3dtracking, or Mologogo – but just because it isn’t now doesn’t mean that one day it might be the best app out there.

GeoTrack24 – Free (Limited) GPS Tracking For Phones and Devices

GeoTrack24 offers a free GPS tracking service, but the “free-ness” of this service is rather limited.  A free account will allow you to track one device, allow 1 person to be able to view this data, and has a history of 3 days.  There appears to be no way to share data with others, making it very hard to use this service for very much.  What does make this service unique is that it can be used on a wide range of devices – both cell phones and various GPS tracking devices.  For a full list of compatible devices see their cell phone list and units list.

Because you can use some GPS tracking devices with this service it is something that you might want to consider using, but the limited device history and 1 account makes it severely limited in what it can do.  They do offer some subscription based plans that are relatively inexpensive (rates are quoted in Pounds), but when you can get a similar, but better, service for free on a cell phone from another software package then you should probably consider this service last on your list.

If you just want to do some minimal free GPS cell phone tracking then this software is probably going to be good enough for you.  However, you should definitely consider some of the other applications mentioned here since they offer a higher quality service.

OpenGTS – Consumer Grade Free GPS Fleet Tracking Software

OpenGTS is a free GPS tracking software that is commercial grade.  Its main application is to be used in GPS fleet tracking, but it could be used to help a family monitor the activity of several people or vehicles at the same exact time.  This free software also differs greatly from some of the other applications mentioned above in that it is a server side tracking software – meaning that it is not installed on any device but is instead installed on a computer.   OpenGTS acts like the captain of your GPS tracking device, taking in the information that the device transmits via GPRS.

If you are looking for a short right up of this service you can read more about it at OpenGTS: A Free GPS Fleet Tracking Software.

GolfLogix – Free GPS Tracking Software For Golf Enthusiasts

If you are in the market for a free golf GPS tracking software then you have to check out GolfLogix.  They offer a a free golf GPS application for iPhones and Blackberries.  They don’t currently have a free app for all the different styles of Blackberry, so head on over to their site at GolfLogix to see if your particular flavor is able to run their software.  If you are a Verizon customer, you might be out of luck since this carrier is notorious for not letting people install third party applications on their Blackberries.

…

If you are looking to get free GPS tracking then you are probably going to be looking to the cell phone.  The number of free and useful applications available on these devices makes it a very compelling pick for those interested in getting GPS information in real time to a wide range of interested parties.

Do you have any experience with these free GPS cell phone tracking applications?  We would love to hear about them in the comments section below.

GPS Tracking For Cars

Before we jump into the ins and outs, ups and downs of GPS tracking for cars let’s take a second to put this type of GPS application into perspective.  Let’s look at a real life example of how this technology is actually being used with great effectiveness today. This will help us better understand how we can use GPS tracking to better monitor the activity of our teen driver, our cheating spouse, a company vehicle, an employee, or even our own activity. This technology is here and is only going to become more pervasive as it continues to tumble in price and more and more companies get in on the car tracking action. The following is a brief excerpt from a news article that ran in the Washington Post:

Someone was attacking women in Fairfax County and Alexandria, grabbing them from behind and sometimes punching and molesting them before running away. After logging 11 cases in six months, police finally identified a suspect.

David Lee Foltz Jr., who had served 17 years in prison for rape, lived near the crime scenes. To figure out if Foltz was the assailant, police pulled out their secret weapon: They put a Global Positioning System device on Foltz’s van, which allowed them to track his movements.

Police said they soon caught Foltz dragging a woman into a wooded area in Falls Church. After his arrest on Feb. 6, the string of assaults suddenly stopped. The break in the case relied largely on a crime-fighting tool they would rather not discuss.

If GPS tracking can help the police get a felon off the streets, making them safer, what do you think it can do for you?

  1. GPS Tracking, Teens, and Cars
  2. Catch a Cheater By GPS Tracking Their Car
  3. Improve Fleet Performance with GPS Tracking For Cars
  4. Analyze Driving Habits With GPS Car Tracking
  5. Buy GPS Tracking Devices For Cars
  6. GPS Car Tracking In The News

GPS Tracking, Teens, and Cars

Teens are notoriously bad drivers.  They speed; the perform jack rabbit starts and sudden stops; they take turns too quickly; they change lanes without signaling; they text while driving – this is all dangerous activity that could end up getting them and their fellow drivers killed.

The strange part about all this is that this is generally not how they drive when you are with them.  When you are sitting in the car right next to them the last thing on their mind is answering a friends text message.  Instead, they drive with both hands on the steering wheel, eyes are fixed on the road, and they are well within the speed limit.  Teens drive recklessly and dangerously when parents are not around.

So how can parents concerned about their teen’s driving habits be with a teen, watching their driving habits, even when they are not in the vehicle with them – through GPS tracking for cars.

I am a firm proponent of telling your teen that you are tracking there car if you do decide to do so.  My reasons for feeling this way are three fold: 1) the device will not act as a deterrent of bad driving practices if they don’t know it is there, 2) it is much easier and most effective to discipline your child when they are fully aware of the consequences of their actions, and 3) you won’t be violating the trust of your teen by doing something “sneaky” to them.

Tracking As Deterrent

Your teen won’t act like you are in the car with them if they think that you don’t know how they are driving.  The whole point of the tracking device is to prevent your teen from getting into a car wreck because they were doing something stupid behind the wheel.  The reasoning behind this will go something like this:

Premise 1: Your teen drives safely when you are in the car with them.

Premise 2: Your teen, at times, drives unsafely when you are not in the car with them.

Premise 3: Having GPS tracking for cars in your teen’s vehicle is like having you in the car.

Conclusion: Your teen will drive like you are in the car with them if they know that the GPS tracking device for cars in the vehicle.

This is a rather simple logic expression where the premises seem to be mostly true.  The only one that will have any difficulty being true is Premise 3.  Just because the teen knows that you are tracking their every move in the car does not mean that they are always going to act like you are tracking them in the car.  They will forget about it, or get caught up in a moment, or take a risk that you won’t check the logs for that specific moment.  It is in these instances where we as concerned parents must use discipline in conjunction with the car tracking device.

Tracking and Discipline

One hallmark of good parenting is laying an effective foundation for discipline by making sensible, enforceable, and fair rules.  This one of the most important components of using GPS tracking to effectively monitor your teen’s driving behaviors.

Here’s why: you have installed your GPS tracking device in the car, set up good rules that are sensible and fair – the punishment is commensurate with the specific bad driving behavior, but your teen still ends up going 85 mph in a 65 mph zone.  You see, they simply forgot that you know what they do when they drive.  The music they were listening too or the conversation they were having on the phone overwhelmed their developing brain and they were unable to remember to keep the speed in check.

Luckily, nothing terrible happened to them or to another driver – but how can a teen realize that they are being tracked?  One way to do so is to punish bad behavior.  Because they broke the speed limit rules that your family put in place they are required to pay the penalty for doing so.  Get creative in the rules that you have for certain offenses and only use the suspension of driving privileges for especially grievous offenses.

I think we all pretty much understand how to punish poor driving, but have you considered the other side of the coin?  How are you rewarding your teen for safe driving?  Rewards are often much better at motivating a teen toward right action than punishment, since punishment is primarily backward looking while reward is forward thinking.

In almost all cases, a mixture of reward and punishment is most effective at training a person to behave a certain way while driving.  You can get creative with what you pick and be sure to spend time thinking about what is going to work best for you, your teen, and the safety of other drivers on the road.

Tracking and Trust

Here is a quick video about how the use of secret GPS tracking on your teens car can lead to bad reactions from teens (it is one of our the featured GPS tracking videos):

In my opinion, these parents were well within their responsibilities to attach a secret GPS tracking to their teen’s truck – it is their property (the truck, not the teen) and they do have a responsibility to raise their teen in a safe way – but I just don’t think it is a very effective way to be a responsible parent.

The reactions of this teenage boy are classic.  He denies wrong doing, shows signs of anger, and generally feels that his parents violated his rights.  They didn’t violate them, but he sure feels like they did.  It is my opinion that he is really just upset that his parents tracked him without his knowledge.  He was surprised when he found out that they knew his secret (driving over 95 mph!) when he didn’t know they had a way of knowing that.  His expectations were wrong and he responded with anger.

Now imagine this situation if the parents had told their teenage son that they were going to track his car to ensure his safety, recover their vehicle if it was stolen, and help them enforce some of the family’s expected driving habits.  Sure, he might have put up a fuss at having that conversation and expressed his desire not to have the device installed, but once it was installed he would have know that any unsafe driving practices would be recorded.

He probably would not have driven 95 mph in the first place, and if he did he would have know that his parents were going to find out and punish him according to the rules of the family.  This might have been unpleasant, but at least he would have know it was coming!

Devices to Track A Teens Car

One device that will could be considered top of the line for this type of tracking is the LiveWire Unlimited™ Fleet/Car GPS Tracker.  It is a permanent solution that is installed inside your car and can be customized to fit you needs.

Another avenue that you could try is tracking your teen’s cell phone.  Since most teens carry their cell phone with them everywhere this can be a cheap and cost effective way to get a grasp on your teen’s driving habits.

Both of these option can be very effective at monitor your teens driving habits.

Catch a Cheater By GPS Tracking Their Car

It is never okay to cheat on a significant other, never. So when you suspect your lover of cheating I am of the opinion that the one who is being cheated on has a lot of leverage when it comes to being able to verify if their suspicions are true or not. They can monitor all electronic communications (including cell phone call logs, text messages, emails, and instant messages), track their car with GPS, talk with their friends, make unannounced visits, inspect their clothes, and even install cameras around the house or in a vehicle to help monitor their activity.

Knowing where there car is is particularly important in catching a cheating spouse, but only if the cheating goes on at locations where the individual does not normally attend. If, for example, they are cheating at work while they should be at work then a spouse who is GPS tracking their car will have no way of using this information to catch them cheating.

But if they are going to a hotel, or their lover’s apartment, or they say that they are going one place to hang out with their buddies and then they go somewhere else and you have a GPS device installed in their car then you are going to know about their indiscretion and be able to catch them in their lying, cheating ways. And, since GPS technology is becoming even more reliable than it already was, you will have a very solid case when you go to confront them with the issue, divorce them or go to the location of their trysts.

With GPS tracking for cars you get back into the driver seat of your relationship and take back the power and the trust that your partner tried to steal from you by cheating on you.

If you decide to track their car, I would recommend going with some sort of covert GPS tracking device.  One that works particularly well is the T-Trac XS Internet GPS Car Tracking System.

Improve Fleet Performance with GPS Tracking For Cars

A good way to improve the performance of a fleet of vehicles is to install some GPS tracking devices in them.  This will have a positive impact on several of your fleet’s performance metrics over the course of 2 years, according to an Aberdeen group study on the impact of GPS fleet tracking on small businesses.  Among the most impressive metrics to increase over the two year test period was the number of service calls logged by company employees and a marked increase in a drivers ability to make on time service calls and deliveries.

According to the study, small business (defined as vehicle fleets that consisted of 1 to 10 cars, trucks, or vans) increased the number of work orders that they were able to complete by an astonishing 25%.  How would you like to make a $500 initial investment with some reoccurring fees to get 25% more out your work force?  I think most employers would love this arrangement.

But how does GPS tracking for cars improve this critical fleet performance metric so drastically?  I think the main two reasons that it works so well is that it keeps workers honest and it helps streamline transit times.

It should be obvious to everyone that workers do not really work for 8 full hours even when they punch that in on their time card.  Sometimes they take breaks when they aren’t supposed to, push lunch 15 minutes longer than they should, or end work early because they “won’t” be able to finish a job before their shift is over.  When all is said and done, most workers (according to a 2007 survey at Salary.com) waste around 20% of their day doing no work related activities while they are on the clock.  That is a staggering statistic and seems to explain a lot of the increased productivity that GPS tracking devices engender in small fleets.  Workers simply stop wasting time when they know that the boss is watching.

The additional 5% increase in worker productivity is probably related to the fact that workers are able to find the most efficient, time-effective route when traveling to work locations or delivery destinations.

If this is your cup o’ Joe, then you might want to consider the T-Trac XS Internet GPS Car Tracking System.

Analyze Driving Habits With GPS Car Tracking

Another use of GPS tracking for cars is for personal efficiency.  This is probably not the most cost-effective thing for an individual to do, but if you want real-time GPS tracking of your own movement there are probably devices that will work out great for you.

One subset of people that might find this interesting are off-roaders and street racers – people whose activities take them off beaten paths or who want to be able to relive past experiences that they have had out on the road or off in the middle of nowhere.  Real-time tracking is also useful for these individuals if something where to happen to them on a ride and they needed immediate medical attention – all it would take is a quick look at the GPS information provided by the tracking device and help would be on the way.

Again, this isn’t going to be a cost effective way of getting this information – but for some it might be appealing.

Buy GPS Tracking Devices For Cars

The following is a selection of some of the different tracking devices made exclusively for cars:

T-Trac XS Internet GPS Car Tracking System

Update May 2009: It appears that the T Trac XS GPS Car Tracking System is not longer available from Brickhouse Security.

This GPS tracking system is very popular – with over 200,000 devices in use in 18 countries being serviced by Brickhouse security. The reason for this is because it is the  #1 GPS tracking system utilized by the police and private investigators all over the country.  Some of the reasons for its popularity with these individuals is the device has a 3 months battery life when you have 4 AA batteries installed.  Another key feature is its small size – 5.78″ x 2.99″ x 1.44″ – and light weight – 7 ounces with 4 AA Alkaline Batteries – making it highly concealable on the outside or inside of a car.  This device is excellent for covert GPS tracking, keeping tabs on a spouse suspected of cheating, or secretly monitoring an employees activity.

The service provided by Brickhouse Security is top notch and the device comes with a 1 year warranty.  You can find out more about this device or make a purchase here: T-Trac XS Internet GPS Car Tracking System

LiveWire Unlimited™ Fleet/Car GPS Tracker

LiveWire Unlimited™ Fleet/Car GPS Tracker

Unlike the T-Trac, the LiveWire tracker hooks directly into the vehicle.  This means that as long as the car has power – so does your GPS tracking unit.  You will never need to change the devices batteries, which is a great plus for long-term tracking applications like teen driver monitoring and company car tracking.

One particularly useful feature of the LiveWire is that it comes with Skype integration.  This means that on the tracking interface on your web browser that lets you see vehicle activity all you need to do to call the driver of the vehicle through your Skype account is click on their vehicle  – you will automatically be patched in to the driver’s cell phone.  This is a very powerful for those who would use this device for business purposes.

To learn more about the LiveWire tracker or to make an inquiry about a purchase of the device, you should contact the manufacturer of the LiveWire Unlimited™ Fleet/Car GPS Tracker.

GPS Car Tracking In The News

In May of 2009, two very important cases came before appellate courts in Wisconsin and New York that had a direct effect on the use of this type of GPS tracking by law enforcement officials. The first ruling to be issued came from Wisconsin where judges ruled unanimously that police could use GPS tracking on cars without a warrant.

Just a few weeks later, another appellate court in New York ruled the exact opposite – law enforcement in New York must get a warrant before GPS tracking a suspect.

The difference in the rulings by the two courts points to the fact that this new technology is making waves in the legal world and the courts and legislatures must create new guidelines to help protect the right of citizens while allowing police to make use of technology in a way that saves money and helps them put more criminals behind bars.

The use of GPS tracking for cars has a lot of potential both infringe on perceived rights and improve law enforcement – but making sure that later is accomplished while the former is avoided is a pretty tough task.

Covert GPS Tracking: A Short Story

“Blue Dodger, this is Home Base.  Do you read me!? Over.”  The radio gives a slight crackle as the voice of Home Base abruptly ends with a click.  You slowly touch the radio button on your vest and respond to Home Base, “Home Base, this is Blue Dodger.  I copy.  Over.”  You feel a slight tickle of excitement course through your veins as you await the message.  You know that Home Base is going to be giving you something good.   You have installed a covert GPS tracking device on a target vehicle and Home Base is going to be giving you the coordinates for you to track it down and discover what they are up to.

“Blue Dodger, we have the vehicle parked outside 13141 West Palm Avenue.  Head on over and report back your findings.”  This is your very first covert op and you feel a surge of adrenaline wash over you like a shore breaking wave, smoothly rattling the content of your chest.  The drive to the location isn’t long and you soon find yourself on a normally quiet residential street with cars lined up bumper to bumper on both sides of the street.  You find the 1995 Teal Corolla that you attached your covert GPS tracking device to parked exactly where Home Base said it was, but the car is empty.

“Home Base, this is Blue Dodger.  I’ve found the vehicle, but its clean.  I’ll park and see if I can get a visual. Over.”

“That’s a Roger, Blue Dodger.  Report in when you have a visual.”

You get out of the car and park.  Your palms begin to sweet as you slowly walk through the lamp lit street, keeping a low profile while trying to observe as much as you can.  As you make your way back to the Corolla you notice the sound of loud, thumping music coming from the other end of the street.  Without any sign of activity at 13141 West Palm Avenue you make your way toward the music.

As you draw closer you begin to hear the din of voices, laughing and the steady thumping of base.  It looks like the driver of the Corolla may be at this party.  Unfortunately, you don’t have your party threads on and the age of the crowd is significantly below your own – but you press on anyway knowing that you need to find the driver of the Corolla before it is too late.  You radio back to Home Base, “This is Blue Dodger, I’m going in.”

The music inside the house is deafening and it is all you can do to hug a wall and work your way around the interior of the house.  There is no communication with Home Base now.  You scan the crowd looking for the driver you were tracking but they are nowhere to be found.  Then, all of a sudden, you see in the other room a the long blond hair of the driver you have been trying to covertly track.  She is standing talking to a man several years her elder, his face stubbled with  a healthy five o’clock shadow.

You make your move on the target.

But before you do, you need to create a diversion to get her away from Mr. Five O’Clock.  You pull out your trusty cell phone that has been relaying your position to Home Base via GPS.  You send a simple text message, using your full qwerty keyboard because that is how you roll, with the message,

create diversion. call target. test time

In just a moment you see Long Blond Hair reach into her bag and pull out a glowing, vibrating cell phone.  She looks up at Mr. Five O’Clock shadow and seems to say something.  He smiles and waves as she leaves the room.  She walks past you in a hurry, but you are still holding the wall tight and she doesn’t notice.  You had anticipated that since the room is dark except for the constant flashing of mutli-colored lights.

Long Blond Hair leaves the house at a run and is soon 50 feet away from the house when she puts the still glowing and vibrating cell phone to her ear.  “Hello,” her voice sounds strong and confident.  She pauses for just a second, then with an oune of frustration in her voice she says, “What do you want?  I’m watching a movie at Katie’s house.”  You walk up behind her and tap her on the shoulder.

She turns around with a sudden look of horror on her face.  “Dad,” she says with a little fear in her voice, “What are you doing here?”

“I think the question is, honey, what are you doing here?”

~~~

You don’t have to be a spy or a member of the FBI to be able to use covert GPS tracking.  With GPS in cell phones and other personal devices a parent, spouse, concerned citizen, or private investigator can track a wide aray of items or assets with GPS.  You can install GPS trackers in cars or use them to monitor a teen’s driving habits.

If you want to go with traditionally covert GPS devices then you are going to need to fork out some significant cash.  Round the clock monitoring and real-time tracking capabilities do not come cheap – so expect to shell out $100s just for the device itself.  Then you are also going to need to pay up for a service fee as well so you can get access to your tracking information.  You might be able to build your own system out of one of the open source GPS tracking devices that have skematics on the Internet, but then you need some high quality GPS tracking software as well to make sure that your data is getting stored and displayed properly.  There is open source software for this too, but you will have to trade some of your precious time to learn how to use it.

In the end analysis, almost anyone with enough money is going to have access to tracking with GPS – and you don’t even need that much money anymore to get some really cool, cover GPS tracking devices.