Different from blackbox GPS tracking
Not exactly Do-it-yourself GPS tracking, but still different from the classical approaches.
TrackFinder
TrackFinder is an GPS tracking application for the last generation of the smartphone Treo by PalmOne ( Treo 600 and Treo 650) and it is able to work with most GSM-GPRS-GPS engines sold today.
It is able to receive alarms and to locate a vehicle or an individual, equipped with a GSM-GPRS-GPS remote unit and shows the position on a street level map.
TrackFinder can request the location of the device or it can receive the coordinates after an alarm is triggerred.
The program works with GPS-GSM-GPRS modems from Falcom, ENAiKOON, DPS-Promatic, Flextrac, KFT , Vectronic and others.
TrimTrac Mobile
TrimTrac Mobile uses the well-known TrimTrac Locator and sends information straight to your cell phone. Alerted by movement, the device takes a position from GPS and sends an SMS text message directly to your cell phone to tell you exactly where it is.
With its Tri-Band GSM modem and a local Sim card it can be used worldwide. The device is remotely configurable.
The GPS tracking software requires Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system on your cell phone and can work with multiple TrimTrac locators simultaneously. To download Microsoft MapPoint web server maps your cell phone must have a live internet connection via GPRS or 3G data networks. WiFi and ActiveSync connections are ideal for working with the MapPoint web server.
Perdiemco Location & Tracking (PLT)
Perdiemco Location & Tracking (PLT) software allows you to track your trip and let others locate and follow you online. You set the passcodes so only those that you want can see your trip. You can also take pictures or leave messages with your pda or phone and put them online for others to see.
You can set zones for tracking (with alerts) too. These are "boxes" you create. You can track inside a zone or be alerted when someone enters or leaves a zone. PLT offers privacy and 'a need to know', so you can turn off anyone's ability to locate you at anytime. PLT allows you to access and use your GPS on-the-fly from any location connected to the Internet. Get reliable, convenient and secure access to GPS information from home or on the road.
Data sent to the company's map server is tagged with a PIN password, and only those with the PIN can view the data. PINs can be changed at any time to make location data unavailable. The PLT software and service is free for personal use. It requires a Windows Mobile device with GPS and a wireless data connection.
Mologogo
Mologogo is a free GPS tracking service that will track your friend's GPS-enabled cell phones from another phone or on the web. Combining Real-time Location Based Services, Social Networking and now Location Aware Chat, Mologogo continues to break new ground for mobile apps. Mologogo also serves as a dirt-cheap tracking system.
It currently works on pretty much any Nextel phone with Java, GPS and a data plan — even a sub $80 no-contract Boost Mobile phone as well as the Blackberry 7250 and Windows Mobile pocketpc phones and smartphones with external gps.
Mologogo is totally "alpha" right now, but improving rapidly. It was built as a Web 2.0 app, so expect integration with sites like Flickr, Upcoming.org, Judy's book, and lots more RubyOnRails/AJAX-y goodness added to the UI. And with the soon to be released API, you'll be able to access your own location data in other sites.
Clients for PocketPC, Palm, and any other devices with wireless net, are on the way.
The Open Device Monitoring and Tracking Protocol (OpenDMTP)
The "Open Device Monitoring and Tracking Protocol" is a protocol and framework that allows bi-directional data communications between servers and devices (clients) over the Internet and similar networks. OpenDMTP is particularly geared towards Location-based information (LBS) such as GPS, as well as temperature and other data collected in remote-monitoring devices. OpenDMTP is small, and is especially suited for micro-devices such as PDA's, mobile phones, and custom OEM devices.
OpenDMTP was specifically designed to suit the needs for "Small Footprint" and "Network Efficiency". The typical 'data plan' for GPRS communication, for instance, is usually 1Mb per month. OpenDMTP was designed to optimize packet encoding to allow the collection of GPS information packets once every 3 minutes, 24 hours a day, 30 days a month, and still stay under the 1Mb data plan limit.
OpenDMTP is an Open Source protocol and client framework. It is licensed under the Apache Software License, version 2. According to the terms of this license, anyone may freely download and distribute the tools and information.
Now there is an open source solution that can turn your Palm Treo 650 Smartphone or another J2ME Capable Mobile Phone
into a GPS tracking device and have the data sent back to your computer over the phone's wireless data service. Add a mapping program or service (such as using Tiger data, Google Maps, Google Earth, MS-MapPoints, or others), and you'll be able to see your data on an interactive map! Consult http://www.opendmtp.org/article/treo650/ for details.
Cell Phones
Ever more cell phones are and will be equipped with GPS and more and more operators offer some kind of tracking services. A good example are the phones for kids on our Kid Phones page.
