The number of personal GPS devices that people have access to is constantly growing. At first, a GPS unit was bulky, making it hard to fit them anywhere but the dashboard of a car. But now that technology has advanced so much in this area we are seeing GPS becoming smaller and smaller and fitting into more and more devices. This has left us with a wide array of personal GPS devices for our enjoyment. Among the most interest device available are GPS tracking watches, personal navigational GPS, GPS tracking devices, and cell phones
GPS Tracking Watches
GPS is getting so small that companies are beginning to be able to install in watches. This has a couple of different applications for consumers, but the most well received so far has been in the world of fitness watches. GPS is great for tracking the speed, altitude and position of an object so these devices were integrated with fitness watches to help people who run, bike, or swim to track their speeds and routes. When these are integrated with a heart rate monitor they make excellent training aids and can help athletes of all levels push their workouts to the next level.
The second application of these devices is in person tracking, especially the tracking children. Watches made for this application tend to be used primarily by parents of at risk kids or those who are especially concerned for their child’s safety. Some model lock around the wrist to prevent tampering by the child or by someone else. Some even have feature two way calling so that a child can talk with their parent with the press of a button. These watches are notoriously bulky and tend to be very easily identified by someone looking to sniff out a GPS tracking watch, but in a few years and with some more development these watches will be very powerful and widely available to the public.
Navigation GPS
Practically everyone has a personal GPS that they use for navigation. Brand names like Garmin, TomTom, and Magellan are in households all over America, giving instructions with their accented, electronic voices. There have even been several humorous instances where people have become so trusting of these devices that they follow them off cliffs, into ditches, and even into bodies of water. Many have had the experience of getting a personal navigational GPS and subsequently becoming dependent upon it to get them from place to place or to be their navigator on long family trips. The type of navigation that these devices has pioneered is certainly here to stay, but their future is a little uncertain since much of the GPS world is now focused on the phenomenally powerful cell phone.
Cell Phones
Cell phones are the current golden child of the GPS world. They are small, compact, and practically everyone in America has one. They are the future of personal communication and may soon outpace the traditional land line telephone as the way people talk with others. Text messaging and internet enabled phones make it that much more powerful as a tool for personal and professional development. When GPS is added to it, and with GPS you get both navigation and tracking capabilities, it becomes even more useful to consumers.
Cell phone companies realize this and have been working hard at expanding the GPS capabilities of cell phones. People want to have one device that can do it all and since they already have their phones with them to make calls they are very willing to use it to get directions as well.
GPS Tracking Units
The last group personal GPS devices that has some significant traction in today’s world of consumer goods are GPS tracking units. These are not all the same and can range from car tracking devices to personal trackers that fit inside an article of clothing or inside a shoe. Some transmit their tracking data in real-time so that users can find out where an object is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Other devices simply log a devices movements and stores it to be downloaded by the user at some point in time.
Each of these different devices has its own set of applications and is generally used by different people. Real-time tracking has a lot of applications in law enforcement, business (especially service and shipping fleets), and personal uses. Data logging also has law enforcement and personal applications as well.
If you are interested in the different applications of GPS technology you can check out Joe’s site, GPS For Today, where he writes about many different topics ranging from tracking teens with GPS to giving tips on how to effectively use GPS tracking watches. He give special attention to issue revolving around GPS tracking and all the different applications and concerns with this use of GPS.
