GPS via SMS

Arion

Hi

I was chatting to an Eircom employee, last wkend, who told me, that he could get his position on his mobile phone, by keying in a code, and sending it to a certain number. It would tell him exactly where he was, down to what street he was on.

I was both worried and intregued about this. I can't find any info on the web about it, so I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about it.

to pre-empt, I'd just like to say, that I don't know the first thing about GSM, except that, it aids communication between two people, etc, etc.

BrianD

O2 Have/had a service where, after registering, you could send a request e.g ATM or PUB to a shortcode and it would send back the address of the nearest ATM or pub back to your phone. Big disadvantage of this type of technology is that it gets commercially hijacked. Soon you will have shops bombarding you with messages as you pass by!

jesus_thats_gre

They can pretty much tell within 10's of metres where you are. The network needs to track you around the network to allow you access to the network. Everytime you use the phone, the network locks on to you and pretty much knows exactly where u are. This is a very simple explantion.

Location based services have been available for while now but are still pretty safe.


One thing, if you are gonna commit a crime, leave your mobile at home

flywheel

O2 introduced their Locator service around Q4 2002 - based on Webraska's SmartZone solutions - although it is currently offline

Vodafone also used a location based system with their BotFighters game which ran around the same time in Q4 2002 (and ended mid '03)

just to clarify, these solutions provided by the operators currenlty don't make use of the Global Positioning System, rather they use the operator's network so your location isn't as pin-point as a GPS pocition can be (in good conditions), other factors like the network infrastructure and quality of coverage you have in a location can also be a factor in the 'estimate' of where you actually are...

in the future a solution like Assisted GPS would provide better accuracy and coverage, but it requires compatible handsets (and new network infrastructure)

BrianG

The Corinthian

O2 had another solution that used mapping data from Mapflow back in early 2001, but it was never released to the general public.

These solutions are generally based upon the user's cell ID (last time I looked) which is then looked up against a database of each cell's location. Problem with this is than in particular in areas/times when cells are overloaded your singnal will get passed on to the next nearest cell, so as to spread out this load. As a result you can get some very innacurate readings.

Jammer

Voda have a thing on their LIVE! Menu called "Find and Seek"...thats the kind of thing? gives u directions to nearest top up point, amongst other things. only used it once or twice to test, but worked fine.

flywheel

that's it - when you choose the 'Locate Me' option

would have thought they were all using more than Cell ID alone, as the 'Get Directions' feature is pretty good at beginning close to where you are, there are ways of determining a fix based using speed of radio signals, tracking and triangulation techniques...

BrianG

Arion

I guess that makes it pretty operator dependent, then.

I just thought it might be useful when I go on holidays, to countries that don't believe in signposts, to be able to know where you are.

I guess I'll just have to ask next time I'm going somewhere, if the destination network has such a service.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by Arion
I just thought it might be useful when I go on holidays, to countries that don't believe in signposts, to be able to know where you are.

Many do as I discovered just before Christmas.









(the plug is unintentional, honest!)

LoBo

Isn't that "Melbourne" and "Hyde Park" just the Cell Info Display?

I was living in Sydney for 2003 and my old 3310 showed that same 10 char info showing which Cell you were in just below the operator logo. I believe its just an option whether to show it or not on the network side of things.

Not exactly as specific as location based services, as it just depends what cell you are currently being handled by.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by LoBo
Isn't that "Melbourne" and "Hyde Park" just the Cell Info Display?

Yes it is. Read my first post above.

v10

Send the Letter P to 0872422426

You'll get a reply with seconds with your current location.

You didn't hear it from me

wheresmybeaver

Hmm if this doesnt work there might be a vodafone customer receiving a lot of Ps in the following hours!

Think I'll wait for some verification of this before I try it out.

jt

yep that worked, it sent back my location, i guess it gives the location of the nearest mast.
jt