First off, no affiliation. This came up on a youtube add. It actually seems like this could be one of the better low cost tracking devices that will be available for our cars. Why do I say will - because it isn't on the market yet and still on indigogo for funding. Its called Ping - why do I think its better? Look at what's out there. There are many little devices on the market now (tile, TrackR). They rely on bluetooth - meaning it needs to be near a similar device or your phone to be picked up and report the location. They are counting on so many devices in the world that you can find your object when they come in close range. You might be willing to risk this for a bicycle, your keys or cellphone. But I know if my car is gone I want to ping my tracking device and tell me an almost exact location. Surprisingly, LoJack is similar to this where to find your car the tracker device has to be in a certain proximity to pick it up. There are much more expensive tracking devices used more for fleet transportation and heavy equipment. These devices have long term battery power and come with some sort of subscription service that can be $30-$50 per month, if not more, usually with a initial fee or couple hundred dollar purchase price.. That is a little expensive for me... But they work! Just leave a smart phone in the car - it would have to stay powered. You would also have an extra device to pay on a monthly basis. This little thing has both cell data plan w/gps and Bluetooth. It is traceable on demand. It has batteries that last months. It is $100 pre-order and comes with a year of service. Data plan beyond that is $3/month. Its small enough to tuck away in a hidden corner of the car - you have to remember to recharge it a couple times a year. I don't see if it will have settings to notify you via text if your object moves or it power supply gets low... a couple nice to have features.... It doesn't exist yet, but the technology doesn't seem unreasonable. It has nearly 1000% funding already so it has a good chance. They say once it is on the market they will only be $130 - once again first year plan included, $3 / month beyond that. It seems like it could be one of the best products on the market, if it gets there! Ping GPS
They are already available. They use cellular service with a pre-paid sim card. You only use cell $ if you ask it where it is.
Somebody is watching you. They will know where you are, where you have been, for how long, how you got there, how fast you drove... Need I go on?
Good day Spencer, It is indeed an interesting product concept. However, one has to be somewhat cautious with Crowdfunding, as there is no guarantee of a successful product... or if you will ever get your money back if things go sideway. For example, check out a recent one that was funded big time... and then they folded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iap43M40F80 As for the product in question... remember that you must place the device in a spot/location that is not surrounded by metal... or least its antenna. If so, then the device will have a really difficult time receiving or transmitting data... and thus will be unable to provide the location of where your car is. Cheers, Sam
