gps Archive

Whenever I see a snow or ski-related Web site, I think back to my days creating the first snow.com. Today I found a new iPhone application that would have been a welcome addition to snow.com back in the mid-90s. Snocator takes full advantage of the GPS functions in the iPhone to make sure you never get lost when skiing or enjoying the slopes.

Assuming you are carrying your iPhone, you can find out how close the nearest lift, trail, etc. is from your current location. The company says they have mapped most of the major ski areas in North America, and snow reports, trail maps, and mountain cams for most of the world. Snocator also includes photos from resorts (see below) along with coming soon features of checking where your friends are and mapping your actual skiing usage. You can also watch live video cams from a variety of resorts.

The application also features local information including where to eat, shop, etc. I like this application because it combines a fun aspect with a real utility. It is a niche product so the Snocator team will need to market it locally at the resorts to maximize the usage. The app costs $5.99. I assume revenue may also come from either ads or a revshare with the resorts.  Snocator was created by Denver-based Useful Networks.

Based in Spain, Ipoki is a social network with a twist. Rather than networking with people in one location, with Ipoki, you can connect with people based on where you are at the present moment. It works worldwide, there are 8,000 registered members and so far from what I can tell most are from Europe and South America. Perhaps this is where the majority of handsets with GPS are located?

The service uses Google Maps heavily along with Google Earth. You can import a file into Google Earth and just watch all of the people who have set their profiles to "public" move around the globe. Great tool for boredom and for spying! In a totally freaky concept, you can embed a live map into your blog so your visitors can watch your every move – damn!

There are scannable QR codes to get Ipoki installed on your handset and to follow others. There are widgets to tie into Netvibes, iGoogle, PageFlakes, etc. You can use the API to extend the functionality of Ipoki. There’s also a tie-into Flickr for geotagging of photos with one click.

To use Ipoki, your phone must have GPS enabled. It would be great if they could get it working similar to the way Google Maps works with the point triangulation. Sadly Sprint has locked the GPS on my mobile so I can’t show you a live demo. I have embedded another Ipoki user below.

This is monetizable locally by taking the matches to a location (pizza, diner, movie, bowling, etc.) — hyper local advertising at its best.

John Halpin, a 21 year employee of the NYC school system was fired yesterday for accepting pay for time worked when he allegedly was not at work. How do they know he wasn't at work? It appears that they were monitoring his activities using the GPS functions of his government-issued cell phone.

The NY Post reports, "Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday fired a veteran worker whose movements were tracked for five months through the GPS device in his cellphone, leading to charges that he was repeatedly cutting out early."

He said he was never told that the cellphone he was given in 2005 could be used to monitor his every move and questioned the accuracy of the data it produced. The judge issued a decision saying the Department of Education was under no obligation "to notify its employees of all the methods it may possibly use to uncover their misconduct."

Only 2 states in the U.S. require a company to let an employee know when they are using a GPS tracking device. We know of companies who monitor Internet and phone usage, now they are tracking movement.

What's your opinion: Is this big brother or is it OK for a company to monitor an employee's movements during their on-duty time? Is the answer different for a Web worker?