Jump to content

Free "Spot" PLB (well, sort of...)


FastEddieB

Recommended Posts

I listen to a "netcast" (MacBreak Weekly) where they give their picks of the week at the end of the show.

 

Last week one of the picks was an app called "Glympse". (http://www.glympse.com/get_glympse). Also available for Android and Windows Mobile.

 

I had not heard of it, but its free, so Karen and I both downloaded it.

 

It allows you to send, via many different ways, a "Glympse" of your present location on a map, which can be set for up to 4 hours. You can send a message along with the Glympse.

 

mzl.xdifcgff.320x480-75.jpg

 

mzl.mfshxxgk.320x480-75.jpg

 

We used it Saturday so Karen could follow a flight I made to Alabama in the Sky Arrow and it worked fine*.

 

Of course, one needs cellphone coverage for it to work, so in more than a few parts of the country you'd be out of luck.

 

And, one could use the "Find My iPhone" feature to log in and track someone, but the elegance of the Glympse, plus its reasonable (free) cost, kinda makes it a no-brainer.

 

And, "If It's Free, It's For Me!"™

 

 

*where we went Saturday:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wrong,

 

smart phones can have numerous vectors of 2way communication

 

cell service covers phone, texting, and location via cell system

blue tooth - hands free

gps - satellite

g3 / g4 - satellite - web access (including sync)

wi-fi - local wireless

 

i can drive from los angeles to mammoth lakes, 300 miles mostly with no cell service but i can watch my progress on a google map all the way. the google maps are not stored on my phone they are being fed via g3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True... While it acquires location information from GPS satellite (and/or cell-tower), a phone/3g connection is needed to report the location to their system (and your recipient).

Tim

 

tim,

 

phone (cell) / 3g are 2 different things. 3g is satellite and will work when you are not within cell coverage.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope... 3G is definitely ground-based.. no satellites involved. From Answers.com:

"All cellular data networks rely upon cell towers. Mobile devices are not equipped with the proper radios or devices to "talk" to satellites. Functions like GPS are still "assisted," meaning that the satellite refers data to the cell tower which in turn sends data to the mobile device."

It is possible that the maps are "cached"... I know that google maps caches maps, especially if you've viewed them recently. The aviation-based apps all have the ability (if not automatically) to cache the maps, so they'll work off-line (out of cell-tower range).

Tim

ps... AT&T just rolled out the first-ever cell phone that also "does satellite" - terrestar. It uses cell towers, when possible, but jumps to satellite when the towers aren't working.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

g3 / g4 - satellite - web access (including sync)

wi-fi - local wireless

 

Cell phone types and coverage are NOT my field of expertise, but I'm pretty sure that 3g does not turn our cell phones into sat phones - it would be nice if it did!

 

i can drive from los angeles to mammoth lakes, 300 miles mostly with no cell service but i can watch my progress on a google map all the way. the google maps are not stored on my phone they are being fed via g3

 

I routinely drive from N GA to Knoxville, TN - I did so yesterday. A few miles north of Ducktown, TN, my iPhone says "NO SIGNAL" and I can neither make nor receive phone calls, surf the net, nor send text messages for about 40 miles. I'm pretty sure if I was in a field in my plane in that area I'd have no chance of sending a "Glympse" without a cell signal. FWIW, I never see "3G" until I get very close to Knoxville.

 

I did try using the app "GPS Drive" on the drive yesterday. As soon as I lost signal, the program advised me that the map would not be updated - and yet I drove about 25 miles with the map still working. Then I came to a cross-hatched "no map" area. I assumed the map I had been using had been cached. As soon as I got to Tellico Plains and had cell signal for a while, the maps gradually filled back in.

 

I suspect that's what happens on your drive to Mammoth Lakes. I know on my phone using that app I cannot change the scale once I lose signal. Maybe you have more memory devoted to the cache?

 

I may be confused on any or all of this - again, not my field of expertise - and I'm happy to learn! :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3G networks use large satellite-driven connections that connect to a system of telecommunication towers. This means that the range is far greater than other technologies.

 

quote from: http://www.wisegeek....-3g-service.htm

 

my experience is that i have phone when near 2g towers and data everywhere.

 

i could have phone everywhere if i used skype or other voip

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i could have phone everywhere if i used skype or other voip

 

I use Skype all the time.

 

So, let me try to understand...

 

I have an iPhone 4. Are you saying there's a way I can make Skype calls via satellite when I'm in that "dead zone" between my home and Knoxville and my phone says "NO SIGNAL"?

 

That would be cool, but I don't see a way, unless I'm in range of a wireless connection.

 

Or are you saying that might be an iPhone limitation, and other phones revert to a 3g sat connection when out of cell tower range? If so, that's a huge advantage.

 

From your link: "3G networks use large satellite-driven connections that connect to a system of telecommunication towers. This means that the range is far greater than other technologies."

 

I think you're interpreting that the cell phones can make a direct "satellite-driven" connection. Cool, if true. But I think that means the telecommunication towers utilize satellites to interconnect, not that our phones can send out signals going directly to satellites - I still think only very expensive sat phones can do that.

 

But I may be wrong and await enlightenment!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eddie,

 

no, 3g networks utilize satellite they don't make your phone a sat phone, your phone still communicates to a 3g tower.

 

maybe i'm confused by the 300 miles of continuous coverage on 3g, maybe i just assumed i lost phone, i know i have data the whole way and i might have phone as well. i don't talk that much.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...