Imagine being able to find the things you lose with GPS technology. Personal transmitters are an exciting development in GPS devices, and Crutchfield carries one called the Zoombak Personal Locator.
We wanted to find out how the locator system worked, so we sent a few of our employees out to put the Zoombak through its paces, and see how effective it really was at finding things. Read on, as Ralph debriefs our team:
The Zoombak Personal Locator
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Ralph: Robert and Gabrielle, I understand you've been testing the new Zoombak Personal Locator. It's an evocative name...what is a Zoombak?
Robert: It's a GPS tracking device used to supplement your personal security program. Zoombak enhances its GPS capability with cellphone technology, which gives you some options you wouldn't normally have.
Gabz: I have to say, there are lots of different forms of GPS tracking technology, but none seem to give you the independence and flexibility that I've seen with the Zoombak.
Ralph: That sounds promising. So how would you use a Zoombak?
Robert: It's intended for dog owners, mainly, or for parents to put in their cars so that they can keep an eye on their kids when they're out and about. It has several other uses too.
Gabz: You can use it for pretty much anything you want to track. They come with accessories kits to make attaching the device more convenient, but you're not limited to the suggested uses. You could, for example, zip-tie it underneath a bicycle seat, or tuck it into a laptop case.
Ralph: Ok. This sounds like it's a very small thing — something you could put in your backpack, is that correct?
Gabz: Oh, it's tiny. It's just a little black box about half the size of a pack of cards —
Robert: About the size of a cellphone.
Ralph: How accurate is it? You're talking about being able to track valuable things like a computer or helping keep track of your kids, but could this be used inappropriately to track people?
Robert: That's a very real issue and it's one that the developers seem to have thought about. While the technology is very accurate at determining the device's location, the information you get as the "user" is not so specific — you get a range of about a block. So you can't pinpoint exactly where it is, but you can get a pretty good idea from the map.
Ralph: So is it the same concept as Googlemaps and other services? GPS technology is such that the military can read the headlines of a newspaper lying on the ground, but that level of resolution isn't available from Googlemaps.
Gabz: You don't see satellite pictures. Instead, you're looking at a map —
Robert: —It looks like the same set of maps you'd see on a GPS navigator in your car.
Ralph: Ok.
Gabz: It does pinpoint the transmitter's actual location, you just don't get a lot of specific detail to go along with it. The Zoombak'll tell you it's in a specific city block. So let's say you know there are three houses in this block. Remember, you're looking at a map, so you won't see the houses, but if the pointer's smack in the middle of that block, you can reasonably assume the transmitter's where the middle house is sitting. In other words, you can make educated guesses — enough to know where to look. If you wanted definitive proof, you'd have to actually go to that block and look around.
Ralph: So, no reading license plates from outer space.
Gabz: [laughing] Oh no! Nothing like that.
Ralph: Ok, so this isn't video surveillance. I think that's probably the number one thing people worry about with stuff like this. What about its tracking capability?
[Editor's Note: Tracking laws vary by locality, so be sure to check your state and local regulations.]
On TV, they've got a map of the city, and there's this glowing blip that continually moves as the tracked object travels. Is that something you can see with the Zoombak? How often does it report back?
Gabz: Err..kind of, but it's not as high-tech as what we see in on TV, and your results depend on what you ask it to do. It's designed to give you only enough information to find what you've lost — say, just enough to lead you to your dog, but not enough to clue you in on each and every move the dog makes while it wanders.
Ralph: So, if you wanted to stalk your ex, it's not going to be that helpful.
Gabz: No. On the other hand, if you're working late and want to see whether your teenager made it home ok with the car, you can program it to give you an hour's worth of tracking. That's usually enough get an accurate idea of the route he's taken, and about how long it's taking him to reach each checkpoint on the route.
Robert: Hopefully you'd let your teenager know the car has a tracking device but that's up to you as a parent. Once you've installed the transmitter in your car, you can keep tabs from your computer, using Zoombak's site.
Ralph: So it tracks "real time" but not like what you see on TV?
Robert: Correct. The interface won't let you get too specific, so you're not going to get a "real-time", second-by-second map like in a spy movie.
