SPOT – The World’s First Satellite Messenger Now Shipping
Written by SPOT
Friday, 02 November 2007
Satellite-Based Emergency Messenger and Personal Tracker is Available
for Purchase Online at www.findmespot.com Nov. 1, and on Store Shelves
at Major Retail Outlets Later in November
MILPITAS, Calif.-- SPOT Inc. today announced that SPOT, the world’s first satellite messenger, is available for purchase and activation. SPOT is now offering the messenger and service online at www.findmespot.com. In addition, major outdoor, online, wireless and electronics retailers will carry limited stock of SPOT later in November, in time for the holiday gift-giving season.
Small, rugged and simple to use, the SPOT satellite messenger is a lifesaving device designed to improve personal safety for the millions of people who spend time in the outdoors – whether for recreation, work or daily life. With the push of a button, SPOT can transmit a user’s exact location and message to a 9-1-1 emergency call center in times of need, or to friends, family or co-workers to request help, track their location, or just keep in touch. Because SPOT sends a user’s exact GPS satellite location over a commercial satellite network, SPOT works in much of the world regardless of cellular coverage. Viewing messages and locations is easy using the SPOT Web service with included Google Maps™ technology.
“All of us have heard the news stories of people getting lost, stranded or worse in mountains or remote areas, and we’ve all wondered what would we do when caught in those same dangerous or potentially life-threatening situations,” said Dennis Allen, Senior Vice President of Sales, SPOT Inc. “Now, with SPOT, you can send a message for help or tell family members, friends or the authorities exactly where to find you using GPS accuracy, and at a price most people can afford. In addition to outdoor enthusiasts, SPOT also helps the millions of people who desire the peace of mind of maintaining contact in the face of limited cellular coverage or as a back-up communication plan for natural disasters, such as the recent hurricanes in the Southeast or the wildfires on the West Coast. If you have a cell phone, you need a SPOT.”
SPOT message and tracking functions enable users to send messages to friends, family or emergency responders, based on varying levels of need and to visually track the location of the SPOT satellite messenger:
* Alert 9-1-1 signals an emergency response center to dispatch emergency responders to an exact location
* Ask for Help sends a request for help to friends and family
* Check In lets contacts know where you are and that you are OK
* Track Progress sends and saves your location and allows your selected contacts to track your progress using Google Maps and www.findmespot.com with password-protected security.
“We are excited to meet this critical safety need,” added Mr. Allen. “We are proud to provide a product that can offer more security to millions of people because of its lifesaving communication capability – and useful services for daily life, such as checking in, or tracking your location. Since our announcement at the Outdoor Retailer Show in August, bloggers, magazines, newspapers and retailers around the country have fallen in love with the SPOT messenger. Now, we are very pleased to be able to offer it to the public on Nov. 1.”
As featured in Popular Science, MacWorld, U.S. News & World Report and The Washington Post, among others, the SPOT messenger provides consumers peace of mind whether they’re signaling for emergency responders or checking-in with a spouse or friend. SPOT is only seven ounces and uses convenient and easy-to-replace AA size lithium batteries for complete portability. When powered on, it has a standby battery life of 12 months. The SPOT messenger also floats and its rugged waterproof construction is engineered to withstand a wide variety of extreme environmental shock and temperature conditions.
“As an avid outdoorsman, I saw the lifesaving value of the SPOT messenger for outdoor adventurers even before I used it myself,” said Henry Waszczuk, host of two nationally-televised outdoor shows, ‘Fins & Skins’ and ‘Fishing the Flats.’ “The way I see it, the SPOT messenger takes the search out of search and rescue. However, when I actually tested all of the functions of this little product, I was very excited about the potential for SPOT to provide peace of mind for outdoor enthusiasts in many other situations – whether you are hunting, camping, fishing, boating, or mountain climbing. SPOT is a must for any outdoor activity. I can now send updates on my whereabouts while traveling for work, let my family know I’m OK while deep-sea fishing, and have a back-up plan in case my truck breaks down on the way to another TV shoot. Without question, SPOT is one of the most amazing new products for the avid outdoorsman.”
Pricing
The SPOT satellite messenger will be available through major sporting goods, wireless, and electronics retailers across the U.S. and online through the company’s Web site, www.findmespot.com. The SPOT messenger will be available for $169.99 USD online (MSRP – unit price may vary by retail location). Initially, annual service fees will be offered at $99.99 USD. Later, monthly and multi-year options will be available. Optional features include an automatic tracking service for $49.99 and a private rescue service for countries or regions with non-responsive emergency services for $7.95.
Coverage
SPOT works in much of the world, including virtually the entire continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, portions of South America, Northern Africa and Northeastern Asia, and hundreds of thousands of miles offshore of these areas. SPOT uses the GPS satellite system to determine a user’s location and a commercial satellite network to transmit that location and the user’s status.
Product Specifications
Approximate dimensions: 4.38 X 2.75 X 1.5 inches
Operating Temperature Range: -40 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit
Weight: 7.37 ounces
Altitude: -300 feet to 21,000 feet
About SPOT Inc.
The SPOT satellite messenger, the world’s first satellite messenger, uses both the GPS satellite network to determine a customer’s location and the SPOT network to transmit that information to friends, family or an emergency service center. SPOT Inc., a subsidiary or Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSAT), provides lifesaving communications technology that allows users to communicate from remote locations around the globe. Thanks to this affordable, cutting-edge personal safety device, the company offers people unmatched peace of mind by allowing customers to notify friends and family of their location and status, and to send for emergency assistance in time of need, completely independent of cellular phone or wireless coverage.
For more information on how SPOT is helping users live to tell about itTM – from disaster preparedness to outdoor adventure purposes – visit www.findmespot.com.
Mobile Technology Feature - Top 10 Business Apps for Android - Android has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems
in the world due to advanced software, competitive manufacturers, and an
app market that is filled with exciting and useful applications. Read
on for this fine Top 10 List compiled by tech writer, Blake Sanders
The Really Big List of Mapping, Geo location Mobile developer resources, APIs and Tools - The Mobile Ecosystem... no question that mobile is huge and
the opportunity for developers, in particular, geo developers! There's
loads of developer resources on the web so to help the developer,
here's a listing of just some of the fine dev resources, blogs,
toolsets and more to consider when developing or porting your app to a
smartphone or Tablet.
ArcGIS.com Mashup Tutorial with Flickr and Foursquare data-
Here's a simple "how to" tutorial on working with the free ArcGIS.com
to easily import KML or RSS data from Flickr and foursquare into ArcGIS
to create your own custom map mashup. ArcGIS.com has some recent
updates including support for KML, be sure to check it out!
Most Users of Free Photo Apps Say Adding Cool Effects is Most Useful - Adding cool effects
to photos was rated as the most useful thing by more than halfof
consumers surveyed using free online photography services, according to
CatchFree a free
online service that helps people find the best free mobile and web applications
to perform useful tasks.
Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Up Close - No Replacement for the iPad But Pretty Darned Sweet - As could be
expected, speculation and blogging is rampant with many stories and
pseudo "reviews" coming out, many of them touting the next "iPad
killer".
Mobile Developer Resource - MapQuest & The Mobile Worker - Facility management companies, surveyors, multi-level marketing,
insurance claims, pipeline companies, water utilities; all have field
workers who would benefit from mobile applications. Not only checking in
to work sites, but keeping a record of the work done
Flickr GPS Photo Tag Tip - Here's a tip for Flickr users who want to share their GPS information
with their photos. note, in order to do this you'll need to be
capturing photos using a GPS-enabled or GPS-aware camera (see you're
smartphone hardware settings to ensure that GPS or location sharing is
turned "ON)".
Mobile data usage in Canada to triple between 2010 and 2012 - Some interesting, yet not terribly surprising, numbers on mobile
usage coming out of Canada. According to a report summarized on
Techvibes, mobile usage is soaring, in particular, the smartphone
segment
Social Location Directory
Do you have a location-aware application, social location service or other location-sensitive service that you'd like to share with us? Please browse this growing directory of Social location Services and feel free to leave a link to your favorite service! See the Directory HERE
Suggested Reading
The Underground Guide To The iPhone:
The iPhone is – if I may say so – one of the greatest mobile
revolutions of the past decade. More and more, mobile phones seem to
materialize out of our wildest dreams. Because of the tight integration
of third-party applications, you can do nearly everything with your
device — be it gaming, working, fooling around, and of course phoning.
Good Mobile Messaging: Executives and professional field forces spend an increasing amount of time on the road tending to business.
Mobile Apps - Native or Web?:
You probably have a plan to build a mobile app, but you've struggled
with the basic question - Should I build it using open web standards
such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or should I build it as a native app
for the devices I want to target?
iBike Coach App- a new “Always On” feature always gathers data
Nike+ GPS App- for sports tracking, recording and sharing
Featured Events
Content & Apps for Automotive Europe 2012 (18-19 April, Germany)
will give you key insights on how in-vehicle connectivity is being
revolutionised as OEMs integrate dynamic content to stay relevant
throughout the vehicle life cycle.
Location Intelligence for Enterprise - Europe 2012, January 16-17, London Hear from Google, Jones Lang LaSalle, Tesco, Willis, Oracle,
ESRI, Microsoft, PBBI and many more as they debate the best strategies
for business models and integration.
Consumer Telematics Show 2012 (Jan 9, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, USA) is the most prestigious and
dynamic consumer telematics focused meeting for the automotive industry.
Held in Las Vegas on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
this year's senior-level speakers will include General Motors, Audi,
Toyota, Panasonic, Continental, Hughes Telematics, Gartner, KIA,
Mercedes-Benz and many more
Esri Dev Summit - The
Esri Developer Summit (DevSummit) brings together developers and GIS
professionals from all over the globe. March 26-29, 2012, Palm Springs,
CA
