GoPass' sneaky new device isn't a
foreign concept, but the AVL-900 definitely ups the ante by not only allowing the installer to track the vehicle's every turn via GPS / GPRS, but it sports an integrated microphone to let the uber-curious listen in. Although parents may gleam and teens may fume, this
portable tracking system packs a SiRF Star III GPS receiver, supports quad-band GSM communications, and can report positions on a timed interval or send an alert to your cellphone if the vehicle is moved (read: stolen) while you're away. The company claims that you won't be charged any monthly fees for the
voyeuristic luxuries, and if seeing a moving dot wasn't close enough to being in the backseat, you can simply text the device or ring it up to enable a listen-only conversation to what's happening within. Moreover, the AVL-900 will even let you monitor the movements from your smartphone, and while we know the suspicious parents in the crowd have their credit cards ready, there's sadly (or fortunately, depending on perspective) no pricing or availability deets to hand out just yet.
[Via
NaviGadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mark @ May 21st 2007 7:01PM
Any parent who thinks this is the way to teach their child responsibility has already blown it. I could see it being bought by suspicious spouses.
Pete @ May 21st 2007 7:42PM
Is that a USB-based power socket? I'd hope it's mainly battery powered... would be kind of hard to hide it if you had to plug it in to the dash...
Sam @ May 21st 2007 8:41PM
It would require a GSM data plan I assume.
MIKE @ May 21st 2007 8:42PM
Mark ... I think this comes under the heading of "Trust, but verify." The vast majority of people who actually have teenaged children can appreciate this.
Andrew @ May 21st 2007 9:39PM
Can't be all that high-security... the thing plugs into your lighter socket. Ooooo frightening.
Morons.
catfish @ May 21st 2007 9:46PM
yea, but seriously you need to cut your kids off the leash or they'll go crazy and rebel. By the point they're driving, you should either a. know they are doing stupid things (trust me they are) and b. trust that they aren;t going to do anything extremly dangerous, at least not more than you did when you were a kid. And if you can't trust those things then A. what on earth did you do wrong as a parent and B. why on earth are you still giving them the keys to your car?
A friend of mine has just about the strictest parents, won't let her out after like 5, and even forbid she talk to a *gasp* boy outside of school. Its turned her into a timebomb, once she hits college and is free of them shes going to go wild and get herself into god knows how much trouble. Its always the repressed ones that snap...
I don't mean to call you a bad parent as all, and trust me as a teenager all your fears are more than justified. What isn't justified however is keeping them on so short a leash you need to spy on them. I mean do you like the idea of your kids sticking a bug on you at all times, knowing exactly what you do and say... ?
MIKE @ May 21st 2007 11:00PM
Catfish ... you seem to forget that anyone old enough to have teenagers actually used to be one too. Thanks anyway.
crispy @ May 22nd 2007 12:32AM
Anything that plugs into a cigarette lighter can have power tapped for it behind the dash so easy its funny. You would never know its there.
gfhfghfgh @ May 22nd 2007 4:30AM
Isn't this ... like ... totally illegal to listen in on conversations without the knowledge of the people you are listening too? Well, in Europe it is a serious offense (and I doubt that's different in the USA).
jnusa @ May 22nd 2007 11:29AM
Mobile GPS Online sells them for CAN $ 515 - http://mobilegpsonline.com/mgpsos/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=449
Dag @ Aug 8th 2007 1:51PM
Is it for sale in Europe?