Super Trackstick covertly logs joyrides

Gizmos such as the Super Trackstick have been around for a tick, but the newest creation from Telespial Systems makes logging those late night trips to wherever a lesson in simplicity. This diminutive device touts 4MB of built-in storage for tracking "weeks or even months of travel histories," including records of the "exact routes, stop times, speed and direction, and other valuable information." Additionally, the GPS-equipped device gets powered from just two AAA cells (which last about a month), and users can expect the Google Earth integration to make for some pretty precise results. All of the data tracked can be easily uploaded to your PC via the built-in USB 2.0 connector, and while we're not exactly sure it's worth the $274.98 asking price, be sure and check out the promo video after the break.

[Via The Raw Feed]

[sr1329 @ Sep 11th 2007 1:21AM]

If I has a Ferrari and I need valet parking, I'm getting one of these.

[compumaster @ Sep 11th 2007 1:30AM]

Oh, come on guys, give me a break. 278$ is too much.
If you have any bluetooth enabled cell phone there are many NMEA (the raw GPS format) recording programs out there. Depending on your model of your there are many GPS logging programs starting from 25 USD (like GPSDash). And you can buy a bluetooth GPS starting from about 45 USD. There is even a NMEA to Google Maps converter site at http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=googleearth and many applications available on the cloud.

And 4 MBs capacity, given the SD card prices, isn't 4MBs a little bit small for this.
You can even see if I change lanes with the maps that I create with above setup.

And I believe, a person who reads this web site definitely have a bluetooth cellphone...

[Charlie Calhoun @ Sep 11th 2007 3:00AM]

You are absolutely right. I do have a bluetooth cell phone, a Nokia 3620 (old but still alive and kicking) with a 256 MB MMC. I also have a bluetooth enabled laptop, and another laptop with a USB Bluetooth adapter, and a Belkin Bluetooth GPS receiver. I mean, really the only reason I would by a GPS device like this, was if it had Live Tracking abilities.

[lassi @ Sep 11th 2007 4:27AM]

whats intresting is the supposed 1 month of use with 2 aaa's.

and for that, 278$ wouldn't be bad.

[spam_from_engadget @ Sep 11th 2007 7:11AM]

> a person who reads this web site definitely have
> a bluetooth cellphone

Nope.

[Standingfast @ Sep 11th 2007 11:23AM]

Your right, I have a Bluetooth Cell phone, still wont work, why? you ask? Well, its an iphone ^_^

[Blaine Oliver @ Sep 11th 2007 1:49AM]

Another way to spy on us? We are going to create a world where pre-crime is battled, like in so many sci-fi films..

[Tony @ Sep 11th 2007 1:54AM]

That has got to be the most boring ad I've ever seen..

..and I still don't know what it does.

[jj @ Sep 11th 2007 2:30AM]

what is new on the stick?
http://www.amaryllo.com/almooj/amaryllo-sportproducten/amaryllo-trip-tracker-bluetooth.html

[Eduo @ Sep 11th 2007 7:41AM]

That this one is much smaller, mainly.

[Eduo @ Sep 11th 2007 7:42AM]

I'd like to see a mix between this and Sparkfun's Geochron and a dash or amaryllo's.

I believe providing a Memory Card slot is vital, instead of providing these crappy memory capacities.

Also, the difference of this with the earlier one is 3 additional MB. Not really worth the doubling of price.

I wouldn't mind it if manufacturers stopped beating around the bush and gave us what we all know they already can.

Big capacity and/or flash reader
chargeable through USB
standalone or slave-receiver (through USB)

Even bluetooth is optional to me. I just want a coordinate and trip tracker.

[ex @ Sep 11th 2007 8:40AM]

hhhhm, i can use this instead of logging my business miles with a pen and paper.
This will log time,location and distance (that's all I need)for my books.
interesting.

[Eduo @ Sep 11th 2007 9:21AM]

I personally like it a lot for documenting travels (for sales trips) and for leisure trips, where I cross the travel log with the pictures I take and geolocate them.

[huygir @ Sep 11th 2007 9:32AM]

So this thing can only tell me where I've BEEN? I don't drive drunk.

[mark @ Sep 11th 2007 9:55AM]

Cute video, bad pricing for a GPS logger. As folks said above, most any handheld GPS these days has tracking, can download, and there are plenty of GoogleMaps plug-ins around to plot the track info.

[Johnny Rotten @ Sep 11th 2007 1:00PM]

I think most of you are missing the point. Yes, there are cheaper ways to monitor and track your OWN driving habits. This device is meant to be an all in one, self-contained package to track someone else. Sure they are advertising it for personal use, but that is just a ploy so not to bring privacy watchgroups down on them. This is the perfect tool to track your kids.

[DavisNYC @ Sep 12th 2007 12:21AM]

Add a small camera to it and it would servethe purpose...

[Greg @ Sep 12th 2007 2:57AM]

This is probably small enough to track my outdoor cat. It's a bit pricey, but it's nice to know it exists. Where does that cat spend his days?

[Greg @ Sep 12th 2007 2:58AM]

PS It's not really snooping. I'm sure he'd tell me himself, if he could talk.

[denversteve @ Sep 13th 2007 12:00PM]

Our company just got 20 of these. I tested them out by boxing them and mailing them to different locations and then tracking the data. Most of them came back with no data b/c you have to give them 10-15 minutes to align with a satellite before placement. The AAA batteries only last 3 days. The month is the supposed number of data points the 4MB could hold. I somewhat doubt this is true considering a few of these things came back 40% full after only 2 days logging a new point every 15 seconds which is the max interval between points. I don't know where they get the month.