Amber Alert GPS 2G lets you track your kids with a text
By Donald Melanson 
posted Aug 26th 2009 12:54PM
posted Aug 26th 2009 12:54PM
Still haven't found a GPS tracker out there to suit your parenting needs? Then you might want to consider this new Amber Alert GPS 2G device, which, unlike some other similar products, is actually aimed specifically at parents, and promises to be straightforward enough for all parents to use. It's main feature, of course, is to simply act as a wearable GPS beacon for your kids, which parents can call or text at any time and instantly receive a text back with its location, or track at all times on the web. The device also takes things a bit further than most with a so-called "bread crumbing" feature that creates a trail of your child's route and alerts you when they reach their destination, and a safe zone feature that limits how far your child is able to travel. That peace of mind does exactly come cheap, however, with the device itself running $379.99, while the required monthly plans start at $9.99 and go up to $59.98.
[Via Coolest Gadgets]
[Via Coolest Gadgets]
The first to use the bread crumb feature will be Bobby from the Family Circus cartoon.
Yeah, that's what I thought of, too.
Except it's Billy.
It actually has nice features if you have a nanny or babysitter (breadcrumbs, listen in, safe zones, speed and temperature warnings.) Not everyone can be with their child 100% of the time.
great comment!
You forgot altitude and visibility as well; often my babysitter would take me on cross-country trips and flights in her aero-plane.
if you're child is young enough to need one of these
you shouldn't be letting them roam around alone
if they're old enough to walk to school by themselves then you should trust them and not waste you're money being a child stalker
So, is it your money or you are the money?
My child is a 1987 Buick GN...
if someone tries to abduct her they gonna DIE!!!!
sorry mate. i'll hang myself in the name of grammar....
are we cool now?
Eight year olds, Dude.
"That peace of mind does exactly come cheap"
huh? does or doesn't? :) 379.99 ain't cheap to me boys..
@Bill - HAH - nice reference, dude. It really pulled the article together.
@JimboJones - Do YOU know how many 8 year olds disappear every year? Relatively few. Out of those relative few children that do go missing, it is a fraction of a percent that are stranger or acquaintance abductions. The only reason why it seems like a lot of children go missing is due to the media hype and high profile cases. People really have very little to worry about.
Thanks guys, exactly my point.
look if you're letting you're EIGHT year old outta your site when you're not at home something is wrong with you. even at the park they should be in plain sight. I'm not denying that accidents happen. but I grew up very poor and i didn't have any fancy gadgets and my mother raised me a ok.
just practice proper parenting. the problem is we, as a society, are relying more and more on other people to do their job (parenting) for us. if we just took a step back and thought about it, maybe we all would be just fine.
George, obviously you don't have kids. I'm against secret GPS to your 17 year old son's car, but I'm really not against monitoring devices for very young kids.
* 797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day.
* 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
* 58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions.
This can easily be ditched at some location (where the child is supposed to be) and retrieved later. Whats the point?
I think this is a good idea; however, that said should not replace proper parenting but things can happen. If the price were more palatable I could see this as a decent investment. A just in case for certain circumstances. Things can happen that you don't expect but this shouldn't be a well now I don't have to watch my kid and I can let them roam around. My son is the most important thing to me if I lost him I don't know what I would do. Again I say a good just in case device but nothing should replace proper parenting.
@JimboJones
* 797,500 children (younger than 18) were reported missing in a one-year period of time studied resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day.
-- Key words: "reported missing." How many of those were kids/teens who decided to play hooky and didn't tell their parents they were hiding out in the (basement, shed, park, forest, playground, cave, etc.).
* 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
-- How many of these were because a divorced or separated parent decided to take their kid out for a longer weekend with no intention of harming the kid. Maybe they were pissed at the custody terms and wanted to spend a week with their kid instead just 2 days. Not saying its right, just asking the questions...
* 58,200 children were the victims of non-family abductions.
-- Again, the devil is in the details.
-- Seems like good parenting and not rushing into potentially bad marriage would bring these numbers down a lot. Statistics sound scary until you start asking questions.
just to make sure we understand each other, my original comment was about V Langs stupid post "if they're old enough to walk to school by themselves then you should trust them and not waste you're money being a child stalker"
if I would get device like this, it would not be because of distrust to my kids (really not sure why everybody is repeating parenting over and over). Send you 11 year old daughter to Oakland school without worrying about anything, then post comments like this.
@Jimbo
I will not dispute the dangers of going to a school in an intercity ghetto (I did exactly that growing up) but where you and my mother differ, is that my mother (at 11) dropped me off at school and picked me up. Should she be worried about events taking place during school? maybe. and even so, she shouldn't need a gps to figure out where i am in the school building. should she be worried about what's going on after school? yes. but instead of letting me walk the 8 blocks back to my home, she came and got me. and on days she couldn't, my father or a friend or other trusted adult did. if you work, i won't hold it against you, because there are afterschool programs at every elementary school so you can pick your child up afterwards.
and really, everyone is citing parenting because this is what it boils down to. i will not dispute that children make mistakes and sometimes don't know better. but you need to raise your children to understand what are good situations to be in and what are bad. and you also need to be there for your kid and hold their hand (no matter there angst) through the tough situations while growing up. that is called being a parent. no one needs to tell you what to do, and no device needs to do it for you. people who get this type of device (GENERALLY) substitute it for constantly watching out for their kids. i'm not saying you distrust your child, but what message are you sending your kid when you strap a gps to them and tell them it's for their safety. this device is pointless beyond compare, if something happens either the device can break or be thrown away. you need to rather be there for your kid until you are 100% sure they can walk to school by themselves or they can go some where by themselves. if you aren't 100%, why are you doing it? you don't have to be the cool parent all the time, but rather be the cautious and safe parent that always has a child to parent over.
wow. that got long.
...or you can practice proper parenting...
Yeah, because prior to this invention, NOBODY was a "proper" parent.
GTFO w/ your bullshit. This overpriced device and its ridiculous monthly rates simply prey upon fearful parents.
@crawdad689
Reading comprehension fail.
Or just tell your kids to stay away from the Ghost Michael Jackson...
Yeah, I recognized that right after posting, and wrote an apology, though it shows up further down on the page BECAUSE THE COMMENTING SYSTEM SUCKS!
Until the GPS is implantable, proper parenting will have to do.
Parents: violating basic human rights for over 30 years.
So you moved out of your ma's basement at 30?
Kids ain't Human - it's the parent's job to make them so.
"Amber Alert GPS™ is not intended to replace direct parent supervision!"
i used to work at a fairly major book store and I recall the one Code Adam I was personally involved in.
Mom came to the store and into my kids department with a baby in stroller and a 3-4 year old. She and the older child picked out a couple of books to look at and decide which one to take home. The baby woke up and Mom looked away from her son long enough to pick up the baby and pull a bottle out of the diaper bag. During which time the son had gotten up and walked off.
sure he was only a section over but who is to say that someone couldn't have been there and grabbed him and rushed out before anyone saw them. especially with our kids department right near the front doors (it was later moved up stairs when we remodeled and built a storytime stage and such)
so now I guess that woman was a bad mother. perhaps she should leash her older child to her so he can't walk off. would that be the solution.
LOL, I'm sorry, Mike, I thought your comment was in response to V Lang's.
P.S. This commenting system is absolutely worthless. I think EVERYONE should include this PS in their comments from now on, since Engadget just doesn't seem to get it.
case in point, I hit the "reply" button under Mike's name, that's not where it placed my reply.
NEW COMMENTING SYSTEM!!!! NAO!!!!!
If a kid is abducted (Which has known to happen), then this would be a great device...
way to take care of your kids....let them roam away and try to protect them with a little blue thing through which you can send "get away from there, it's dangerous" 5 minutes after the danger.
Or your kid pulls a Johny 5. Finds it in a backpack and throws it in a truck passing by. So while the parent is running around frantically or melting the f' down because they think their kids been abducted. Mean while their kid is probably up in their room playing a game or something minding their own business where they should be.
Not a bad idea, but $379 is way too pricey when ZoomBak retails for $99.
But what really bites is the $9.99 monthly fee. A lot of these companies, like Peek and ZoomBak, have to start cutting it down even further. A wireless phone added onto a family plan is also $9.99 a month, so why limit yourself to a limited and/or passive device for the same price?
Because people think that this is an "investment" in "safety", and they're willing to pay significantly more for it.
It's the same reason that all of those "1 year supply of freeze dried food" kits sell for thousands of dollars.
@crawdad689
"It's the same reason that all of those "1 year supply of freeze dried food" kits sell for thousands of dollars."
Yeah... that has nothing to do with the fact that a years supply of food sells for thousands of dollars...
this has to be an implant or it wont work. you can find the tracking device but your kid is still mssing. police actually use the cellphone to track the last location of missing person
I agree a MobileMe account with an iPhone for the kid is more logical. Find my iPhone should be more like "find my kid". It's not house arrest, the teens won't want to carry this thing with them, or strap it to their ankles. I need substance with this product. A tracker in a cell phone is much more suited.
So exactly how large is this device??
Backpack-sized or wristwatch-sized? No clear indication based solely upon the photo.
I do believe that there would be much facepalming going on any time a kid is spotted with this particular accessory strapped to them. Sort of like the parents who put their kid on a leash. Wait, I did that once..
Looks like a rebadged Acer Revo
How far society has fallen that we need a subsitute for proper parenting. This is sad, I don't want my kid to be "low jacked"
You call it good parenting, I call it big brother.
"Product Dimensions:
1.77" x 1.68" x .78""
Ok, so it IS portable... as long as it doesn't get dropped or left behind.
Next week it'll be implantable... wait for that one if you're TRULY a paranoid parent.
All you guys with the "proper parenting" business...do any of you have small children yourselves?
@ Vik - I think most of us are smart enough to avoid that situation. hehe. JK.
My guess (knowing the people who post here), Vik, is that most of those comments ARE from small children.
"That peace of mind does exactly come cheap"???
I agree, that didn't sound very cheap to me.