Orange Wednesday's Ad - "with GPRS, you're totally trackab..

Ivor Jones wrote:
> Jonathan wrote:
>> There's this ad on in the cinema for Orange Wednesdays, and the
>> bloke says: "With GPRS in your phone, you're totally trackable".
>> Doesn't he mean GPS? I know GPRS can pinpoint the cell, hence the
>> smart "stuff in your area" on Sim2 cards, but I didn't realise it
>> gave the exact location. Have they cocked up? A phone with GPS
>> *AND* GPRS could do it...
>
> In some buses in Birmingham now they are experimenting with an
> onboard GPS system linked to the existing PMR radio system to
> determine the position of buses and display ETA's on bus stop signs.
> Assuming they don't get vandalised to hell (in the areas they're
> going in it's a wonder the buses make it from one end of the route to
> the other..!) it's all very well, but on the cab mounted unit it
> clearly says "on board GPRS vehicle computer"..!
>
> Perhaps it uses GPRS to send the data back but it's amusing
> nonetheless..!

Or maybe the cell location provides enough accuracy for their needs. Why
spend the money to know where something is to within 10 metres if 100 metres
accuracy is good enough and half the price? (those figures are made up, I
neither know or care about the respective differences in GPS vs 'GPRS
cells')
 >> Stay informed about: Orange Wednesday's Ad - ""with GPRS, you're totally trackab.. 

In article , Robert Moir
writes
>Ivor Jones wrote:
>> Jonathan wrote:
>>> There's this ad on in the cinema for Orange Wednesdays, and the
>>> bloke says: "With GPRS in your phone, you're totally trackable".
>>> Doesn't he mean GPS? I know GPRS can pinpoint the cell, hence the
>>> smart "stuff in your area" on Sim2 cards, but I didn't realise it
>>> gave the exact location. Have they cocked up? A phone with GPS
>>> *AND* GPRS could do it...
>>
>> In some buses in Birmingham now they are experimenting with an
>> onboard GPS system linked to the existing PMR radio system to
>> determine the position of buses and display ETA's on bus stop signs.
>> Assuming they don't get vandalised to hell (in the areas they're
>> going in it's a wonder the buses make it from one end of the route to
>> the other..!) it's all very well, but on the cab mounted unit it
>> clearly says "on board GPRS vehicle computer"..!
>>
>> Perhaps it uses GPRS to send the data back but it's amusing
>> nonetheless..!
>
>Or maybe the cell location provides enough accuracy for their needs. Why
>spend the money to know where something is to within 10 metres if 100 metres
>accuracy is good enough and half the price? (those figures are made up, I
>neither know or care about the respective differences in GPS vs 'GPRS
>cells')
>
>

Unless you have a vehicle mounted phone and aerial you are unlikely to
have sufficient base cells available to compute your position accurately
enough. We have tried childlocate but the accuracy especially in the
country leaves a lot to be desired unless 2 Km is good enough for you!.

GPS on the other hand is nowadays very accurate and con sometimes
resolve which side of the road your on!. Some people use GPS over radio
the ICOM I-TRAK system is a good example of this, in that all fixes are
free of charge!.

GPS and GPRS are often confused, even by people in the comms bizz!....
--
Tony Sayer
 >> Stay informed about: Orange Wednesday's Ad - ""with GPRS, you're totally trackab.. 

declared for all the world to hear...
> There's this ad on in the cinema for Orange Wednesdays, and the bloke says:
> "With GPRS in your phone, you're totally trackable".
> Doesn't he mean GPS?

No. It's referring to currently available services such as "find my
nearest"
--
Regards
Jon
 >> Stay informed about: Orange Wednesday's Ad - ""with GPRS, you're totally trackab.. 

"Jon Parker" wrote in message

> declared for all the world to hear...
>> There's this ad on in the cinema for Orange Wednesdays, and the bloke
>> says:
>> "With GPRS in your phone, you're totally trackable".
>> Doesn't he mean GPS?
>
> No. It's referring to currently available services such as "find my
> nearest"

Hmmm, in the context of:
"But what if they don't know where I am?"
"With GPRS you're totally trackable!".

Besides, "find my nearest" has been around with bog-standard gsm/pcn for
about 3 years!
 >> Stay informed about: Orange Wednesday's Ad - ""with GPRS, you're totally trackab.. 

Ivor Jones wrote:
> In some buses in Birmingham now they are experimenting with an onboard GPS
> system linked to the existing PMR radio system to determine the position
> of buses and display ETA's on bus stop signs.

Many buses in London have a GPS device onboard. It serves to warn the
driver of low bridges.

(OT: Does anyone know how Countdown works?)

--
Now Playing: something else
 >> Stay informed about: Orange Wednesday's Ad - ""with GPRS, you're totally trackab.. 

Robert Moir wrote:
> Ivor Jones wrote:
>> Jonathan wrote:
>>> There's this ad on in the cinema for Orange Wednesdays, and the
>>> bloke says: "With GPRS in your phone, you're totally trackable".
>>> Doesn't he mean GPS? I know GPRS can pinpoint the cell, hence the
>>> smart "stuff in your area" on Sim2 cards, but I didn't realise it
>>> gave the exact location. Have they cocked up? A phone with GPS
>>> *AND* GPRS could do it...
>>
>> In some buses in Birmingham now they are experimenting with an
>> onboard GPS system linked to the existing PMR radio system to
>> determine the position of buses and display ETA's on bus stop
>> signs. Assuming they don't get vandalised to hell (in the areas
>> they're going in it's a wonder the buses make it from one end of
>> the route to the other..!) it's all very well, but on the cab
>> mounted unit it clearly says "on board GPRS vehicle computer"..!
>>
>> Perhaps it uses GPRS to send the data back but it's amusing
>> nonetheless..!
>
> Or maybe the cell location provides enough accuracy for their
> needs. Why spend the money to know where something is to within 10
> metres if 100 metres accuracy is good enough and half the price?
> (those figures are made up, I neither know or care about the
> respective differences in GPS vs 'GPRS cells')

It doesn't use any cells. The data is (or will be when it's working) sent
back to base using the Band 3 PMR radio system.

Ivor
 >> Stay informed about: Orange Wednesday's Ad - ""with GPRS, you're totally trackab..