I’m amazed at how many GPS tracking systems provide only desktop software to view location data and reports. I realize that a lot of companies have been in this game for years where everything used to live on the desktop. Yet they should be scrambling to embrace the Web as a platform and deliver their GPS tracking software through a Web browser. I could go on and on about the benefits, which I’ll list a few here:

- Easy to deploy updates and new features without clunky software to download.
- Easy access to data from anywhere with an internet connection and Web browser.
- Data analysis and usage tracking. This makes it easy to figure out what users are doing and what features are most used.
- Easily provide feeds or create APIs that allow data to be imported into other systems/platforms.
- Easy integration of Web based mapping providers such as Google, Yahoo, MapQuest, and ESRI.

I do realize that many companies have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in developing bloated desktop software that becomes difficult to migrate to the Web. There are a lot of companies in the GPS tracking space that are suffering from this by being ahead of their time. Yet a lot can be said about keeping software simple so that platform migration doesn’t become a nightmare.

With that being said, at Ublip we’re fully embracing the Web as a platform and building products that are simple to use and delivered through a Web browser. This browser can live on your desktop, mobile phone, refrigerator, or whatever comes next. The first example of this is our simple GPS tracking system for small fleets, but we have many more to come. Please stay tuned and if you have any thoughts regarding our products or products that you’d like to see developed then please get in touch.

Here’s a great video that details some of the pros and cons of GPS tracking in the taxi cab world. When we deal with customers we normally get questions about privacy and whether or not they should disclose to their employees that our GPS tracking system is installed. We always state a firm “YES”. We don’t believe in covert tracking, but we also can’t control what our customers do with the technology. In this video some interesting points are that the main cabbie actually doesn’t mind being tracked. He makes mention of feeling safe because if they cab is ever hijacked the GPS tracking system can pinpoint his whereabouts. Some of the reasons mentioned for implementing the system are:

1. Drivers doing side-business that ultimately costs the company money
2. Simply knowing where the vehicles are at all times
3. Driver safety
4. Vehicle maintenance

The IT director brings up an interesting note that with a previous deployment all the taxi drivers left the company once the system was in place. Talk about a project back-firing! This sounds all too similar to the NYC cabbie strike earlier this year. We’re excited to see the adoption of this technology all over the world and are aiming to be the good guys by providing a GPS tracking system that’s easy to buy, install, and use. Now if we can get the cabbies to buy into our philosophy….

As you’re probably already aware, we launched our web based GPS tracking software last week. We’re currently working to provide a demo of our software that showcases our limited feature set. Yes, that’s our pitch…..limited to only the features you need, without a bunch of bloat. Our goal is to avoid overwhelming our customers with tons of features they’ll never use. On the contrary, we’re focusing on building software that is simple and fun to use. You’ll find that our pricing is very simple as well. Until we get the demo launched be sure to check out the tour page for some screens and additional info. If you have any questions or suggestions for the Ublip service you can feel free to contact us or post them in the comments below. Stay tuned for our live demo app and feature announcements!

Here is yet another interesting application for GPS tracking (company name and URL blurred for obvious reasons):

I’m wondering how effective of an ad campaign this really is. Once again, we’re stressing that our users take a different approach to GPS tracking: Track ‘Em and Tell ‘Em. With that being said, we can’t control all the various tracking applications that will be created with our technology (and definitely encourage innovation), but you definitely won’t see us pushing these type of ads for the sake of a sell.

If you stumble across any interesting ads for GPS tracking then please feel free to share them here!

I stumbled across this comical image while digging around for GPS teen tracking providers. It really got me thinking. It seems that EVERYONE is taking a stealthy approach to son and daughter tracking. The pitch is to buy a device and install it without your teen ever knowing. It’s as though we’ve lost all trust in the youth of America. I do realize it’s a VERY TOUGH sell to a teenager to say “we don’t trust you and that’s why we’re installing this GPS tracking device in your car”. I can’t see any teen going for that…I wouldn’t have back in my day.

At Ublip, we do believe in the Track ‘Em and Tell ‘Em approach that Henry mentioned in a previous post. My quote about “not trusting” mentioned above was extreme and I believe there are other ways to get teens to adopt (or at least consider) our technology. On several occasions I’ve explained our technology to a friend or family member and the conversation generally shifts in the direction of spying on somebody and even the fear of “big brother”. A lot of markets we’re selling into don’t have a human element at all and the assets (pumps, generators, construction equipment, etc) are screaming to be tracked. Now if we can just get our teens to do the same we’ll be in good shape. Believe me, we’re thinking about it.