GPS+sms apps

Andreas Kostyrka andreas at kostyrka.org
Tue May 29 15:53:46 CEST 2007


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Well, it's a general problem. Depending upon your phone plan, using SMS
might make sense or not. If SMS are free, that's nice, although I doubt
you'll manage to run a ppp session with mtu 150 over it :-P

Generically speaking, SMS are certainly more complicated to deal with:
GPRS is simple TCP/IP. SMS are special modem commands to the GSM module.
  GPRS means that basically any server connected to the Internet can
probably communicate with the phone. SMS means the server needs either
some special Internet service to send and receive!!! SMS, or a not
exactly free-of-costs GSM module.

In practice you would need completly free and unlimited SMS so that it
makes somehow sense. Even 1ct per SMS ruins the economy, => US$/CDN$/EUR
 70 per MB (depending if the cent was US/CDN/EUR *g*), combined with an
extremly low bandwidth (there is a limit how many SMS you can
send/receive per minute with a GSM module).

> I guess SMS is generally more accessable and tends to be a lot cheaper,

It depends. E.g. my German calling plan includes an UMTS flatrate, but
SMS are 30ct per piece. At least with UMTS + Opera on the phone the
sms.at website (that allows me to send cheap/free SMS) is usuable well
enough :)

My Austrian calling plan has 250MB UMTS, GPRS flatrate (basically UMTS
with a speed limit after the included MB), and 1000 SMS included. That
makes sending data via GPRS the safer option, cost wise.

> often free, in Toronto and most of Canada.  Phones could transmit
> position continuously to a central server, or some centralized
> mechanisim, and I'm thinking it would be much easier for a centralized
> server program to notify phones reliably with SMS, rather then depend on
> a data connection.  

SMS are not reliable. OTOH, you can get a send report, although these
often cost extra :(

Andreas

> 
> Basically by using SMS it would be a more accesable and reliable
> application that could be run continously by the participants.  Tie it
> into a social networking site maybe too.
> 
> Matt
> 
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dean Collins [mailto:Dean at cognation.net] 
> Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 5:16 PM
> To: Crane, Matthew; OpenMoko
> Subject: RE: GPS+sms apps
> 
> Why would you need SMS - if you are running a data plan already to track
> cell tower and relative position to other Neo users then you may as well
> make it a self contained application.
> 
>  
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Dean Collins
> Cognation Pty Ltd
> dean at cognation.net
> 
> 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: community-bounces at lists.openmoko.org [mailto:community-
>> bounces at lists.openmoko.org] On Behalf Of Crane, Matthew
>> Sent: Monday, 28 May 2007 4:57 PM
>> To: OpenMoko
>> Subject: GPS+sms apps
>>
>>
>> Is there any existing application which combine sms messaging and GPS?
>> It would be pretty cool to get automated alerts whenever a particular
>> person is nearby, through a central machine (phone, desktop).  Or to
> use
>> some sort of automated homing application, where two people are able
> to
>> lock to each other and the phone guides them, notifying the other
> device
>> when the route or position has changed.
>>
>> Matt
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> OpenMoko community mailing list
>> community at lists.openmoko.org
>> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
> 
> _______________________________________________
> OpenMoko community mailing list
> community at lists.openmoko.org
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