GPS Tracking-Enabled Cell Phones

In recent years, the increased demand for improved 911 emergency calling capabilities has pushed forward cell phone GPS tracking technology. Reports have noted that this leap was actually stimulated by the 9/11 Twin Tower attack in the US. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had then released orders just last year requiring all cell phone carriers to provide the ability to trace cell phone calls to a location within 100 meters or less.

In order to comply with these requirements set by the FCC, most cell phone carriers have decided to integrate the GPS technology into their cell phone handsets. Many have considered this move rather than overhauling the tower network.

However, the cell phone GPS tracking in most handsets is not like those in your handy GPS receiver which allows you to take hiking in the outback. Most cell phones even do not allow the user direct access to the GPS data. There are even some units that accurate location data is only recorded if an emergency call is made or if special arrangements are considered with a location-based service provider (LBS).

Well, there is still hope for the cell phone carriers to be able to avail the cell phone GPS tracking services. In fact, there are now fully GPS-enabled phones that can be used in conjunction with third-party location-based services. To mention but a few, these GPS-enabled phones include Nokia, Motorola, and Beneflon.

Let's take a look at these cell phone GPS tracking solutions one by one.

Nokia

It is worth noting that recently, Nokia plans to make their Xpress-On GPS optional hardware available to North American owners of Nokia model 5140 phones. Accordingly, their Xpress-On GPS optional hardware would facilitate location service applications over GSM wireless networks.

Motorola

Probably you already know that Motorola manufactures a series of cell phone GPS tracking units for Nextel. In particular, these cell phone GPS tracking units involve the Motorola i205, i305, i530, i710, i730, i733, i736 and i830 iDEN®. According to Motorola, the programmability of these GPS-enabled cell phones enables the developers to create applications that make the GPS data much available to the user, as well as the location-based service providers.

Today, Nextel offers a myriad of cell phone GPS tracking solutions for use with the above mentioned Motorola phones. One of the well-known cell phone GPS tracking solutions developed by Nextel is the Mobile Locator. Other solutions are provided by the affiliates of Nextel itself, as well as by third parties like Mapquest and Trimble.

Beneflon

Beneflon has already developed two cell phone GPS tracking solutions, the Track Pro and ESC. As often claimed, these solutions are high-end cell phones designed for use in professional security and personal safety applications. These also have a fully-functioning GPS which provides accurate location data to the user without assistance from the network. And, it is somehow necessary to note that while these are not Internet enabled devices, they have a number of features perfect for interactive communication between the user and a service center. And, perhaps what is best about Beneflon cell phone GPS tracking solutions is that Beneflon itself is a multi-band GSM wireless network phone that can be used in a number of countries in the world.