Posts Tagged glympse
PTG Rewind: Glympse for Smartphones
I always appreciate smartphone apps that improve and evolve. And such is the case with Glympse, a slick app that lets travelers share their locations, plotted on maps, with friends and business associates.
Glympse has made some significant improvements since my last review for Practical Travel Gear. One of the most significant is a better power-management scheme that significantly extends the battery life when using the phone’s GPS and cellular data network.
The latest Windows Mobile version of the program, that runs on my HTC Tilt2, also takes advantage of higher-resolution screens to make maps more readable. And updated menus make it easier to add more time for others to see your travels, or to discontinue the tracking.
Glympse uses a smartphone’s built-in GPS and sends the constantly-updated location to a server that plots the data on a map. Whoever you choose to share the information with can be notified by e-mail or text message.
The latest Windows Mobile version also includes Skyhook support that means faster location fixes, plus the ability to use Wi-Fi and cellular triangulation to help where GPS service is spotty.
It’s very handy for keeping up with friends or relatives who are coming to visit or returning home. Or if you’re just landing, pickingup a rent car and on the way to a meeting, associates can track your travels and know when you should be arriving.
The developers have also given a lot of thought to privacy, with built-in safeguards for limiting how much information is shared and for how long.
And did I mention it’s free? Glympse is available in the Windows Mobile Marketplace and also runs on the iPhone (available from the iTunes store) and the increasingly-popular Android phones (downloadable from the Android Market.) There’s a hint of future platforms under development. I’m just guessing now, but wouldn’t be surprised if Blackberry users were soon able to share the love.
Glympse got off to a strong start as a very unique travel app. And the developer’s continued support, ranging from major enhancements to bug fixes and user-suggested enhancements, is a good sign for the future.
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear on October 18th, 2010
Give Others a “Glympse” of Your Travels
Ever wish, on a long road trip, that your family could know where you are and when you’ll be home—without making phone calls along the way?
Or did you ever fly into a town, hop in a rent car and want to let someone know when you would arrive for a meeting?
Now, you can “share your where” with Glympse, a free app for GPS-equipped iPhones, Android, and Windows Mobile phones.
Glympse will send your location information over cell phone data channels and let you share it with anyone who has access to a desktop or laptop computer, or a mobile phone with a Web browser. Glympse will show your position on a map, along with travel speed and even an estimated arrival time, if you set a destination.
Testing the software on my AT&T Tilt2 smartphone, it worked amazingly well. The first step is opening the program and choosing who to share the information with and for how long. Then, Glympse will send them an e-mail or text message with a link to the company’s website. Whoever received the Glympse message does not need any special software or registration. The only thing required is a Web browser.
My travels showed there is a slight lag, about one block, from your actual location to the spot shown on the map. But that’s to be expected, since it does take a few seconds for the program to send the information and for it to update on Glympse’s servers. Still, it’s about as close to real-time as you can get.
The movement shown on the map is slightly jerky, not buttery smooth. But that’s understandable and the position updates are still very frequent.
I didn’t notice any huge battery hit when using the program on the phone. But it would be a good idea to hook up a charger if the program is running for a long time.
Glympse also addresses privacy and security issues. It’s not possible to “forget” you gave someone permission to view your whereabouts and thus allow them to track you 24×7. When you start the program, you choose who to allow to see your movements and then set a time limit, up to four hours. For longer trips, the time window can be easily extended.
The minimum age for using Glympse, under the company’s terms of service, is 14. It seems that would be difficult to enforce, though.
For many uses, Glympse is better than other location-sharing services such as Google Latitude. Latitude requires registration and a software download for everyone who uses it. But those who receive a Glympse invitation can track your travels just by following a web link, with no special software or log-in required.
If you’re using a Blackberry phone, help is on the way. The company plans to support Blackberry’s operating system in the next few months and is also working on versions for other popular phones.
There are many uses for Glympse—helping with busy business schedules, keeping up with friends and offering peace of mind to families. Just a decade ago, who would have ever imagined?
Posted by JohnG in Business Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family on January 26th, 2010
