Siemens plans kid-locator phones

From...

by Rick Perera

(IDG) -- Attention, wayward youth: Soon your parents will know exactly where you are. At least, as long as you're carrying your mobile phone.

That's the scenario envisioned by Siemens which announced Tuesday plans to develop a new wireless handset integrating GPS (Global Positioning System) location technology, in cooperation with GAP AG, which specializes in combining GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and GPS applications.

According to a Siemens statement, a new service will be offered beginning next year, by means of which a child's location will be continually tracked by a call center, which can then pass on the information to a parent or other responsible adult who phones in. The child will be able to press a single button on the device to be connected with a call center worker for help. In case of danger, the call center can also use a "listen-in" function to monitor the child.

Siemens said 50 families in Germany will test the service, intended for children between the ages of three and 11, from this month until March 2001.

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Siemens, in Munich
GAP, in Oberhaching, Germany

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