GSM Mobile Phone Tracking System

GSM Mobile Phone Tracking System. Over the years, cell phone tracking has become much more easier, owing to various cell phone tracking devices, but the privacy issues regarding the technology are also mushrooming. It has become the biggest disadvantage of the system, wherein people oppose the technique, claiming that it hampers their privacy.

Global System for Mobile communications, popularly abbreviated as GSM, is a popular standard for mobile phones, used vastly across the world. According to the estimates made by the GSM Association, the promoter of GSM, 80% of the global market uses the GSM standard mobile phones. In GSM enabled mobile phones, the signaling and speech channels are digital and thus it is regarded as a Second Generation or 2G mobile phone system.

The GSM mobile phone tracking system, more often referred to as GSM localization, is a cell phone tracking system which uses the hyperbolic positioning process to determine the exact location of a GSM enabled cell phone, thus indirectly tracking its user. In hyperbolic positioning, a particular object is accurately located by computing the time difference in arrival of the signals that are emitted from the object to three or more receivers. There are three methods of GSM mobile phone tracking, viz. network based mobile phone tracking system, handset based mobile phone tracking system and hybrid mobile phone tracking system.

• Network Based GSM Mobile Phone Tracking System

In network based mobile phone tracking, the service providers network infrastructure is used to determine the exact location of the GSM enabled handset. The levels of accuracy in the network based techniques vary, with cell identification method being the least accurate and the triangulation method being the most accurate. Network based techniques can be implemented without intruding the private space of the person who is being tracked, which is its biggest advantage. This technique requires one to work closely with the service provider, as the process includes installation of various software and hardware in the network infrastructure. The cooperation needed from the service provider sometimes acts as the biggest challenge faced in this technique, which may require the help of legislation.

• Handset Based GSM Mobile Phone Tracking System

In the handset based technique, the location of the GSM enabled handset is determined by cell identification, strength of the signals and latitudinal and longitudinal demarcation, if the handset is equipped with GPS. The calculations are sent to the location server for precise information about the user's location. This technology requires the installation of a client software on the mobile phone, which acts as its biggest drawback, since it's difficult to install a software on a mobile phone without the user's consent. More importantly, the software has to be compatible with various operating systems. The technique works only on smart phones, which is again a major drawback in this cell phone tracking system.

• Hybrid GSM Mobile Phone Tracking System

A combination of various techniques used in network-based and handset-based methods is used for phone tracking in the hybrid GSM mobile phone tracking method. For instance, Assisted GPS uses both GPS as well as network data to determine the exact location of the user. Though this method gives the most accurate information, its advantages are sometimes overshadowed by the limitations and challenges faced by network-based and handset-based techniques, which together form the hybrid method.

Over the years, cell phone tracking has become much more easier, owing to various cell phone tracking devices, but the privacy issues regarding the technology are also mushrooming. It has become the biggest disadvantage of the system, wherein people oppose the technique, claiming that it hampers their privacy. In order to tackle these problems, to make it safe and suitable, the extent to which this technology can be used, has been demarcated by a legal framework. 

 

GSM Mobile Phone Tracking System

Tips for Buying Mobile Phone Insurance

Tips for Buying Mobile Phone Insurance. Mobile phone insurance can cost you anywhere from £25 to £150 annually, depending on the insurance carrier that you choose. If you can reasonably replace your mobile phone for less than that, then mobile phone insurance is probably not a worthwhile expense for you.

 

Do you really need mobile phone insurance? The answer depends, of course, on a number of different factors including which mobile you have and how likely you are to lose or damage your mobile - not to mention how many mobiles you're talking about.

If you favor top of the line trendy models, or have children who do, mobile phone insurance could be a worthwhile investment. That doesn't mean, however, that you need to pay over the odds for it. There are many reasonably priced options for mobile phone insurance cover.

• Why insure my mobile phone?

"I'm always careful", you might be thinking. "I won't leave it behind anywhere." According to last year's crime statistics, there are over 10,000 mobile phones stolen in the UK each month. Another 3,500 or so get left behind on busses and trains or in cafes, and an astounding 1,200 are dropped down toilets or knocked into sinks. In all, about 15,000 mobile phones are reported lost, stolen or damaged each and every month.

And the cost can put quite a dent in your budget. While you may have got your mobile free with your phone plan, the phone companies won't replace your mobile for free or for £29.95. If you want to continue using your contract minutes - and you will be responsible for paying out the remainder of your contract - you'll need to fork out the full price for a replacement phone. In addition, you could be liable for any call charges if your mobile was used before it's loss is discovered. The cost of losing your mobile phone can easily top £500. Have you got a spare £500 sitting around?

• Do I really need mobile phone insurance?

Perhaps not. Mobile phone insurance can cost you anywhere from £25 to £150 annually, depending on the insurance carrier that you choose. If you can reasonably replace your mobile phone for less than that, then mobile phone insurance is probably not a worthwhile expense for you. If you hae a replacement phone - perhaps left since your last upgrade - and your mobile provider still supports it, you may be fine without mobile insurance. In most cases, though, you'll find that it can be worth the expense - especially if you shop around for competitively priced mobile phone insurance.

Tips for getting the best value mobile phone insurance

1. Don't automatically accept mobile phone insurance when you buy your mobile. Those tend to be the priciest premiums of all.

2. If the salesperson or web site promises "Free Mobile Insurance" with all phones or with selected phones, be sure to check the details. In many cases, the cover is free for the first month. After the first month of cover, the regular premium will be tacked onto your mobile account charges, where you may not even realise you're paying it.

3. Speaking of not realising - are you already covered? If you've had the phone a bit and are just now thinking of insuring it, check the itemised details for your last account statement to be sure you're not already paying for insurance.

4. Shop around the independent insurers. You can get economy cover for a mobile worth up to £150 for as little as £2.49 per month - less than half what most of the major insurers are charging.

5. Consider an increase to your home and contents cover if you have many electronic and mobile devices that you carry with you. You can extend your contents insurance to cover your mobile devices, including your phone, PDA, PSP and other electronics when you take them out of your home.

6. Got a family of mobiles? Nearly 80% of the phones reported stolen or lost belong to teens. If you're insuring more than one phone, look for a company that will cover multiple mobiles on one policy.

To find out more ways to save time and money buying mobile phone insurance online visit http://www.uk-insurance-index.co.uk. You can search a directory of UK mobile phone insurance companies and read policy reviews by real customers.

Facebook Announces Skype Video Chat Feature

Facebook Announces Skype Video Chat Feature... This is the world's easiest one-click way to chat over video, Facebook engineer Philip Su said at the news conference here. The Seattle programmer was Facebook's only full-time engineer working on its development along with Skype, a Facebook spokeswoman said

Facebook is encouraging its members to talk face to face -- over the computer.

The social networking giant introduced a video-calling feature on Wednesday in partnership with Skype, the popular Internet video-chat provider.

The product comes a week after Google launched a competing social network, called Google+, which also includes a video-chatting program.

Facebook's version will show up on the site as a "call" button at the top of users' profile pages. By clicking that or finding someone in a new "buddy list" bar on the right-hand side, Facebook users can talk to each other as long as they have webcams. The company began turning that service on for millions of users on Wednesday and will add it to more accounts over time, spokespeople said.

This is "the world's easiest one-click way" to chat over video, Facebook engineer Philip Su said at the news conference here. The Seattle programmer was Facebook's only full-time engineer working on its development along with Skype, a Facebook spokeswoman said.

Facebook on Wednesday also introduced a change to its instant-messaging service, which now allows people to create on-the-fly group conversations.

"This is their response to Google+ right now," said Ray Valdes, an Internet analyst at Gartner Research. "I think it's a little bit of catchup in terms of features."

Google bills its new network as a better way to communicate certain messages to subsections of friends. Google+ also has drawn praise for its ability, with a service called Hangouts, to let users video chat with several friends at a time.

Facebook's new video feature does not allow for group chats. However, Skype CEO Tony Bates noted that the union with Facebook leaves an opening to add new features later, such as group calling or paid features like calling to landlines.

What Facebook does have, however, is 750 million people actively using its service, said Mark Zuckerberg, the company's CEO. Google+ is nary a week old and only available to people who managed to procure an invite from a member of the media or a tech-savvy friend.

Zuckerberg took subtle jabs Wednesday at the new Google network, saying Facebook provides the best way for people to organize their friends into groups -- with minimal effort.

"If you think about it, it makes it so that your networking community can do the work of organizing your communities for you," Zuckerberg said of Facebook's grouping features. "You don't have to curate."

Facebook Announces Skype Video Chat Feature