I thought this was something I could use to find deer... but I was wrong. Awhile back when I tested a wrist-top GPS unit one of the features I liked was that it could show you the reverse course of what you'd taken so you could find your way back. Slightly different from that service, the AnyDATA device allows you to go online and, in real time, track the location of the device. As the father of four children I felt this could be immensely useful. Knowing that the military likes to track assets I felt this was an easy answer to anything it could be mounted on or in. For me, in the hiking and backpacking realm, I felt it was very useful to look back at the path traveled and possibly find mistakes made in navigation, or simply documenting a particular trip. For law enforcement I felt it could be an easy answer for agencies to track vehicles or special operations teams to track operators.
One of the biggest challenges with most GPS based devices is the need for maintaining line-of-sight to the appropriate satellites. Not that I know much about it, but I know that heavy cloud cover, rain, structures and forested areas can cause problems. The reason that the ANYData unit can work indoors is because it operates on a mixture of both satellite and cellular signals. I don't know how the technology works, but the ANYData AGT-100D's unit transmits its location to your computer via the Internet.
Take a look at the ANYData unit pictured to the right here and imagine how many different uses you can find for such a device. As I mentioned above, I have four kids. Any one of them, at various times, I'd love to be able to track. For law enforcement professionals, tracking vehicles, confidential informants, or undercover officers might be uses for such a device. On the military side, simply having one of these assigned to each vehicle and serviceman would allow for tracking assets. Of course, the application is limited to areas that are "viewable" by satellite and/or have decent cellular coverage.
To test how easy it would be to carry such a unit I wore it in two different ways:
- I wore it clipped onto my belt while I went for a walk through my neighborhood, and
- I put it into the pouch, attached to my response vest, shown right.
The unit weights less than three ounces so I didn't even notice that it was there. Preparing it was as easy as charging the battery and then pressing the SET button. When both lights are lit it's ready to go. By logging on to the ANYTrack.net Control Panel you can see the last logged location, or refresh the image to see the current location of the device. My wife was nice enough to do this several times while I was out and commented afterward that she thinks I should put this on my belt all the time. Of course, ANYData makes their money by charging for the tracking service, so you need to make sure you know the cost and value to you before you start.
As listed above, I can think of several uses for such a device and the cost would be well worth it. Tracking one of my kids if they were heading out on a hike in a previously unexplored area; tracking an undercover officer if visual contact couldn't be maintained; being able to track my Jeep when my teenage son borrows it for a date? Well, maybe not so much the last one, although there are times when I'd certainly like to.
Retail value, per the ANYData website is just under $350. At that rate the tracking fees had better be kept reasonable, but I didn't get to explore them (because they didn't charge me to test their unit).
