Samsung Releases GPS Phone

Fletch writes: "I received an email from Samsung today announcing the release of 'America's First GPS Phone.' The phone does appear to have some neat GPS-based services, such as restaurant and traffic info. Those of you with privacy concerns need not worry. According to the manual (p122, large pdf file) the user does have the ability to turn the 'Position Location' off. (it will be automatically turned back on when/if an emergency call is made)." The manual doesn't say whether the phone initially defaults to "Tracking On" or "Off".

To save everyone from downloading that PDF file, here's the relevant section (innovative capitalization and punctuation in the original):

"America's First GPS Enabled Wireless Phone Designed to Support Location Based Services of the Future Imagine having a phone that can use GPS technology to provide you with....

• Driving directions
• Traffic service
• Entertainment/services location
• 911 emergency location services
• Location of family/friends

Location services for 911 calls are not currently available. While these services are not available today (or) (are still under development), this leading edge phone has the technology required to support such network based services upon their launch.

Settings

The settings allow you to turn the Position Location ON or OFF. If the option is turned OFF, the Sprint PCS Network cannot locate your position using the Position Location feature. This option is automatically turned ON when an emergency call is placed, then turned back OFF when the call is completed.

To turn Position Location ON or OFF:
1. Press for Main Menu.
2. Press for Locator.
3. Press for Settings.
4. Read the Position Location disclaimer by using the Up & Down arrows.
5. Press to display the Setting screen.
6. Press the Up or Down arrows to cycle between the available choices.
7. Press to Save and exit.

Comments

One useful application

[VultureMN]

They could combine a GPS-enabled phone with a scent-detecting device. At some point in time, it'll detect the presence of burning bud and have a pizza delivered to wherever you happen to be.
Ooohyeah.

In this week's simpsons episode.

[tcc]

Moe finally tracks Bart prank calls cuz he used Homer's Samsung phone with GPS enabled on by default. :)

Super-tightly targetted advertising...

[Consul]

Okay, you have a Samsung phone that can pinpoint your location (should you choose to let it)...

In Portland, OR (I used to live there), they have some of these electronic billboards that can cycle through a set of animated advertisements. Imagine having a number of these everywhere, that could automatically change their ads based upon who happens to be standing around or driving by...

Scary or kinda cool (from a tech standpoint anyway)?

but _that_ is not my privacy concern...

[swinge]

Those of you with
privacy concerns need not worry. According to the manual (p122, large pdf file)
the user does have the ability to turn the 'Position Location' off.

I'm one of those with privacy concerns, but this phone does nothing to allay my concerns.

I want to use the nifty features but still have my privacy. Why does the deal have to be "use the feature and be abused by having the information used without your knowledge?" Why can't seemingly smart people figure stuff like this out?

The Nobel Prize (that's like a +1 Informative) in economics was awarded today in part for the research that showed how one side of a transaction having information that the other side doesn't have can tilt the balance so far that the market fails. I'd like to be able to walk into a shop and negotiate a price that is not based on full knowledge of my movements (perhaps at a competitor) being revealed.

yes, I could turn off the service, but that is a Luddite response which has nothing whatever to do with protecting privacy. Please God, make people smarter: privacy entails a lot more than checking "Jedi Knight" on the census form, or being able to unplug a solid state disk drive when the black helicopter people come through the front door. It's about being able to enjoy the fruits of the modern economy without being abused.

Re:but _that_ is not my privacy concern...

[michael]

Why does the deal have to be "use the feature and be abused by having the information used without your knowledge?" Why can't seemingly smart people figure stuff like this out?

Because the people making the deal are the phone companies, and they know it's a "take it or leave it" deal. They *are* smart people - they just aren't on your side. :( Their smartness is working to figure out how to make more money off of you, not how to give you the best phone experience (those are not equivalent!). And there is no one at any level of government - because the FCC is also crewed by people who think exactly like the phone companies - who is on your side.

You know this, of course. You seem like a bright person. But the average schmoe has no idea how or why his phone works, and most importantly, has no idea that it could work differently.

Re:but _that_ is not my privacy concern...

[iabervon]

You want it to get for you information that depends on your location without disclosing your location? That's going to be somewhat difficult, because the service can't help but know what information they're providing to you. What logs they keep and what they do with them is a privacy policy question. There's no way they're going to send all of the data there is to your little phone, and have the phone figure out what you want from a GPS reading that it doesn't send out.

Bill collecting

[decipher_saint]

"Hi we're just calling to let you know, Vinny and 'Low Blow' McGurk are on they're way to break your legs at the corner of 99th St. and 101st Ave, please stand by"