P
Patrick
Guest
Right now. Do you know - precisely - where your children are?
How about your spouse or elderly relative?
Your dog, delivery truck or sales staff?
With a few computer keystrokes or a phone call, you could track the exact location of these people and assets almost anywhere in the world. You could see where they have been, and when. And you could be alerted if they move outside set boundaries. In an emergency, the people could instantly speed dial you.
These are some of the features built in to an electronic device recently developed by a Portland company, Gemini Technologies US LLC. The hand-held device, called Gemtek, combines the capabilities of global positioning satellites, mobile phones and the Internet. It's a new addition to an evolving worldwide industry focused on tracking people and goods.
The initial product looks like a cell phone and sells for roughly $249, plus monthly service fees that start at $19.95 a month.
Gemtek could be a godsend, letting parents keep tabs on young children, for instance, or locating a lost pet. Then again, any electronic gadget that can monitor the movement of people is bound to raise privacy concerns, so Gemtek won't appeal to everyone.
But the developers of Gemtek say they hope to generate $100 million in sales over the next 18 months, as the company ramps up promotion. The product has been for sale for two months in this country and four months in the United Kingdom. Television ads will begin next month.
"There's nothing on the market in the United States now that closely represents the technology we have," said Tracy Alves, one of Gemini's managing partners.
As with most consumer electronics, the success of Gemtek is likely to hinge as much on marketing as technology. The developers appear to have that well covered.
Alves also is president of Cornerstone Marketing, an eight-year-old direct response marketing firm on Exchange Street. Alves and Jennifer McBrierty, Cornerstone's executive vice president, were senior managers at Talk America, the large direct marketer and call center that operated on Congress Street before filing for bankruptcy in 1999.
Alves got interested in personal tracking devices a couple of years ago, when he came across a GPS-based unit that had a slick sales pitch but didn't work well. He wanted to design and manufacture a better version.
Alves and McBrierty, Gemini's other Maine-based partner, joined in the venture with Gavin Teale of the United Kingdom and Michael Connors of Naples, Fla. Together the team has invested roughly $1 million to bring Gemtek to market, according to Alves.
Teale is a former British soldier who started Aarttrack International, where he helped develop a tracking belt and watch for security and personal protection. The government of Trinidad reportedly used them to locate kidnapped personnel and recover ransom.
Connors started Emerson Direct Inc., a direct response marketing company that has launched and managed worldwide product campaigns. Emerson Direct paid $1.5 million last year to the Federal Trade Commission to settle deceptive marketing charges related to a dietary supplement to help people quit smoking.
Connors oversees the Florida call center that handles customer service and technical support for Gemtek. In Maine, eight people work in marketing, finance and other operations. Inventory and shipping are subcontracted to Ship Right Solutions in South Portland. The actual device is manufactured in Taiwan.
CUSTOMIZING INFORMATION
The device is roughly 2 by 3 inches in size and runs on a rechargeable battery. Subscribers log on with a password to the company's Web site (www.geminitracking.com) to see detailed maps that show where the devices are located at any moment. Mapping software lets subscribers zoom in and out, giving them a close look at, say, a cluster of streets in Portland's Old Port, or a wide-angle view of the city's peninsula.
A few keystrokes and mouse clicks allow users to retrieve and customize information. For instance: Users can set Gemtek to report its location every 15 minutes for eight hours, and they can see the last 50 places the unit has been. They also can set boundaries. If the device leaves the set boundary, the subscriber gets a cell phone call or e-mail, showing where the unit is.
These capabilities have given some peace of mind to Rebecca Goff of Ashburn, Ga.
She and her husband, William, were visiting their daughter last year in Alabama. Goff's husband suffers from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Somehow, he wandered away from their daughter's house. The family found him 30 minutes later, hitchhiking on a nearby highway.
Rebecca Goff had heard about personal tracking devices and noticed Gemtek during an Internet search.
"I was looking for a product like this," she said. "My concern is, if he gets away from me again, I can locate him quickly."
Goff said her husband is wearing Gemtek on his belt now, along with a standard cell phone. She hasn't had to use the unit yet in an emergency, she said. But when she's at work, Goff feels better knowing she has a backup plan if her husband doesn't answer her phone calls.
This sort of personal protection is the prime market for Gemtek. Alves, who is a father of teenage children, said the device will appeal to parents who worry about their children becoming lost or abducted. Gemtek also features an emergency alert button and two speed-dial cell connections, so children can reach their parents.
This potentially life-saving technology also has a flip side.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
Alves and McBrierty say Gemtek is designed to be used lawfully, and isn't meant to be concealed from the person carrying it. But Alves acknowledged it can be stashed in a child's backpack, or placed in the trunk of a teenager's car, without consent. His view is that the right of parents to protect their children trumps privacy concerns.
"There's going to be a percentage of people who feel it's an invasion of privacy," he said.
Those concerns may grow, as electronic tracking devices become more common.
In Tucson, Ariz., officials are considering a program to give watchbands and key fobs with radio frequency identification tags to elementary school children who ride school buses. The intent of the voluntary program is to let parents and teachers know when children get on and off the buses. In time, the technology could let teachers track the exact locations of students inside school.
A similar program was discontinued last year in Sutter, Calif. Parents protested a trial, mandatory program in which students wore electronic ID badges.
That experiment was opposed by civil liberties groups and the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Marc Rotenberg, the center's executive director, said the core issue surrounding the growth of personal tracking devices is the extent to which people can control what is known about them.
For example: Trucking firms install GPS equipment to track the movement of goods, but the device isn't carried by the driver. At some companies, however, workers must carry radio frequency ID badges so they can be located within a large building or campus.
"Privacy includes the right to determine what others know about you," Rotenberg said, "including where you are."
Privacy issues may become more pronounced as tracking devices become smaller and more powerful. Gemini Technologies is developing a secondary product small enough to attach to a dog's collar. Pets won't complain, but another version of the device will have magnetic mounts. That makes it useful for electronic spying, perhaps for sticking under the car of a spouse or business rival.
EDUCATING CONSUMERS
Gemini Technologies isn't alone in pursuing this market. A search on the Internet turns up spy shops and other online retailers that sell similar products.
Gemtek's strongest competition, though, may come from the mainstream market of products geared toward protecting children and loved ones. Wherify Wireless Inc., for instance, advertises a similar GPS-cell locator phone. It also markets Kid Safe wristwatch transmitters, aimed at tracking children in shopping malls and theme parks, for instance.
The biggest challenge facing Gemini Technologies now isn't privacy issues, but educating consumers about what Gemtek can do.
Response to early radio advertising shows that some people equate the product with navigation systems for cars and boats. Others can't distinguish it from a common cell phone. One caller, McBrierty said, wanted to know if the product could be implanted in her pet.
How about your spouse or elderly relative?
Your dog, delivery truck or sales staff?
With a few computer keystrokes or a phone call, you could track the exact location of these people and assets almost anywhere in the world. You could see where they have been, and when. And you could be alerted if they move outside set boundaries. In an emergency, the people could instantly speed dial you.
These are some of the features built in to an electronic device recently developed by a Portland company, Gemini Technologies US LLC. The hand-held device, called Gemtek, combines the capabilities of global positioning satellites, mobile phones and the Internet. It's a new addition to an evolving worldwide industry focused on tracking people and goods.
The initial product looks like a cell phone and sells for roughly $249, plus monthly service fees that start at $19.95 a month.
Gemtek could be a godsend, letting parents keep tabs on young children, for instance, or locating a lost pet. Then again, any electronic gadget that can monitor the movement of people is bound to raise privacy concerns, so Gemtek won't appeal to everyone.
But the developers of Gemtek say they hope to generate $100 million in sales over the next 18 months, as the company ramps up promotion. The product has been for sale for two months in this country and four months in the United Kingdom. Television ads will begin next month.
"There's nothing on the market in the United States now that closely represents the technology we have," said Tracy Alves, one of Gemini's managing partners.
As with most consumer electronics, the success of Gemtek is likely to hinge as much on marketing as technology. The developers appear to have that well covered.
Alves also is president of Cornerstone Marketing, an eight-year-old direct response marketing firm on Exchange Street. Alves and Jennifer McBrierty, Cornerstone's executive vice president, were senior managers at Talk America, the large direct marketer and call center that operated on Congress Street before filing for bankruptcy in 1999.
Alves got interested in personal tracking devices a couple of years ago, when he came across a GPS-based unit that had a slick sales pitch but didn't work well. He wanted to design and manufacture a better version.
Alves and McBrierty, Gemini's other Maine-based partner, joined in the venture with Gavin Teale of the United Kingdom and Michael Connors of Naples, Fla. Together the team has invested roughly $1 million to bring Gemtek to market, according to Alves.
Teale is a former British soldier who started Aarttrack International, where he helped develop a tracking belt and watch for security and personal protection. The government of Trinidad reportedly used them to locate kidnapped personnel and recover ransom.
Connors started Emerson Direct Inc., a direct response marketing company that has launched and managed worldwide product campaigns. Emerson Direct paid $1.5 million last year to the Federal Trade Commission to settle deceptive marketing charges related to a dietary supplement to help people quit smoking.
Connors oversees the Florida call center that handles customer service and technical support for Gemtek. In Maine, eight people work in marketing, finance and other operations. Inventory and shipping are subcontracted to Ship Right Solutions in South Portland. The actual device is manufactured in Taiwan.
CUSTOMIZING INFORMATION
The device is roughly 2 by 3 inches in size and runs on a rechargeable battery. Subscribers log on with a password to the company's Web site (www.geminitracking.com) to see detailed maps that show where the devices are located at any moment. Mapping software lets subscribers zoom in and out, giving them a close look at, say, a cluster of streets in Portland's Old Port, or a wide-angle view of the city's peninsula.
A few keystrokes and mouse clicks allow users to retrieve and customize information. For instance: Users can set Gemtek to report its location every 15 minutes for eight hours, and they can see the last 50 places the unit has been. They also can set boundaries. If the device leaves the set boundary, the subscriber gets a cell phone call or e-mail, showing where the unit is.
These capabilities have given some peace of mind to Rebecca Goff of Ashburn, Ga.
She and her husband, William, were visiting their daughter last year in Alabama. Goff's husband suffers from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Somehow, he wandered away from their daughter's house. The family found him 30 minutes later, hitchhiking on a nearby highway.
Rebecca Goff had heard about personal tracking devices and noticed Gemtek during an Internet search.
"I was looking for a product like this," she said. "My concern is, if he gets away from me again, I can locate him quickly."
Goff said her husband is wearing Gemtek on his belt now, along with a standard cell phone. She hasn't had to use the unit yet in an emergency, she said. But when she's at work, Goff feels better knowing she has a backup plan if her husband doesn't answer her phone calls.
This sort of personal protection is the prime market for Gemtek. Alves, who is a father of teenage children, said the device will appeal to parents who worry about their children becoming lost or abducted. Gemtek also features an emergency alert button and two speed-dial cell connections, so children can reach their parents.
This potentially life-saving technology also has a flip side.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
Alves and McBrierty say Gemtek is designed to be used lawfully, and isn't meant to be concealed from the person carrying it. But Alves acknowledged it can be stashed in a child's backpack, or placed in the trunk of a teenager's car, without consent. His view is that the right of parents to protect their children trumps privacy concerns.
"There's going to be a percentage of people who feel it's an invasion of privacy," he said.
Those concerns may grow, as electronic tracking devices become more common.
In Tucson, Ariz., officials are considering a program to give watchbands and key fobs with radio frequency identification tags to elementary school children who ride school buses. The intent of the voluntary program is to let parents and teachers know when children get on and off the buses. In time, the technology could let teachers track the exact locations of students inside school.
A similar program was discontinued last year in Sutter, Calif. Parents protested a trial, mandatory program in which students wore electronic ID badges.
That experiment was opposed by civil liberties groups and the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Marc Rotenberg, the center's executive director, said the core issue surrounding the growth of personal tracking devices is the extent to which people can control what is known about them.
For example: Trucking firms install GPS equipment to track the movement of goods, but the device isn't carried by the driver. At some companies, however, workers must carry radio frequency ID badges so they can be located within a large building or campus.
"Privacy includes the right to determine what others know about you," Rotenberg said, "including where you are."
Privacy issues may become more pronounced as tracking devices become smaller and more powerful. Gemini Technologies is developing a secondary product small enough to attach to a dog's collar. Pets won't complain, but another version of the device will have magnetic mounts. That makes it useful for electronic spying, perhaps for sticking under the car of a spouse or business rival.
EDUCATING CONSUMERS
Gemini Technologies isn't alone in pursuing this market. A search on the Internet turns up spy shops and other online retailers that sell similar products.
Gemtek's strongest competition, though, may come from the mainstream market of products geared toward protecting children and loved ones. Wherify Wireless Inc., for instance, advertises a similar GPS-cell locator phone. It also markets Kid Safe wristwatch transmitters, aimed at tracking children in shopping malls and theme parks, for instance.
The biggest challenge facing Gemini Technologies now isn't privacy issues, but educating consumers about what Gemtek can do.
Response to early radio advertising shows that some people equate the product with navigation systems for cars and boats. Others can't distinguish it from a common cell phone. One caller, McBrierty said, wanted to know if the product could be implanted in her pet.