Tracking your every move
Some families in America and elsewhere have started buying childfriendly mobile phones outfitted with GPS (GlobalPositioning System) technology.
These phones and their related tracking services allow parents to pinpoint the location of their children with ease.Parents agree to pick up the phone bill in return for the reassurance of knowing where their children are; children areprepared to put up with the snooping if they are allowed to have a phone.
Mobile operators in America are now launching tracking services. Under a federal mandate known as E911, they had toupgrade their networks to ensure that anyone dialling the 911 emergency number could be located to within 100 metres.Some operators opted for triangulation technology, which determines the location of the handset by comparing the signalsreceived by different basestations. But Verizon and Sprint chose to adopt the more expensive but more accurate GPStechnology instead, and are now looking for ways to make money from it.
Verizon calls its service “Chaperone”. For $10 a month, parents can call up the location of their child’s LG Migo handsetfrom their own mobile phones, or from a PC. The child receives a message saying that the handset’s position has beenrequested, and the parents receive an address, or a marker on a webbased ap, giving the child’s location. For an extra $10per month, they can sign up for Child Zone, a service that, among other things, fires off an alert when a youngster (or, at least,the youngster’s handset) trays outside a specified area.
For its part, Sprint has launched a similar service that can also let parents know when a child arrives at a particularlocation.
Another location service is available from Nextel, a mobile operator that was taken over by Sprint in 2005. Nextel
opened up some of its systems to enable other firms to build their own software and services on top of its GPS technology.One example is AccuTracking, a small company which offers a tracking service for $6 a month and boasts that it is “ideal forvehicle tracking” or to keep “virtual eyes on kids”. Some customers are also using the service to track their spouses, by hidingphones in their cars.“Mine is hidden under the hood, hot-wired to the battery—it works very well and it is easy to hook upcontinuous power,” writes one customer on AccuTracking’s message board, who is tracking her husband.
Start-ups are working on everything from city-wide games of hide-and-seek to monitoring the locations of Alzheimer’spatients. Services that monitor jogging routes, and work out distance travelled and calories consumed, might also provepopular.
As a result, mobile operators, handset-makers and start-ups could transform and expand a small, specialist markethitherto dominated by expensive, dedicated tracking systems. 考研词汇：
outfit[ˈautˌfit]n.装备，供给 pinpoint [ˈpinpɔint] n. 精确a.极微⼩的v.查明 reassurance[ˌri:ə'ʃʊərəns] n. 放⼼ snoop[snu:p]
vi. 探听, 调查, 偷窃 n.到处窥视, 爱管闲事的⼈, 私家侦探 federal[ˈfedərəl] a.联邦的
[真题例句]A few premiers are suspicious of any federalprovincial dealmaking.[2005年新题型] [例句精译] 有⼏个省的对这种全国性代理机构持怀疑态度。
spouse[spauz]
n.配偶(指夫或妻)，保证⼈，主办⼈;vt.发起，主办;v.赞助 背景常识介绍：
GPS全称为“全球定位系统”，它是⼀种基于卫星的导航系统，其精确度已经达到10⽶以内。⽽⽤户⽆需为接收的卫星信号本⾝⽀付任何费⽤。⽽在⼿机上或者其他掌上移动设备中，当GPS的定位功能与数字地图相结合时，就可以为⼈们提供更加具体的更加直观的导航帮助，⽽不是仅仅告诉你⽬前的“经度、纬度”。特别是GPS系统与⼿机的结合，更是⽅便了⼤家的出⾏，既可以⽅便联系，也可以实现车载GPS系统的导航功能。 参考译⽂： 追踪你的⼀举⼀动
美国与其他地⽅的⼀些家庭已开始购买适合⼉童使⽤，配有GPS(全球卫星定位系统)的移动电话。
这种电话与相关的追踪服务让⽗母可以轻⽽易举地查明孩⼦在什么地⽅。⽗母很情愿⽀付这笔电话费以知晓孩⼦⾝在何处，以换来⾃⼰的放⼼。孩⼦们想要⽗母给他们买个电话，则必须愿意忍受被秘密监视。
美国的移动电话运营商们正在推出追踪服务。遵照⼀条叫做E911的联邦法令，他们要升级服务络，确保能找到任何拨打911呼救电话的⼈所处的位置，误差不超过100⽶。⼀些运营商采⽤了三⾓定位技术，此技术通过⽐较不同基站接收的⼿机信号来确定⼿机所处的位置。Verizon 与 Sprint 两个运营商则选⽤了更昂贵、但更精确的GPS技术，现在正在此基础上推出新服务，希望能以此赚钱。
Verizon 把它的服务叫做“陪护者”。每⽉花上10美元，⽗母⽤⼿机或个⼈电脑发出⼀个要求，就可以知道他们孩⼦的LGMigo⼿机的位置。孩⼦会收到⼀条“该⼿机的位置被要求发送”的信息，⽗母则收到⼀个地址，或是络地图上的⼀个标记，指⽰出孩⼦的位置。如果每⽉多付10美元，⽗母就可以成为⼀个叫“孩⼦地带”的⽤户，如果⼀个年轻⼈(或⾄少是这年轻⼈的⼿机)在⼀个特定的区域外游荡时，该服务就会⽴刻发出警告给⽗母，类似的服务还有⼀些。
Sprint在这⽅⾯是怎么做的呢?它推出了类似的服务，也能让⽗母知道孩⼦什么时候到达某个地点。
2005年被Sprint兼并的Nextel 则有另⼀项定位服务。Nextel开放了它的部分系统，可以让其他公司在其GPS技术平台上建⽴⾃⼰的软件与服务。Accu寻踪公司就是⼀个范例，这家⼩公司提供的追踪服务每⽉收费6美元，号称是“理想的车辆追踪⼯具”，还可以“时刻盯着孩⼦”。有些客户把电话藏在配偶的车⾥，⽤Accu寻踪公司的服务追踪他们。该公司的⼀个顾客在公司站的留⾔版写道：“我把电话藏在引擎盖下边，并插在汽车电池上——真的很管⽤，⽽且挂接不间断电源也很容易。”这位⼥⼠是在追踪她的丈夫。
新⽣的公司正推出各种各样的新服务，从全城范围的捉迷藏游戏到追踪⽼年痴呆患者。⼀边监控慢跑路线，同时算出跑的路程与消耗的热量，这样的服务可能也会受欢迎。
寻踪服务的市场现在还只是个⼩规模的专业化市场，由收费昂贵、⽤途单⼀的各种寻踪服务把持，但移动运营商、⼿机制造商与许多新兴公司的介⼊可能使市场发⽣改变，并进⼀步扩⼤市场。
