The Pop Culture Travel Guide

Travel Tech for GPS Obsessives: Spot Messenger

4/30/2008 at 4:00 PM
Tags: , , , (all tags)

So that travel blog, that Flickr page and your constantly-updated Twitter account aren't enough? Better look into Spot. The "satellite messenger" is the official gizmo of the TMI era.

Here's how it works: As you trek along, Spot pings GPS satellites and then sends your location to a password-protected server. It can also send an SMS or email to your buddies, which will direct them to a Google Map pinpointing your position in almost-real time. You can also go back afterwards and scope the route you navigated and your waypoints.

Admittedly, you can use the thing for something more important than over-sharing your world travels. In an emergency, Spot will send a distress signal to rescuers, complete with your current coordinates. Could be handy if you end up stranded at an abandoned train station.

Related Stories:
· Spot Messenger [Official Site, via]
· Travel Gear coverage [Jaunted]


1 Comment - Add Yours by pbb

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starlagurl
Jaunted Member
Interesting... (none / 0)

The one critique I have about this though, is that there is no way to input variable text into the email while you're out in the bush or sailing the seven seas. I'm assuming a feature like this, however, is not far away.

by starlagurl on 5/01/2008 at 2:35 PM


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