May/June 2005

A child's phone that will automatically alert parents to its location down to less than 100 metres is one of a range of products being developed in South America with technology from the UK's Cambridge Positioning Systems.

This is one of a range of developments being rolled out under a deal struck between CPS and Gradiente, which is said to be one of Latin America's leading manufacturers of electronic consumer goods and cell phones. The two companies are set to collaborate on the installation of CPS's Matrix software-only solution into a range of GSM mobile phone terminals to enable end users to access a new generation of high-accuracy location-based services on GSM networks in Brazil and Latin America.

CPS maintains that existing tracking applications based on Cell-ID or GPS technology have proved unpopular because of the wide variations in location accuracy and poor urban and indoor coverage. It claims its Matrix technology consistently delivers sub-100m accuracy and fast location fixes.