Global Positioning System: A New Commodity For The Urban Jungle

Living in an urban jungle is not as easy as it may seem. Traffic congestions and accidents regularly occur. Time is of great value for urban dwellers on where optimum time is not 15 minutes early but rather on time.

Car stereos are fitted with Global Positioning System when they roll out of the factory. An urban setting would mean a lifestyle that's always up on its toes, where time management is an essential tool to get the day's job done. Stream of up to date information is an essential aide to know what will be done for the next task - a pro active approach day to day is needed. As micro-computers have become cheaper and more feasible to mass produce, countless innovations and inventions made it through the consumer electronic market and one of them is the portable GPS receiver. It was then a military tool to track accurate locations to report to its intelligence, but now it paved the way for various applications.

GPS' primary function is tracking. By the use of the orbiting satellites in our planet, a GPS receiver receives data positions from the roving satellites then calculates its location by means of trilateration. This then gives off a point on where the GPS receiver is located with discrepancies of 2 to 5 meters laterally.

GPS are made to aide traffic by directing them to the nearest possible route, then saving on gas and time. It can also receive live traffic updates and situations to redirect incoming traffic to another route if there is a heavy build up on the current route. There is a GPS system that tells the driver the distance on the next turn. All these features are dependent on the model of the GPS installed.

GPS tracking instruments are not just limited to vehicles. It is commonly found as a built in feature of cellular phones, personal digital assistants and pocket pc's for the newer models. It has been contested for privacy by some individuals because with this feature the user can be tracked at any given time. Cellular phones fitted with GPS feature are often given to children wherein the mobile phone sends off a text message to a pre- programmed number when they are out of a limited boundary radius.

Establishments and businesses that handle deliveries have taken advantage on the portability of a GPS instrument to track the whereabouts of the employees and company vehicles.