Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

I was thinking to write a simple application for Maemo 5 and I'd like to know your opinions about it.

My idea is to make a daemon (therefore no GUI) that should start with the phone and log its position every N minutes.
The position won't be stored in the phone, but sent to a server web (personal or public with account) and accessible through a web page.
Therefore if you lost the phone or someone stole it, you could trace its position and have it back.

What do you think about? Could it be a good idea?

ps: I'm an italian boy, therefore my English is full of mistakes... sorry!

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

Sounds like a good idea, although I worry a little about the effect on battery life of repeatedly accessing GPS and uploading the data.

I believe most thieves would turn the phone off and/or remove the SIM anyway, so it might not always work.

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

Even if the thief removes/replaces the SIM, the device still has a unique MAC.

I daresay you could construct a conservative state-machine that would be easy on the power.

Power on
Wait for a TCP/IP network interface (eg. eth0) to activate
Report location
While eth0 active, report location every hour.
Power off

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

Once every 23h would be good enough to be able to have every hours of the day covered over time without wasting battery! :)

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

Slight modification, R-R

Report location upon network interface activation, then timeout 23hours.

That will cover all situations where no net access is available after 23 hours.

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

I think that the best option (in terms of power saving at least) would be to upload the device coordinates and other data whenever a new SIM card is inserted. An SMS to a pre-defined number could be possibly used too. In case GPS coordinates cannot be acquired the device could just keep on trying if the SIM isn't a known one.

The event could also be triggered by a remote SMS (like remote locking on S60 devices) in case the device is simply lost and not stolen.

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

Welcome HoX!

I think miniGPSD has this function already. Also, at least Fennec will have geolocation APIs, so you could try and rip that out of their code.

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

On a slightly related note (not meaning to slide off-topic); could you have a daemon reporting your IP to eg dyndns.org whenever a connection is established?
Edit: Never mind, found the answer (yes)

Slightly related to the topic perhaps, because with an ssh daemon as well, you could log in to your device and initiate tracking or whatever you liked to do (warning notifications and whatnot). You could then do it when you needed to, instead of doing it all the time/regularly.

Or does that fall apart if you (a thief) change the sim?

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

I remember a thread discussing security app for N800\N810 2 years ago with these exact features (and more) already..

I don't know what becomes of it, but it wouldn't hurt to unearth said thread if that's what you're interested in.

Re: Another app idea... GPS tracing system
 

This could be a solution, but I think that keeping the SSH connection always active will leak more memory and you'll have to be lucky in finding the device turned on

Thanks for the information... of course I will check them.