Up until a few years ago, the use of GPS was limited to vehicle tracking systems. Much of the reason for this had to do with the size of the chips that ran GPS units, receiver chips that receive data from satellites, supporting chips and power supplies. GPS chips were first integrated into an alternate device with cell phones. GPS chips in cell phones were primarily used to aid in extending cell phone service areas and aid in transferring cell phone signals between cell towers. An alternate early use of GPS chips in cell phones was to aid in locating 911 callers that used cell phones.



Today, however, cell phones are not the only devices that have GPS units. GPS can be found in every thing from car navigation systems to small RF tags designed for tracking manufactured goods as they are shipped to retail destination.

With the reduction in size of the units that power satellite communications, supporting electronic chips and the reengineering for heat reduction has allowed for an introduction of a whole bevy of new GPS based services. For instance, motorcycle GPS units not only help track where, you are, but can also help plan your trip, provide information about the area you are in, and can even provide two way satellite communication. The only reason most GPS navigation units are not smaller is because of the touch screens that are used with them.

Chips today are so small that it will not be long before they will become even more integrated into our lives. It is not hard to fathom lawn mowers designed to mow a lawn on auto pilot. Just plug in the relevant coordinates and turn radiuses and the lawn gets mowed. It is not hard to imagine stoves programmed to turn the oven own when you get to a certain point in your home commute from work.

With the reduction in GPS chip size the possible uses are endless. One could imagine fraud reduction in package shipments by using GPS tracking to the doorstep. Tracking the whereabouts of children is now becoming common place. GPS tracking of animals and criminals is becoming more common place.

The data captured by a GPS unit can be used for a myriad of different things. So, what does this mean for you. The world just got smaller, more complex and less private in one fell swoop. But, it also got more interesting as well. Imagine all the possibilities of automation that GPS has the potential to enable. Just about anything, having to do with movement, can be more readily automated through the use of GPS. Imagine freight trains where the engineers are actually at a control center miles away from the train they are controlling. As I said before the possibilities are endless.