Google's free Latitude software

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How often do you find yourself wondering where is your spouse or parent living with dementia? It's a pretty central question to a caregiver's daily life, and it's precisely the question you can now answer using Google Latitude.

Google's Latitude is a newly-released feature for your mobile phone device. It's also an iGoogle gadget on your computer. Once you've opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your loved ones who have decided to share their location with you. So now you can do things like see if your spouse is in an expected place, or that a parent is within a reasonable distance of their home, or to where they have wandered off.

With Latitude, not only can you see your loved one's location on a map, but you can also be in touch directly via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail, or by updating your status message; it lets you stay close to the people you care about.

Google recognizes the sensitivity of location data, so there are fine-grained privacy controls in Google's Latitude. Everything about Latitude is opt-in. You control exactly who gets to see your location, and when. Since you may not want to share the same information with everyone, Latitude lets you change the settings on a person-by-person basis. Everything is under your control and, of course, you can sign out of Latitude at any time. Check out this video to learn more about the privacy features.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9H4xaTspaQ

Today, Latitude is available in 27 countries. To begin using it with a mobile smartphone, visit google.com/latitude on your phone's web browser to download the latest version of Google Maps for mobile with Latitude. Latitude is available on Blackberry, S60, and Windows Mobile, and will be available on Android in the next few days. It will be coming to the iPhone, through Google Mobile App, very soon. No smartphone? No worries. Visit google.com/latitude on your desktop or laptop to install the Latitude iGoogle gadget and share your location or keep track of your loved one right from your computer. Visit the Google Mobile blog for more details, and check out the video above to see the pros and cons of Latitude in action.

http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/02/locate-your-friends-in-real-time-with.html


More Bucks, More Bang

To provide greater, more confident security for a person with a dementia like Alzheimer's, take a look at the fee-based TrueTrackerPro.

Loaded with enhancements over Google's Latitude, this is the Cadillac of tracking devices. In the Wall Street Journal video above, the reporters found that Google Latitude could be off-target by as much as 6 blocks or even a mile-and-a-half. In contrast, the TrueTrackerPro's advantages include:

* Accuracy to within 3 meters, at intervals as tight as 15 seconds.
* Plug & Play ease-of-use.
* Operates anywhere in the world.
* Driving Analysis. A tough question is, "When do we take away the keys?" With TrueTracekrPlus, you can objectively tell when your loved on is starting to get lost or drive dangerously.
* GeoFencing. Caregivers can set a virtual perimeter on the map on their screen. If your loved one leaves the house, block, neighborhood or whatever you define, an alert is sent to the caregiver immediately.
* An SOS Button. One press of the button by the person wearing the TrueTrackerPro or by anyone who finds them or is trying to help them, and a predertimened SMS or email is sent to up to three people, with a message and an exact location.

All this power comes at a price, but a fair one for abilities no one even had just a few short years ago. The device itself sells for under $400, and there is a service charge that is in the $50 per month range. The following video displays the TrueTrackerPro's versatility and power.

Mark Lunsford, the initiator of the Jessica Lunsford Act to protect children and the recipient of many awards such as the Public Awareness Award and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award, tried the TrueTrackerPro. He commented, “This is an amazing product, not only for protecting our children, but our elderly suffering from Alzheimer’s. I believe this device could save a life. When every minute counts, this device will allow you and law enforcement to track your family members immediately, quickly and safely. I personally used the True Tracker Pro and was impressed with its abilty to track my every move no matter were I went.”

To find out more about the easy-to-use TrueTrackerPro system,
check out their website at www.TrueTrackerPro.com,
or call Angie Camp at 1-727-584-0115.

Google Latitude or TrueTrackerPro? The choice is yours, but either way, this technology makes everyone's life better.