In place of GPS, a new iPhone app tries Twitter

By Tim Conneally | Published February 22, 2008, 6:46 PM

The Unofficial Apple Blog has posted a program for the iPhone which enlists the help of Twitter to alert the user -- or someone else -- of the global coordinates of a properly-enabled device.

The command-line program obtains the location of the cell tower nearest to the iPhone, in latitude and longitude through Google Maps.

To make this information accessible, the user must give the iPhone its own personal Twitter account. For those unfamiliar, "Twittering" is a moment-by-moment status update similar to the "What are you doing now?" status bar in Facebook.

By automatically connecting to the internet via EDGE or Wi-Fi, and running a Twitter shell script which the user can set to run at varying intervals, the phone's latitude and longitude are automatically posted on Twitter.

While the program is listed as a "LoJack" solution for the iPhone, which would alert the user of their lost or stolen device, the clandestine nature of the script is conducive to more devious uses. Certainly it is nice to track one's own property, but there are plenty out there who'd prefer to track others instead.

Comments

Gee - that reminds me of the Shel Silverstein poem ...

"Mrs. McTwitter, the baby-sitter
I think she's a little bit crazy.
She thinks a baby-sitter's supposed
To sit upon the baby."

Lmao.

Score: 0

|

Or post a comment just to hype your own site

www.topdouchebag.com

Score: 0

|

So basically the way I see we will see parents buying there kids a iphone and then tracking every move there kids do. Thats the only logical reason to get this program.

www.talkprice.net

Score: 0

|

Silverlight 3 goes live on Microsoft's servers

Microsoft's answer to Adobe's Flash is (unofficially) here, with prospects of higher-speed, higher-resolution video and for the first time, 3D.

Three Android phones on the way from T-Mobile in 2009

T-Mobile's myTouch 3G, launched Wednesday, will be followed by two more Android phones later this year, but neither of them will be HTC's Hero.

Best Buy-brand TVs to get TiVo

A new alliance will place the retailer's own brand alongide the manufacturers, and could also lead to future partnerships on services.

LTE still lacks a voice

The 4G Wireless standard that Verizon hopes to show off before this year is out is still at a loss for (spoken) words.

Data sharing among online advertisers: Is sanity in sight?

Lockdown with Angela Gunn In the middle of a 15-page plea not to get regulated, a spark of smart thinking.

T-Mobile's strategy to combat Apple's iPhone with Android

With a trio of Android phones now in the pipeline for 2009, T-Mobile hopes to break the iPhone's emerging stranglehold.

EC's Reding: Government should act as broker for media downloads

If Internet media services don't step up and build an attractive way for users to start paying for downloads, a commissioner says, government may do the job instead.

Sony TVs get Netflix, still no PS3

Though it's coming in behind LG, Samsung, and Microsoft, Sony will begin to offer Netflix streaming, too.

Google Chrome OS: Too little, too early

Carmi Levy: Wide Angle Zoom Don't start the revolution just yet, says Carmi, who isn't so certain Chrome OS will be the "Windows Killer."

GAO pen test brings the hammer down on federal rent-a-cops

But are the computers to blame for the contract-guard fiasco at FPS?

What's Next: Chrome OS will have at least some friends in high places

Also: South Korea takes another round of DDoS abuse, and Neelie Kroes and Steve Ballmer may shake hands before she exits stage left.

Report: Evidence of further creativity with Windows 7 upgrade prices

A ZDNet blogger did some serious digging for clues as to a reported price break on multiple Windows 7 Home Premium licenses, and may have found it.