We just released a new version of Navizon. The most remarkable addition to this new version is a new service called Mobfindr that will let you find the location of a phone just by sending an SMS to it.
So how is this different from the Buddy Finder? Well, there is a major difference: instead of constantly sending your location, this process is running in the background and get invoked only when it receives an SMS with the pass-phrase you entered for this feature. This means that it will have no impact on the battery life or performance of your phone. You can just set it... and forget it! If you ever lose your phone, you will be happy to find out where it is located by sending an SMS to it.
You can also use this feature to find the location of your buddies or your family members, as long as they gave you their pass-phrase to access their location.
To set it up, just install the latest version of Navizon and enter the pass-phrase that will need to be sent in order to access the location. Turn the service on... and that's it.
If you plan on giving this pass-phrase to other people, make sure it is different from your Navizon password. Otherwise, if it's just for you, it can be just anything.
You can test it to see if it is working by sending an SMS to yourself (it can be from the same phone) with the pass-phrase. It should receive a reply by SMS with your location.
MobiFindr is included in the latest version of Navizon for the iPhone and will be released as a separate application for Blackberry and Windows Mobile very shortly. A version for S60 phones is currently in the works.
The free version will return your location based on the cell tower triangulation (approximately 1500 meters accuracy) and if you have the premium version of Navizon you will be able to get the location of your device with a better accuracy thanks to WiFi triangulation.
Enjoy this new service!
Update: MobiFindr is now available for Blackberry. Just go to www.navizon.com from your device to download the latest version.
Is this app going to be available for regular, non-jailbroken iPhones via Apple's AppStore?
Posted by: Martin | June 30, 2008 at 12:33 AM
We will do our best to create a version that is compatible with the AppStore. But from what has been published so far, it looks like Apple won't allow applications that can run as a background task.
Posted by: Cyril | June 30, 2008 at 01:00 AM