Craig Peterson holds a weekly radio show syndicated across the United States in which he introduces technology topics. This past Sunday, October 30, 2011 he spoke the SecuraTrac CEO, Chris Holbert, about their latest safety product for families and employees. The innovative product is called SecuraFone (www.SecuraFone.com).
October 30, 2011
October 28, 2011
Chicago Tribune - SecuraPets - Health and safety benefits for pets and their owners
By William Hageman, Tribune Newspapers
SecuraPAL
From SecuraTrac, it’s a GPS-based pet locator that sends you a text message or email if your pet escapes your yard. Your dog or cat wears a small, 21/2-ounce rechargeable GPS device on its collar; the pet owner can monitor his or her account and pet’s location from a smartphone or computer. SecuraPAL costs $197.78 and has a service fee of $6.99 per month. For more information visit securapets.com.
Whether you’re hiking with your dog, keeping track of a pet or trying to find a greener solution for your small mammal cage, there are some new products worth a look:
Hydropack I
Made by Singing Dog Designs (singingdogdesigns.com), this extremely lightweight pack lets your dog carry a couple of water bottles and other necessities when you’re on the trail. “There’s easy access to the water bottles,” says designer Andy Malkiel. “And I made it small because most people take their dogs out for only an hour, not overnight.” The Hydropack, which comes in four sizes, has a contoured chest harness that cups the dog’s rib cage so it stays in place. Nothing touches the dog except the foam, Malkiel pointed out, no buckles, no hardware. Other features: tapered pockets for easy access, a key fob, reflectors all around, a grab handle and a D-ring for Spanky’s leash. Available for about $99 at independent retailers.
Green Dreamzzz
American Pet Diner has turned trimmings from phone books into an alternative to wood chips for your small mammal’s cage. “Wood chips are hard on their feet, hard on their eyes,” says Lisa Marshall, president and CEO of American Pet Diner. “(With Green Dreamzzz) there’s no aroma, no oils. They love to take them in their mouths and take them all over the cage.” Green Dreamzzz sells for $6.99 for a 2-pound bag and can be found at americanpetdiner.com and at independent pet dealers.
Read More
Comments Off
Chicago Tribune - Health and safety benefits for pets and their owners
By William Hageman, Tribune Newspapers
Whether you’re hiking with your dog, keeping track of a pet or trying to find a greener solution for your small mammal cage, there are some new products worth a look:
SecuraPAL by SecuraPets.com
From SecuraTrac, it’s a GPS-based pet locator that sends you a text message or email if your pet escapes your yard. Your dog or cat wears a small, 21/2-ounce rechargeable GPS device on its collar; the pet owner can monitor his or her account and pet’s location from a smartphone or computer. SecuraPAL costs $197.78 and has a service fee of $6.99 per month. For more information visit securapets.com.
Hydropack I
Made by Singing Dog Designs (singingdogdesigns.com), this extremely lightweight pack lets your dog carry a couple of water bottles and other necessities when you’re on the trail. “There’s easy access to the water bottles,” says designer Andy Malkiel. “And I made it small because most people take their dogs out for only an hour, not overnight.” The Hydropack, which comes in four sizes, has a contoured chest harness that cups the dog’s rib cage so it stays in place. Nothing touches the dog except the foam, Malkiel pointed out, no buckles, no hardware. Other features: tapered pockets for easy access, a key fob, reflectors all around, a grab handle and a D-ring for Spanky’s leash. Available for about $99 at independent retailers.
Green Dreamzzz
American Pet Diner has turned trimmings from phone books into an alternative to wood chips for your small mammal’s cage. “Wood chips are hard on their feet, hard on their eyes,” says Lisa Marshall, president and CEO of American Pet Diner. “(With Green Dreamzzz) there’s no aroma, no oils. They love to take them in their mouths and take them all over the cage.” Green Dreamzzz sells for $6.99 for a 2-pound bag and can be found at americanpetdiner.com and at independent pet dealers.
Read More
Comments Off
Connected World Writes About SecuraFone - Track Your Little Goblins on Halloween
Halloween is just around the corner, and as sure as vampires have fangs kids will be begging to go trick-or-treating without a parental chaperone. It can be disconcerting to let kids go wandering the neighborhood alone, but smartphone tracking apps can provide a little more peace of mind.
One app is SecuraFone from SecuraTrac, www.securatrac.com, which uses GPS technology in an iPhone or Android smartphone to monitor a child’s location. If the child moves outside of preset boundaries, the app will send the parent a text message alert. Parents can also choose to be updated every few minutes with the child’s location.
An SOS function allows a child to send an alert to all of his or her emergency contacts with the push of one button. Also, an emergency phone call is automatically placed to the primary contact. A password-protected Web-based platform for controlling the app means kids won’t be able to disable the tracking functions.
Another function of the app is designed with teen drivers in mind. If the app detects a preset speed threshold has been crossed, SecuraFone will alert designated contacts. This could be a good option for teens headed out to Halloween festivities.
A different app for Halloween is Trick or Tracker from Iconosys, www.iconosys.com. This year’s 2.0 version of the app features the company’s Guards Up geofence technology, which will alert the parent if the child wanders outside of preset boundaries.
Trick or Tracker installs on both the child’s and the parent’s smartphone, allowing both to find each other at a moment’s notice. A feature called Latchkey Kid will notify parents when the child returns home, for instance if the parents are out at a party.
To use this app, the child’s phone must be Android OS, but the parent can use any smartphone with Google maps loaded.
If you child doesn’t use a mobile device, there are still trackers available. Amber Alert GPS,www.amberalertgps.com, is a small unit a child can carry in a backpack or other bag. The device uses GPS to monitor the child’s location, and parents can view the data on their smartphone or computer. Users can set up to 20 customized zones and receive alerts when the child enters and exits that zone.
A bread crumbing feature follows the child’s route throughout the day, updating the parent automatically via email and/or text. Parents can even set reporting intervals of 15, 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes.
Parents always like to know where their children are, especially on Halloween, and today there is no shortage of technology available to monitor kids’ exact whereabouts. With technology, parents can still be watching even when the kids are out on their own.
Comments Off
October 27, 2011
Blackberry Outage Reduces Driving Accidents, Saves Lives
HERMOSA BEACH, CA – Mobile technology has given us the ability to be more productive, communicate easier and become more independent than ever before, but it has also created a life endangering environment when mobile phones are used while driving. Statistics and real-life incidents have proven time and again that parameters need to be set to protect mobile phone users behind the wheel. SecuraTrac®, a dynamic provider of personal location and safety services, announced the release of a new solution, a mobile application called SecuraFone™.
The latest product offering from SecuraTrac®, SecuraFone is built to save lives by reducing distracted driving and transforming mobile phones into personal safety devices. SecuraFone, in addition to preventing the use of distracting communication technologies while moving, also harnesses the power of GPS technology to mitigate the potential for emergency situations by enabling advanced location services.
SecuraFone provides a powerful safety option for employers, parents of teenage children and caretakers of seniors. SecuraFone connects families and protects employees through location updates, emergency response features, and distracted driver features.
During the recent Blackberry outage driving accidents in the United Arab Emirates were virtually eliminated as described in this excerpt from DailyTech.com.
“According to police in the United Arab Emirates, the inability to text or read emails during the BlackBerry outage last week led to less traffic accidents in the area.
Traffic accidents in Abu Dhabi decreased by 40 percent last week, and a 20 percent drop occurred in Dubai. Lt Gen Khalfan Tamiim, the chief of Dubai Police, and Brig Gen Hussein Al Harethi, director of the Abu Dhabi Police traffic department, said that the decrease in traffic accidents is attributed to the BlackBerry outage that began Monday, October 10.
“Absolutely nothing has happened in the past week in terms of killings on the road and we’re really glad about that,” said Harethi. “People are slowly starting to realize the dangers of using their phone while driving. The roads became much safer when BlackBerry stopped working.”
When there are no outages to protect drivers from themselves, a safe driving solution is essential. SecuraFone offers a powerful safety solution that automatically tracks and reports locations with more than 6 alert types including speed, SOS, and SecuraFence alerts. It does this while also disabling distracting technologies while in motion. Some of SecuraFone’s features include:
• Distracted Driver – GPS detects speed of the mobile device user, preventing the use of email, social networking apps and text messaging functions when moving faster than 5 MPH.
• SOS Button (Slide) – Once SecuraFone is loaded on a mobile device an SOS button (a slide bar) is created for the device. By sliding the bar or pressing a button, the mobile user can instantly send an alert via email and/or text message to all of their emergency contacts. In addition, an emergency phone call is placed to the primary emergency contact which can be updated by the account owner.
• SecuraFences – An unlimited number of virtual borders can be created for select mobile phones. Anytime a border is crossed (by entry or exit), the account holder and other designated contacts are sent an alert via email and/or text message. All alert messages include a street address and a link to turn-by-turn directions to that location.
• Speed Alerts – For select mobile phones a speed setting controlled by the account owner the SecuraFone app can alert designated contacts via email and/or text message if that speed threshold is exceeded. All alert messages include a street address and a link to turn-by-turn directions to that location.
• Secure Web-based Platform – even tech savvy kids cannot get around this app. Parents have access to all settings via a password-protected web account that can be monitored and adjusted at anytime.
SecuraFone is currently available for iPhone® and Android® phones and is free to download with an $8.99 monthly fee. SecuraFone can be downloaded by visiting the SecuraFone website or through your mobile device’s app store. A SecuraFone application is also being developed for Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices. For more information please visit www.securafone.com.
About SecuraTrac
SecuraTrac® develops, markets, and sells a suite of products dedicated to bringing families closer together and improving employee safety through GPS location based technology and state-of-the-art, easy-to-use websites. SecuraTrac’s SecuraPAL® Guardian solution for children is the recipient of The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval and their LifeTrac® MobileProtector solution for seniors is currently nominated for Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards for Excellence in Mobile & Wireless Communication Technology. SecuraTrac has also developed a new GPS safety app, SecuraFone™, for mobile devices and a free life-saving service called SecuraChild™ that leverages crowd sourcing and social media to broadcast and speed-up the location of missing children. The company is headquartered in Hermosa Beach, CA. For more information please visit www.securatrac.com.
Comments Off
Fox TV Talks about SecuraFone for Children
By Brenda Flanagan, My9TV.com Staff Reporter
MY9TV.com - If you don’t want to worry about your kids while they are trick or treating. There’s an app for that! And as Brenda Flanagan explains. It’s just a couple of clicks away!
In the dark about Halloween safety? We’re gonna enlighten you - Try downloading Flashlight for iPhone. It’s free — and might keep you from tripping on your ghost costume!
Most parents agree — the scariest part of Halloween — keeping little trick-or-treaters safe from real-life terrors. “They’re very afraid they can’t trust anybody - anybody with their children!”
But now — there’s an app for that! For 99 cents you can download Offender Locator -
for iPhones. It maps locations of sexual predators — houses you might want to avoid.
“Would you download some of this stuff? Yeah! Of course!”
“Oh, I think it’s a great idea nowaways.” Now parents can track everybody in real time on their smartphones. Among a SLEW of apps — is SecuraFone. “You can log into a secure portal from your phone or a computer and see on a map, real simply, where people are or where they have been.” If kids get lost or scared — there’s a panic button. “All I need to do is swipe my panic bar - and they’ll be connected.” SecuraFone even alerts you if kids leave the neighborhood… but the service costs $8.99 a month for iPhone or Android.
Comments Off
October 20, 2011
LA Times Talks about SecuraFone for Halloween
By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times
Smartphones equipped with GPS-enabled location tracking technology have made it easier to let friends and family know where you’re eating or shopping. The technology can also be a handy tool for parents on Halloween.
Although it might seem spooky for kids, a handful of apps will allow parents to receive timely data on where their children are, and possibly deter the youngsters from wandering too far away.
SecuraFone: This app, designed for teenagers, allows parents to set up geofences and receive a text alert any time their child crosses a virtual boundary. With one press of a button, an SOS feature also automatically places a call to a predetermined emergency contact and alerts other emergency contacts via text or email.
For teens with wheels, SecuraFone can temporarily lock down the email and text messaging functions on a smartphone when the device is traveling at a high speed. The app can also send an alert if a preset speed threshold is passed. All settings can be tweaked through a password-protected online account.
Available on iPhone and Android phones.
Cost: $8.99 a month.
Google Latitude: Offered as both a separate app and as an opt-in feature that’s part of the free Google Maps app, Latitude enables users to share their location with friends or family members. After downloading the Maps app, you can choose to “Join Latitude” and invite your children, who must also enable that feature on their own phone, to share their location with you. Once someone accepts, they appear as an icon on Google Maps.
But inviting someone means they will be able to view your location. Anyone who has received what is called a “sharing request” can also accept it but choose to hide their own location. That means if you’re not careful, your children will end up tracking you instead of the other way around (possibly leading to lots of awkward inquisitions).
Available on Android, BlackBerry, Apple and many other devices.
Cost: free.
Lookout: Worried parents can use Lookout, which was intended to find a lost phone or secure data on a stolen device, for tracking their children instead. After downloading the app onto your child’s phone, you can log in online, click on the “missing device” tab and see where the phone — and your child — is on a map.
Available on Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, iPhoneand iPad.
Cost: free.
Footprints: This paid app includes parental controls that allow location tracking at all times, and it is password protected to keep a child from tampering with it. Parents can download the app onto their child’s phone, create an account and tweak the settings so the location of their child is updated every few minutes, every hour or only when they are on the move. You can also configure the app to share data for only a limited time span — for parents who want to keep an eye out only on special occasions like Halloween.
To work, the app must be installed on both a child’s and a parent’s phone, and each download requires a paid subscription.
Available only on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Cost: Free for two months. After that, 99 cents for a three-month subscription, $2.99 for a year or $4.99 for two years.
Trick or Tracker: A Halloween-themed app, the Trick or Tracker will send text messages with location data to a preset phone number. To use, a parent must download the app onto both their own phone and their child’s phone, choose one password to sync up the two devices and pick a time interval to get regular text updates (say, every 15 minutes). The app also lets parents create a digital fence to encourage their children to stay within a certain area. If he or she strays outside that “geofence,” the parent’s phone will be notified by text message.
There’s also the option to give children a peep at your own location, via the “where’s my parent?” button.
Available only for Android phones.
Cost: $4.99 for each download.
Comments Off
October 15, 2011
Celebrity Parents Magazine and SecuraPets
You love your dog. No, wait, that’s an understatement. You think your dog is smarter than most humans, kinder and gentler than the Pope and you even cook his steak tartare just the way he likes it. But are you doing everything you can to prevent him from getting lost? SecuraPAL is the latest in pet locating technology. Consisting of a small, lightweight GPS device, SecuraPAL attaches to your pet’s collar and can send you a text message and email you if Edgar the puggle escapes from the front yard. It even has an interactive web platform that allows you to monitor your account and pet’s location from your smartphone or computer. Now that’s puppy love (www.securapets.com).
Read More
Comments Off