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To: CDMQ who wrote (36237)	7/20/1999 6:44:00 PM
From: JGoren	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Is the sprint news new? If so, that could be the announcement.

To: CDMQ who wrote (36237)	7/20/1999 11:25:00 PM
From: Drew Williams	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

<<A deal (buy out) of LOJACK is also a possibility. That would fit!>> We had some discussion about LOJACK on the GSTRF thread a while back. For those who do not know, LOJACK is a method of locating stolen cars. A special radio transmitter is buried in the car where it would be difficult to disable. When the vehicle is reported stolen, the police cruise with a directional signal finder, just like the Nazi's did in all the old WWII movies when they were trying to locate the French underground's clandestine radios. The technology is pretty straightforward. Even I understand it! So, what LOJACK is selling is the ability to locate a stolen vehicle. Mostly, I understand, they are selling to owners of relatively expensive automobiles. I do not know if they are selling to truck fleet operators (whose vehicles cost much more than my Volvo or my friend's BMW's and Mercedes) like OmniTraks does, but it would make sense to do so. So there could be marketing as well as technical synergies. But let's put a little different twist on it. Instead of using LOJACK's old, low-tech solution, why not use Qualcomm's own technology soon to be operational in the GlobalStar network? It is my understanding that OmniTracs will be upgrading their technology to use GlobalStar's network. (Qualcomm owns about 11% of GlobalStar and supplied all the important technology.) Since GlobalStar already has GPS capability built-in, the information is readily available to give the police the vehicle's exact location. Secondly, LOJACK claims that their systems cover about 80% of the nations population. I'm sure that is true, but what the map on their web page tells me is that their 80% is actually covering less than 20% of the country. What if your vehicle is stolen from a rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike far from any major metro police department? A GlobalStar based LOJACK would still be fully functional (OK, Rajala, assuming the car is not parked under the trees) even where the police department does not have the currently necessary LOJACK-specific directional receiver. I see it working like this. You notice your vehicle is missing. You call the new LOJACK/OmniTracs 800 number. You give them a password, which they enter into a computer, which then calls up the GlobalStar phone in your vehicle. The phone gives back the GPS information, which gets plugged into mapping software. Assuming the software does not show the car sitting in your driveway, thus indicating you forgot your husband/wife/teenager/mechanic is driving the car, the computer generates a document including a map, a photograph of the car, and all relevant make/model/registration information. That document is then faxed to the appropriate police department having jurisdiction at the vehicle's location. Simple. The biggest problem I see here is developing the database of police departments and matching them with the boundaries of their coverage responsibilities. I have suggested to my company management that this database might be a useful project for the NBFAA (National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association) to pursue for our own reasons. Each of our customer records already has contact information we would need to dispatch the appropriate police (and sometimes fire) department. If we could combine our databases' address and contact files, we could easily create a new database where we could enter a zip code and get back the appropriate police department. I would not think it would be too big a leap to take that to longitude and latitude information. This idea is my personal contribution to anyone who wants to use it. Are you listing, Dr. J?