Boating Safety and Safe Boating Blog

Tuesday, May 31th, 2011

by Alex Czartoryski

Cool Tech Gadget for Pretty Much Any Outdoorsman:
Turn Your Smartphone Into a Satellite Communicator

So you're lost in the wilderness. Thoughts of a parched, solitary death are entering your mind. Well, with the Spot Connect, you can share these final thoughts on the Internet! (And also save yourself)

SPOT Connect

The Spot Connect is a satellite communicator module that allows you to send Twitter, Facebook, email and SMS messages from locations without cell service. (No calls, sorry.) Rather than pairing with a single piece of proprietary hardware, the Spot Connect pairs with Smartphones to provide a software interface for the little black communications unit. Simply download the SPOT Connect App onto your Smartphone (Android or Apple iOS devices — including iPhone, iPad and iPod touch) and SPOT will wirelessly synch via Bluetooth. The SPOT satellite message features are initiated directly from the app's user interface.

How SPOT Connect Works

The fun stuff: Messaging, social networking and GPS trail tracking are front and center in the software, but it will also send out your raw location for emergency purposes.

The catch: At $170, which does not include the necessary satellite service subscription ($100 a year, minimum), the Spot Connect is not cheap.

For more information about the SPOT Connect, please visit the More Information: FindMeSPOT.com website.

Source: Gizmodo