Tattletale: GPS Snitch
By Randy Vance (more by this author)




You're staring out that prestigious corner window and wishing you were on your boat instead of putting together sales reports. Unfortunately for you, someone just hitched your boat to his truck and is pulling it away while you meet your third deadline of the day. Your cell phone rings, and it's a nosy neighbor telling you exactly where your boat isn't. Seriously. You sit down and call the cops on your desk phone and tell the dispatcher what happened. But will they find it?

They probably will if you have one of these cool devices on board the boat. They range from $250 to $2,000, and each has a useful niche in giving boaters peace of mind, lowering insurance rates and keeping your boat safely in its moorings.

The GPS Snitch is our favorite — a simple device costing just $299. Arm it with a low monthly service for $15 per month, and it will tell you exactly where your boat is by sending you periodic e-mails and text messages. A motion sensor in the GPS Snitch tells it to send a text message or e-mail and start reporting its position to a selection of people you designate, once you establish your service.

What if your boat is parked near an earthquake zone or moored in not-so-calm waters? Or, you left your St. Bernard on board as a guard dog? Set the GPS Snitch on "Pet Mode," and instead of motion sensing, it will report only if the boat leaves a 300-meter perimeter. Once the monitoring device is activated, it sends text messages with a mapped position of your boat, car or bicycle — it's small enough to tuck under your bike seat. Tell the 411 dispatcher the GPS Snitch is moving west on I-70 between the St. Louis and Collinsville exits and troopers or local law-enforcement agencies can intercept it.

The GPS Snitch is particularly useful with PDAs like Blackberry or Palm. One disadvantage we noted: It's effective only in areas with cellular coverage. So, in some areas out West and more than a few miles offshore, GPS Snitch signals can fall on deaf ears. Still, we think it's worth hiding under a life jacket in a boat locker. $299