Mobile information sharing community helps drivers avoid speeding tickets
Trapster today launched the world’s first speed trap sharing social network for mobile phones. This new information sharing community gives control back to individual drivers allowing them to work together to be more aware of local speed limits and avoid hefty fines and penalties. Users alert other members to police speed traps in real time, using a simple button push on their mobile phone. The community includes a sophisticated ratings system to measure the reliability of members thereby increasing confidence in the alert data. Trapster is provided at no cost and can be downloaded at http://www.trapster.com.
Every year law enforcement deploy more advanced techniques for trapping and penalizing drivers for exceeding posted speed limits. The impact for drivers has been large fines and increased insurance premiums which often outweigh the magnitude of the simple infraction. Fortunately, advances in cell phone technology now allow drivers to respond by preventing themselves from getting into these situations in the first place. With Trapster, drivers electronically mark the location of observed speed traps or traffic light cameras. With this user contributed data, the Trapster system tracks your driving location and alerts you when approaching a marked speed trap or camera. Users rate each other’s traps, and over time the system establishes a confidence level for traps, and learns the credibility of users. The new Trapster service uses a combination of location technologies on mobile phones such as GPS and Wi-Fi positioning from Skyhook Wireless to build the foundation for this new community.
“Who hasn’t unintentionally increased driving speed in order to avoid a dangerous driver only to inadvertently pass a concealed police car?” said Pete Tenereillo, Founder, & President. “Trapster levels the playing field for drivers by helping them share information with each other about police activity.”
Trapster is the first mobile consumer service to combine GPS and Wi-Fi positioning from Skyhook Wireless to ensure the accuracy of user reports and alerts. “Trapster is a great example of an innovative new location based service that can help consumers by providing real-time accurate location information,” said Kate Imbach, head of developer relations for Skyhook Wireless. “The combination of GPS and Skyhook technology offers the best coverage and accuracy across an entire metropolitan area.”
Trapster’s automatic update software runs on Windows Mobile, Blackberry, J2ME and Nokia Symbian phones or any phone that supports WHERE.com and Yahoo! Go 3.0. Users with other devices can utilize Trapsters voice transcription service and SMS alerts. A version for the iPhone is under development as part of Apple’s new iPhone SDK program.
About Trapster
Tenereillo, Inc., founded in 2003, creates mobile social networking technology that allows users to collaborate and create up-to-date, relevant geographic content. For more information visit http://www.tenereillo.com.
