Can your location be tracked via your cell phone? Heroines in distress on the big screen have relied on their rescuers finding them through an open cell call for years, but is that just movie fiction? This article will take a look at the current state of GPS tracking enabled cell phones.

In recent years, Science Fiction has become science fact.  Due to the advent of the 9/11 Twin Towers incident, and the increased demand for improvements in the old 911 emergency calling system has been pushed forward into the field of GPS tracking technology.  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released orders last year that required all cell phone carriers to have the ability to trace all cell phone calls to a location with an accuracy of within 100 meters (approximately 300 feet) for emergency location purposes. 

In order to comply with these requirements set by the FCC, most cell phone carriers have decided to integrate the GPS technology into their cell phone handsets. Many have considered this move rather than overhauling the tower network.

However, the cell phone GPS tracking in most handsets is not like those in your handy GPS receiver which allows you to take hiking in the outback. Most cell phones even do not allow the user direct access to the GPS data. There are even some units that accurate location data is only recorded if an emergency call is made or if special arrangements are considered with a location-based service provider (LBS).

Well, there is still hope for the cell phone carriers to be able to avail the cell phone GPS tracking services. In fact, there are now fully GPS-enabled phones that can be used in conjunction with third-party location-based services. To mention but a few, these GPS-enabled phones include Nokia, Motorola, and Beneflon.

Let’s take a look at the features of each of these phones:

Beneflon

Beneflon has already developed two cell phone GPS tracking solutions, the Track Pro and ESC. As often claimed, these solutions are high-end cell phones designed for use in professional security and personal safety applications. These also have a fully-functioning GPS which provides accurate location data to the user without assistance from the network. And, it is necessary to note that while these are not Internet enabled devices, they have a number of features perfect for interactive communication between the user and a service center. And, perhaps what is best about Beneflon cell phone GPS tracking solutions is that Beneflon itself is a multi-band GSM wireless network phone that can be used in a number of countries in the world.

Motorola

Probably you already know that Motorola manufactures a series of cell phone GPS tracking units for Nextel. In particular, these cell phone GPS tracking units involve the Motorola i205, i305, i530, i710, i730, i733, i736 and i830 iDEN®. According to Motorola, the programmability of these GPS-enabled cell phones enables the developers to create applications that make the GPS data available to the user, as well as the location-based service providers.

Today, Nextel offers a myriad of cell phone GPS tracking solutions for use with the above mentioned Motorola phones. One of the more well-known cell phone GPS tracking solutions developed by Nextel is the Mobile Locator. Other solutions are provided by the affiliates of Nextel itself, as well as by third parties like Mapquest and Trimble.

Nokia

It is worth noting that recently, Nokia plans to make their Xpress-On GPS optional hardware available to North American owners of Nokia model 5140 phones. Accordingly, their Xpress-On GPS optional hardware would facilitate location service applications over GSM wireless networks.

You can see that the cell phone industry has been moving to cell phone GPS tracking systems independent of what the consumer wants. If you want access to the GPS data, you can purchase a special phone. By having all phones GPS tracking enabled, this will no doubt have many life saving consequences.