Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion SPOT GPS Update -- Spot Connect

It looks like the Spot Messenger people are about to release their next product, the Spot Connect.

It appears to have the same features as the Spot Personal Tracker

• SOS/911
• Help
• Check-in / OK
• Track progress

PLUS, one new feature: Type & Send message

From what I read, it allows you to send a 41-character text message that you type in via an app on a smart phone ("available for Android phones running version 2.0 and higher").  Before your trip, you can set up your SPOT account to transmit those messages via email or cellular text messages, or to Twitter or Facebook, etc.

And of course, the new feature is like the Track Progress plan:  Additional charges apply.

The new toy is definitely a step up, but it is still a ONE-WAY communicator. There is no way to receive messages from the other end.

Here's the image from the SPOT Connect page:

Several related links:

Engadget: Spot Connect brings GPS tracking and communication to your Bluetooth phone

CNet UK: Avoid the need to amputate your own arm with the Spot Connect satellite communicator

Gizmodo: Spot Connect Turns Your Smartphone Into a Satellite Communicator

Ubergizmo: Spot Connect brings satellite connectivity to your Android-powered phone

I liked this article on Cnet - it actually has some meaningful details that I missed in all the other reporting

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027126-283.html

main thing for me was to find out if it worked without the phone like the regular Spot, and it appears that the SOS works without having to fire up the phone.

this seems to be the main difference between Spot and this smartphone/Spot combo:

send predefined location-based SMS and e-mail messages via satellite, "Type and Send" custom 41 character message

so if I were to notify a support group about my arrival at a milestone that should trigger their hike to a meeting point, it appears I could set this up with a pre-defined email message and then follow it up with a text message of 41 characters just to make sure. Would I trust it to actually work with the "spotty" Globalstar coverage? Awaiting test reports...

It still is very limited one-way communication, but better than what the regular Spot provides. I'm waiting this out with my first-gen Spot for another season.