GPS Devices: Finding Yourself

Digital Dan Scopes Out The Best In GPS & Other Location-Oriented Services

(CBS)  The newly-enabled service is not without some modest glitches: for example, I "thought" I was standing on Long Island, but the phone briefly was convinced my location was in the middle of the Great South Bay. Maps on the phone screen are very tiny, compared to full-featured GPS devices, but having precise location information can be a life-saver (or at least a time-saver) if you are stuck someplace with no idea where you are.

The service actually worked: a tiny phone with some excellent software actually pinpointed my location within a few feet. Even though I knew precisely where I was, I kept trying to see if the phone could "find" me - and for the most part, it did a great job. I confess that I only tested the service in three major cities, so I can’t vouch for the entire Verizon network, but the VZ Navigator solution is astounding.

Verizon’s Chaperone

Another variation on Verizon’s phone navigation system is a wonderful service for parents to keep track of their young children, particularly if kids have active schedules or complex babysitting arrangements. Your child gets a kid-friendly Migo phone which is a little green Martian-like phone with just 5 buttons: pre-programmed numbers they can call or the emergency 911 number.

If you subscribe to the "Chaperone" service, a parent's phone can be used to locate a child (or at least locate the Migo phone he or she was supposed to be wearing.) There’s even an enhanced mode, using the Internet, that allows you to see where your child is on a map. You can set zones so you may be contacted should your child leave a pre-determined area.

We tested these services for a while and they were remarkably rapid and accurate. Giving a child his or her own phone is a tough call (both for the added expense and the likelihood the phone will be misused.) The simple Migo phone limits opportunities for unauthorized or phony phone calls. Plus, if you aren't looking for a lost child, you can at least use the Chaperone service to find the child's phone when it (inevitably) gets lost.

The Chaperone service is about $9 a month, with additional charges for the Migo phone.

Pharos Traveler GPS 525

The Pharos Traveler GPS 525 is a fascinating and elegant GPS hybrid device. It features a PDA that integrates navigation directly to addresses in the Outlook contact directory. With integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, the Traveler can become a voice-over-IP phone in WiFi hotspots. I enjoyed having both a GPS and a Windows Mobile 5.0 PDA in one ultra-slim (4.4 ounces) unit. It's also inexpensive: just $379 at CompUSA.

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Note: All products reviewed for this article and for the on-camera segment were loaned to CBS News for evaluation by the companies that manufactured or marketed them.