Location-based tracking and personal security features are to be added to widely available GPS enabled mobile devices, following a deal between phone-maker Nokia and the Swedish security business of Securitas Group.
The collaboration between the two companies could finally help drive mass adoption of well-branded mobile personal security and safety functions.
“Services regarding personal security have so far mainly been used by people with an increased risk profile and have required separate devices with GPS and alarm button. Security services in mobile devices are soon to be as common as the camera, making this a mass market service” a spokesperson for the companies said.
Aimed at Nokia’s S60 platform, a service called Safe-2-Go will be launched during the first half of the year that lets S60-based mobiles to be used by people to send alarms, locate another person or track the movements of friends and family within a certain area.
The services will include Safe-2-Go Assist that connects a mobile directly to a central Securitas alarm centre and shows where a caller is located and who needs to be contacted in the case of emergency.
A Safe-2-Go Find service allows the location of a specific person to be fixed, while an associated Safe-2-Go Friends services gives an overview of where a group of people are located.
To complete the quartet, a Safe-2-Go Zone child-tracking service sends an SMS alert if another nominated person leaves or enters a pre-defined zone. This sort of location service could be used in make sure a child stays within a given area, or arrives at a location safely.
The price of the Safe-2-Go service has not yet been disclosed. It will launch first in Sweden, and then across key European regions.
