Apple invention helps iPhone users find their parked car despite poor cell, GPS reception

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  • Reply 21 of 53
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    4) When I drive for work I now set that cruise control at a nice 60 MPH on the highway which makes for a more relaxing and stress free drive.


    Ha ha! Stress free my ass. You drive 60 mph on the highway around OC and people will cut you off, flip you off, honk at you, and maybe fire gunshots at you. ;-)

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  • Reply 22 of 53
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    Ha ha! Stress free my ass. You drive 60 mph on the highway around OC and people will cut you off, flip you off and honk at you, or maybe fire gunshot at you. ;-)

    Oh, yeah, I should state that my work driving area of about 100 highway miles from one end to the other, not including about about 80 miles of other highways, and has virtually no traffic at any time of day so it's not an issue.

    Remember that semi-tractor trailers have to drive 55 MPH in the state of California. Of course, owner-operators could speed but most company trucks have governors installed to prevent that because it's legal, safer, and saves them a lot of fuel.

    So if you're wondering why someone in a modern car you know can do at least 120 MPH is only going 60 MPH on the highway they are probably just chilling while working.
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  • Reply 23 of 53
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    So if you're wondering why someone in a modern car you know can do at least 120 MPH is only going 60 MPH on the highway they are probably just chilling while working.


    I'm just kidding you. I drive exactly the speed limit and since both of my vehicles are pretty much status symbols, people who want to speed just go around without incident. In Panama my Prado has all tinted windows, and although the locals do drive a bit crazy, they always stop and wave me through. When you see a big luxury SUV in Panama you really don't want to mess with them, you never know who might be inside.

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  • Reply 24 of 53
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    I'm just kidding you. I drive exactly the speed limit and since both of my vehicles are pretty much status symbols, people who want to speed just go around without incident. In Panama my Prado has all tinted windows, and although the locals do drive a bit crazy, they always stop and wave me though. When you see a big luxury SUV in Panama you really don't want to mess with them, you never know who might be inside.

    I pseudo-refuse to drive to Los Angeles because I hate the traffic. BTW, the traffic starts backing up before you leave Santa Barbara. My preference is to take the train to Union Station and then a cab or the subway to wherever else I'm going. Amtrak has free WiFi — which must be based on cellular because it dies at the same dead zones all the phones experiences — and those seats are pretty much First Class for airplane in size and leg room. From where I am it's cheaper to take the train than to drive, which doesn't include the cost of parking my car in some seedy parking lot at $20-$40 a night.
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  • Reply 25 of 53
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    I was in Panama a couple weeks ago and my two best friends and I went out for lunch at a really upscale restaurant in a touristy area called Amador.  Anyway, as we were leaving I slipped out the back street since I knew it is faster, but there was a cop on bicycle who saw this SUV pulling out thinking probably tourists. So he steps out in the middle of the road and flags us down. He was probably thinking we had a few drinks and he might make a little cash. So I rolled down the window and my friend sitting in the passenger seat starts reading him the riot act, that he had no right to stop us. He was really yelling at this poor cop. My friend is really well connected in the government and didn't hold back at all. I thought we were going to get arrested so I told him shut up. Then the cop just let us go since it was obvious he was not going to get any cash from us.

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  • Reply 26 of 53
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mstone wrote: »
    I was in Panama a couple weeks ago and my two best friends and I went out for lunch at a really upscale restaurant in a touristy area called Amador.  Anyway, as we were leaving I slipped out the back street since I knew it is faster, but there was a cop on bicycle who saw this SUV pulling out thinking probably tourists. So he steps out in the middle of the road and flags us down. He was probably thinking we had a few drinks and he might make a little cash. So I rolled down the window and my friend sitting in the passenger seat starts reading him the riot act, that he had no right to stop us. He was really yelling at this poor cop. My friend is really well connected in the government and didn't hold back at all. I thought we were going to get arrested so I told him shut up. Then the cop just let us go since it was obvious he was not going to get any cash from us.

    It's a good thing that happened in Central America. In the US cops will shoot you for talking back to them.
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  • Reply 27 of 53
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

     
    It's a good thing that happened in Central America. In the US cops will shoot you for taking back to them.


    Yeah, true. The moral of the story is really, if you are a tourist in Central America, don't break any laws and especially don't drink and drive, It will cost you plenty. We did have a few drinks, but the laws are different for locals. They can speed and even drive the wrong way on a one way street, but don't try that as a tourist.

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  • Reply 28 of 53
    Hey finding where I parked is fine and dandy, but can't they make an App to locate a lost TV Remote ? ????
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  • Reply 29 of 53
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    calfoto wrote: »
    Hey finding where I parked is fine and dandy, but can't they make an App to locate a lost TV Remote ? ????

    With today's technology that shouldn't be too hard. For instance, let's say the next Apple TV, which already has BT, uses a low-power BT remote. Apple could put a small physical button on the Apple TV so when depressed it would cause the remote to beep for x-seconds.
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  • Reply 30 of 53
    Originally Posted by calfoto View Post

    Hey finding where I parked is fine and dandy, but can't they make an App to locate a lost TV Remote ? ????

     

    Just use an iPod touch as your remote. Problem solved. ????

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  • Reply 31 of 53
    nairbnairb Posts: 253member
    I have an idea - why not just remember where you parked it.
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  • Reply 32 of 53
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    For instance, let's say the next Apple TV, which already has BT, uses a low-power BT remote

    I so long for the day that IR becomes history; why on earth do we need to point a remote to the device? It makes zero sense, especially for stereos, as opposed to TV's.
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  • Reply 33 of 53
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    With today's technology that shouldn't be too hard. For instance, let's say the next Apple TV, which already has BT, uses a low-power BT remote. Apple could put a small physical button on the Apple TV so when depressed it would cause the remote to beep for x-seconds.

    Putting a speaker in the remote for this singular purpose doesn't sound like something Apple would do.  They're already pared the buttons down to pretty much the bare minimum to make the thing tiny.

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  • Reply 34 of 53
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    crowley wrote: »
    Putting a speaker in the remote for this singular purpose doesn't sound like something Apple would do.  They're already pared the buttons down to pretty much the bare minimum to make the thing tiny.

    True, but these speakers are so small they even fit in a Hallmark card:

    http://shop.hallmark.com/birthday/birthday-cards/let-it-go---frozen-1PGC9262.html

    And this one doesn't have to sing Let It Go, a simple beep would suffice and be even smaller.
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  • Reply 35 of 53

    Do people really have that much trouble remembering where they parked their car?

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  • Reply 36 of 53
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by BeowulfSchmidt View Post

    Do people really have that much trouble remembering where they parked their car?

     

    I have trouble remembering that I’ve eaten. So I guess if I ever went anywhere with a large enough parking lot I’d forget where I parked my car. ????

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  • Reply 37 of 53
    For those concerned about iBeacon built into your car, it would be dead simple to add, say, a button to the maps app labeled "Park Car" so users of older vehicles can indicate to their phone that they've parked. The rest of it would be the same and work well, if I read the article right.
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  • Reply 38 of 53
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    philboogie wrote: »
    ...a simple beep would suffice and be even smaller.

    That's what I thinking. You don't even need a speaker for that, as noted by the sounds mother board make, especially where there is a HW problem. (I forget the name o those types of electronics)


    PS: But now I'm wondering if my BT-based remote finder idea won't work because it would be too power inefficient to have the BT in the remote active 24/7.
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  • Reply 39 of 53
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member

    That's still a speaker isn't it?  Just a very simple, one-tone, buzzer-like one.

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  • Reply 40 of 53
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    crowley wrote: »
    That's still a speaker isn't it?  Just a very simple, one-tone, buzzer-like one.

    It creates sound but my understanding is it's not a magnetic-driven speaker, but a semiconductor diode that creates sound through a vibration when power is introduced.
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