TILTS: GPS and Wi-Fi together at last
The other day I had some time to kill between 1-on-1 coaching appointments and was looking for a coffee shop to give me refuge. My plan was to grab a cup of coffee, fire up my laptop and use the free wi-fi to catch up on email until it was time to leave for my next appointment.
My perfect plan was foiled when I couldn't find a coffee shop, or any other place for that matter, near me that had free wi-fi. This was frustrating to me because I had my Garmin Nuvi-660 GPS navigation unit (link to newer model) with me but it was unable to offer me the slightest bit of help.
Sure, my GPS can find a nearby restaurant or coffee house. But it can't tell me whether or not it has free wi-fi. And sure, there are dozens of Internet sites that can help you locate wi-fi hotspots but I wasn't real keen on surfing the Internet and driving at the same time.
Show me the closest wi-fi hotspot
So my technology I'd like to see (TILTS) is GPS with an integrated wi-fi locator. I envision pressing a button and instantly seeing a list of available wi-fi hotspots near me ordered by closest proximity to my current location.
Of all of the TILTS series I have done, this one actually seems the most do-able. I even see it as a popular enough feature to warrant its own button from the main menu on my GPS. Call it "Wi-fi locator" or something equally as catchy.
Garmin, Tom-Tom, are you listening?
Disclaimer: Technologies presented in the Technology I'd Like To See (TILTS) series are based on my original (and sometimes delirious) thoughts. I present them here to the public only because I can not afford to implement any of them myself. If you steal borrow one of my ideas and end up filthy rich because of it, please remember where you got the idea and throw a little love my way. Something like a BMW or a big fat check would do just fine.
2 comments for this blog post so far...
March 18, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Rhonda Martin
Wouldn’t that be an awesome feature. Hmmmm maybe you ought to google their home page and click on the contact or email a CEO with your idea. They just may reward you in the end you never can tell. But any how it’s a great idea~! I hope someone with capability reads your post and remembers to reward you big time~! lol
March 19, 2009 at 11:37 am
Patric Welch
@Rhonda: Will you be my witness that I came up with the idea first when someone else steals it? ;)
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