Product of the Week- Yellowbrick 3
by Sail-World Cruising on 9 Aug 2011
Yellow brick road - the original SW
Its imaginative name with connotations of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz makes it instantly memorable, but Yellowbrick technology is more than clever marketing. Now the company has released Yellowbrick 3, a tough little tracker and communicator at an affordable price.
This little - naturally yellow - device is actually an advanced professional tracking device incorporating a unique two-way messenger function.
It enables communications and social media updates to be sent from any location in the world, no matter how remote, thanks to its use of the Iridium Satellite network.
The technology enables online supporters to follow real-time position progress of yachts at sea where conventional communication devices will not work.
Its precursors were the highly successful Yellowbrick Standard and Yellowbrick MAX trackers, but now, in addition to reporting its exact GPS position at preset time intervals, Yellowbrick 3 also offers a basic messaging function, accessed via the 4-button keypad and bright OLED screen.
This compact and rugged device can also offer advanced messaging when linked via Bluetooth to a smartphone or tablet to send more complex email messages, SMS, Twitter or Facebook updates – no matter where you are in the world. When integrated with Yellowbrick’s online position tracker portal, this advanced functionality offers a complete media information package for online family and friends or supporters.
As an additional safety feature, Yellowbrick 3 incorporates an alert button which, when pressed, sends a message back to the user’s nominated contacts via email and/or SMS together with the Yellowbrick’s precise location.
With its own internal battery, Yellowbrick 3 is entirely self-powered, lasting up to 12 months or 2000 transmissions on a single charge.
How does it work?
The Yellowbrick3 tracker is a rugged and fully self-contained battery operated tracker which works anywhere on Earth.
The tracker will wake up every so often (e.g. every 15 minutes), obtain a position using the GPS satellite network, and then transmit that position back to Yellowbrick HQ using the Iridium satellite network in seconds. The message is relayed to them from Iridium, and then they visualize the positions on an easy-to-use web-based viewer.
The Yellowbrick3 also allows short messages (like SMS, social media updates and short emails) to be sent using a paired Bluetooth device (such as a smartphone) and the Yellowbrick app. This allows for full two-way communication wherever you are, even when out of mobile network range.
Iridium is the only satellite network that allows transmission of information from any point on Earth – other networks have no coverage in the polar regions, and have intermittent or no coverage in other marine and land areas.
Iridium has 66 satellites in orbit around the Earth, allowing coverage anywhere on Earth 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No other satellite network has truly global coverage. Messages sent via Iridium take just seconds to reach Yellowbrick HQ.
Depending how often the Yellowbrick is set to transmit, units can last for up to a year on their internal battery
Yellowbrick 3 is available in four different contract options; basic, for £399 (US$650); standard for £449 (US$730), professional for £499(US$810) and corporate for £599 (US$975). Then there is a staged pricing structure offered according to the level of functionality chosen.
For more information, please go to their www.yellowbrick-tracking.com!website
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