Gadget Blog

Harry Potter - Weasley's Whereabouts Clock

Hi again,

Couldn’t keep this one quiet:

Microsoft has been trialing a ‘Harry Potter style’ tracking device that can track members of your family (or other’s you designate) through their mobile phones.

Their ‘Whereabouts Clock‘ has a circular screen that  displays the location of an ‘avatar’ of the familiy member and his or her location (School/Home/Work etc…).

Microsoft Whereabouts Clock

The ‘clock’ (right) is a prototype and is a little bland but you can see where the product is going. They have just finished the trials in the local area of Cambridge (near their UK Research Labs) and are looking at the marketing aspect of the product.

It’s a little like the Weasley’s Kitchen Clock featured in the Harry Potter series (except there’s no magic involved). It basically uses the same sort of system found in vehicle tracking and with the latest mobile phones (like the Apple iPhone 3G) having GPS capabilities, it’s definately a forward looking bit of R&D.

Big Brother? – Yes, but you can turn the app off if you want. (Or if you’re a worried parent you can ‘block’ access to the applications settings and ‘force’ your child to be tracked). Even though this invades my child’s privacy i’d not think twice about using it if it kept my missus happy.

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