Get the location of car or dog by sending SMS

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- The Zoombak is a GPS locator for tracking your car, dog or just about anything via an online map. Today the company rolled out a new service called Mobile Location Request, which lets you send a text message from your cell phone, and get back the location of the Zoombak.

The Zoombak comes in three versions, with associated monthly service fees: Car & Family Locator, Dog Locator and Universal Locator. The Car & Family version costs $249.99, plus a monthly service fee of between $9.99 and $34.89. The other two versions cost $199.99 each, plus the same range of monthly service fees.

The Zoombak system combines GPS and cell phone electronics for respective location and communication purposes.

Zoombak products have been available for some time at car parts stores, pet stores, electronics superstores and online. Typical use includes opening up a special Web site, logging in, then checking an online map to see the location of whatever it is you're tracking. You can also set up "perimeter" notification -- for example, when your car or dog enters or leaves an area you designate at their site. The notification includes e-mail and cell phone text message.

What's new is that users can now get location information while away from a computer using a simple text message. To use it, users can just text the word "FIND" to the number 96225, and the Zoombak service queries the device, then sends back a text message with its location.

The service is ideal for snooping on teenagers, or finding lost dogs. But there are also drawbacks. The GPS component needs to be outdoors in order for the tracking to work (of course, you can presumably see the location where the device went inside). And the cell phone component requires that you're within the nationwide service area. It doesn't work outside the U.S.

Still, it's a potentially cool device, and has a very wide range of uses. The new SMS query feature is a very welcome addition.