Wheels of Zeus

Infobox computer
Name = GPS Tracking Device
Photo =
Type = GPS Locator Tag
Released = Announced, but never released
Discontinued = n/a
Processor = n/a
Memory = n/a
Storage = n/a
OS = n/a

Wheels of Zeus (or WoZ) was a company founded in 2001 by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. WoZ made wireless hardware for keeping track of the physical location of enabled objects. The licensable technology consisted of three components:

# Smart Tag A tag containing GPS that could be attached to various objects, such as a brief case or pet. "Acceptable areas" could be preprogrammed, such that the tag would signal the Tag Detector when it was moved outside them. The tag communicated over a wireless network was named "wOzNet" and leveraged GPS techniques to transmit the tag's position over extreme distances with very little power.
# Tag Detector This was a handheld device that could monitor a collection of Smart Tags, and provide a distance and direction to help locate them when they were lost. It also communicated with the wOz Service when a Smart Tag was lost.
# wOz Service An internet based service that could provide the locations of the various Smart Tags, as well as send an email or SMS notification when a Smart Tag moved outside of its "acceptable area".

In March 2006, Wheels of Zeus shut down operations. The Ravix Group, a consulting firm that provides financial and human resources advice, helped WoZ wind down its affairs. Key assets and patents have been acquired by ZonTrak.

External links

* [http://www.woz.com/ Wheels of Zeus official site]