Joshua Lippiner
@jlippiner · President, Noctivity
Hey Hunters!
I am excited to celebrate the launch of Ping with all of you.
Ping is the world’s smallest GPS locator for kids, pets, drones, bikes, luggage – or anything that moves.
Not only is it the smallest, it's also the longest range, longest battery life global (GPS) locator out there. Ping is IP68 Waterproof, Rechargeable, Attachable, with One Touch Check-in, SOS Alerts, and a Data Plan included for the entire first year. It also have a battery life that is measured in weeks and months, not days like other GPS solutions on the market.
Personally, I love bluetooth trackers, like Tile and TrackR, for finding things that fall behind cushions or car seats, like keys or wallets. I use a bunch of them. But the reality is that after 35 feet they don't work well so if you are trying to locate something very important, or something that moves, like kids or drones, you need a different solution. The GPS trackers that already exist are large, have expensive data plans, track your every movement & need to be recharged every few days. We wanted something else, something simple and practical and less intrusive.
Having global coverage and long-lasting battery in such a tiny device so that you can quickly locate anything important is the goal for that type of practical solution, and that's what we've done with Ping. We’re excited to see all the different ways people use a truly global, personal locating solution.
Be among the first to experience Ping, and check it out at PingGPS.com to learn more and pre-order.
We're excited to hear what you think. Get in touch at hello@pinggps.com or drop a comment here! I'm always just a Ping away.
- Josh
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billy smartt
@bsmartt13 · unemployed for two weeks! Free man!
@jlippiner love this. I backed tile without reading the fine print and was pretty bummed out by the "warmer / cooler" concept (rather than a map marker telling me where the F it is). I may just have to give Ping a try!
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Rudray Namah
@mathakoot · Tech Enthusiast
@jlippiner @pinggps Hello! The product seems exciting. Congrats on the successful campaign.
Just one comment around the comparison chart -
The chart gave me an impression that there is no fee given by the "No" in the "monthly fee" attribute. It was only clear after I checked the indiegogo page that there is indeed an yearly fee - though the first year is off.
But other than that, looks like a really great product. Love the idea of double tap SOS feature. :)
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Joshua Lippiner
@jlippiner · President, Noctivity
@mathakoot @pinggps Thanks for the note. It's hard to convey everything in that chart. We tried "first year free" but that confused people with Tile and other things. The fact is that we believe in the value of Ping so much that we give people the first year to try it out without having to pay for the cell plan so for that first critical year there are no monthly fees when all our competitors have fees. The rest of the page (hopefully) clarifies the chart further.
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Richard Goodwin
@rgoodwin · Product Manager, Unrepentant Nerd
@jlippiner @pinggps I guess I'll be the Downer Dude here and ask how solid your delivery dates are, etc. Not being contrarian, simply burned by one (or 5!) too many in the past :). It truly does look amazing and I'm probably about to hop on, despite my query, TBH!
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Joshua Lippiner
@jlippiner · President, Noctivity
@rgoodwin @pinggps Hi! They are pretty solid. We have been working on this for some time and have everything all set to go (tech, parts, BOM, manufacturer, etc). Simply need to tool the line, order components and deliver. Of course, there are a million things out of our hands in that but we are doing the best we can to mitigate. Completely understand if you want to wait until we start delivering to order - but I can't promise access to the same pricing or perks :)
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Richard Goodwin
@rgoodwin · Product Manager, Unrepentant Nerd
@jlippiner @pinggps Oh I doubt I'll be waiting, about to hop on :). I noticed you show a picture of a Mavic; are you/will you be testing that the Ping doesn't interfere with the drone GPS, etc?
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Joshua Lippiner
@jlippiner · President, Noctivity
@rgoodwin @pinggps Well not all drones have GPS so it will depend on the drone. Mavic does but we havent seen any interference. Its possible depending on placement I suppose.
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Joshua Lippiner
@jlippiner · President, Noctivity
@mathakoot @pinggps Hi - I updated the graphic to make it clearer. Thanks for the feedback.
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Michaele Harrington
@michaele_harrington · Founder - Street Smart Women
@jlippiner Congratulations & brilliant work! Like many others here, I've been waiting for something that combines GPS & cellular, given the short range of bluetooth.
The tiny size is absolutely awesome! So why the whopping US$30 shipping charge for international? DHL global out of Shenzen is charging around $7.00... Shipping is always one of the biggest deterrents for converting international orders, yet most crowd funding campaigns have reasonable costs. Silvon sheets for example, charge $15.00.
That said, the uses for Ping are endless. I see a few of your commenters are already looking at the possibility of tracking parents with Dementia. Most medical alerts for the elderly (in Australia) aren't able to track outside the home. So this could potentially be a breakthrough for 'missing persons'. Not to mention many senior citizens don't own smart phones, & Pings built in SIM means they don't need one.
I'm keen to hear more about the SOS button. Your video just says you can send a distress signal, but it doesn't elaborate. Who receives the alert? How many people can receive the alert? Can it be programmed to contact authorities? I'm guessing your not aiming to market Ping as a safety device but it has potential to be one. More details in this area would be much appreciated!
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Jordan Rice
@1jrice · Senior Director of Hardware, Nike+
@jlippiner @pinggps Hey Josh, as a hardware developer with experience in both GPS and 3G, I need to give you some feedback. Your exploded view stackup shows modules but no antenna for either of these. How confident are you in your size and battery life assertions without having planned out your antenna design strategy? I'm skeptical your design, as it currently is advertised, is accurate in it's claims.
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Joshua Lippiner
@jlippiner · President, Noctivity
@1jrice thx for the note. The exploded view was more for illustration then manufacturing purposes to show the components. The current EE / ME is dramatically different. As for the antenna, we have a next-gen shop working on building that and will have a very high degree of confidence on its performance shortly. As for battery, our battery savings is based on us being a passive instead of active device coupled with some "common sense" settings that we put in the consumer's control. More to come on all of this! BTW, I was a HUGE FuelBand fan.
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Jordan Rice
@1jrice · Senior Director of Hardware, Nike+
@jlippiner OK, I still would argue that you're going to see a pretty substantial volumetric hit for the 4x bands you plan to support, and a decent GPS antenna with any reasonable performance. Remember, GPS sensitivity is on the order of -120dBm. You can't mail in that antenna design and expect reasonable accuracy. Ground plane alone for GPS may blow up your volumetrics.
Also, do you have a vendor for that battery you're pulling the quote size/capacity from, or is this an estimate? Are you considering self-discharge over 3 months, as well as overall system quiescent current draw? Or just active mode?
Thanks for the note on the FuelBand. Lots of us still love, and wear, the product here.
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Joshua Lippiner
@jlippiner · President, Noctivity
@1jrice Antenna design is literally my #1 current priority. We met with over a dozen firms before selecting the one we are going with. We're DEFINITELY not mailing it home as you said as this company is the literal father of this technology. As for ground plane - we don't need it :) It's pretty slick.
Im not the engineer so I can't go into that much more detail on the battery and such but we do have a vendor and a battery expert on staff who reviewed everything.
Bring back the FB! (but fix the USB clasp - it always popped open!).
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Jordan Rice
@1jrice · Senior Director of Hardware, Nike+
@jlippiner If your goal is to make an omni-directional GPS antenna, where you wont have dead spots depending on your devices orientation, I think you're going to find antenna size a challenge. Even if you're using something like an LDS printed design, which it sounds like you are. Have you seen a smith chart for the proposed technology you're investigating?
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