Hi all,

Stumbled across this on a developer forum I frequent, have just tried it out for the first time and it seems to be a great way for us commuters to collect on some cash while we ride to work, etc etc.

Problem is, you need a mobile and a gps unit. The gist of it is. You basically map cell mast locations and wireless network points with the software from this company, it installs on your blackberry or mobile phone. You then use it along with your GPS to map the points as you ride.

Then, people who only have a mobile phone can use this companies software to triangulate their location using the points that all the others are mapping. Thats the drive behind it.

You get a certain amount of points for each one that is mapped and cash it in to receive 20 bucks for every 10,000 points. At first I thought it would take a donkey's age to collect the points but having used it for my first commute yesterday I gained almost 9,000 points one way. Mind you, that is a 16 mile commute in Tokyo. If your in a built up area it may be worth it. You get less points if the towers/networks have already been mapped.

Anyhow, I will be cashing in my first lot fairly soon and will post back if it even actually pays out like they say they will. But, I thought I would mention it. Feel free to use my referral code 5D58575A5958 and I can grab some extra points for letting people know about it , when/if you create an account.

The only bummer is, what if you always cycle the same streets to work Luckily for me here in Tokyo a 1 street over situation will probably nab me a load more.

Any questions on how to use it, I am happy to help.

here is the site.

www.navizon.com

I suppose it would be something to play with for some folks. For me, there's only one reasonable path to work, and I don't think there are more than 3 cells in the entire 11 miles, none of them very close to my route. There's barely any coverage at my house (I have to go outside, and even then it's dropped call city; heck, I've had text messages take more than a day to be delivered) and the signal basically just slowly creeps up to 3 bars at work.
Also I doubt the software would install on my $15 "just a damn phone" cell phone, since it doesn't have any interface port at all.

Agreed,

It will only be suitable for certain types of commuters in specific built up areas. Even then, you will probably make a few bucks, but if your a daily commuter and do not have many alternative routes I can see the dollar amount quickly dwindling. So, it may be worth it for the first 100 bucks... I will update this thread if they actually pay out. I just cashed in the points and will see if it hits my paypal acct.

I am a little skeptical of the things stability though. It has crashed on me a few times.

Well, it seems authentic. I just received payment into my paypal account. Now to see how much dosh I can rack up over the next few weeks. Maybe I get finally get that rohloff