YOUR SMARTPHONE IS TRACKING YOU!

The Internet nearly exploded this morning after O’Reilly filed a report indicating that users of Apple’s iPhone and 3G iPad were being tracked. A file, found in the filesystem of the aforementioned devices running iOS 4 or higher, contains a list of time-stamped GPS coordinates that correlate with the device’s location. The only issue I have with Apple’s methodology is that the file used to store said locations is unencrypted.

While there is no indication Android devices stores the same type of data, the Google terms of service does allow Google to retain such information as does HTC Sense, Motorola Blur, HP/Palm and RIM terms of service.

SPIROSCOUT INHALER TRACKS ASTHMA ATTACKS

Spiroscout is a USB-powered inhaler that uses GPS as well as WiFI to track patients' inhaler use. David Van Sickle, the inventor from University of Wisconsin-Madison, says Spiroscout will yield a fuller, more accurate body of data than the self-recorded logs patients are often asked to keep.

The benefit is two-fold, Van Sickle says: physicians can use this data to adjust their patients' medication, if necessary, while epidemiologists might have more insight into population-level trends. As PhysOrgnotes, this isn't the first inhaler of its kind (that honor goes to SiliconSky GPS, though its product was also based on Van Sickle's first-iteration technology), but it may be the most practical one to date in that it doesn't come with a bulky box attached. Spiroscout isn't available just yet -- the company expects it to ship in the fall.

BROOKLYN BUS RIDERS GET REAL TIME TRACKING

New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority launched a pilot program a few months back that offered bus riders some real-time tracking information, but it's now expanded things with a whole new program on the B63 route in Brooklyn. That service is currently accessible via a mobile-friendly website or text message, and smartphone users can also scan simply snap a picture of a barcode (presumably a QR code) at a bus stop to immediately check in on the location of the next five buses that will arrive at the stop. What's more, unlike the previous program, this new system is based on an open source platform developed with the help of OpenPlans, and the MTA is actually encouraging developers to dig into the API and develop their own solutions -- which could certainly get interesting as the program is expanded across the city (the Staten Island bus line is next up). For more information visit the MTA website.