New York City Condom Finder

February 16, 2011

Eli Fink reports, 15 Feb 2011:

http://gpstrackinginfo.com/nyc-releases-gps-app-for-safer-sex/1899

The New York City Health Department has made a new smartphone application, NYC Condom Finder, freely available to the public this week. The app, which works on iPhones and Androids, uses the GPS capability in those mobile devices to locate any of the city's 1,000 condom distribution centers. Directions are retrievable for pedestrians, motorists and those who use public transportation. While New York City has made free condoms available to the metropolis' residents since the early 1970's, the health officials of that great city maintain that this development will make it easier for their city's residents to find not only condoms but other useful information about preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies as well.

How does this app work? NYC Condom Finder is a piece of downloadable software that is similar to the computer code which runs many GPS tracking solutions. The same way one could Geo-code specific locations, say for job sites, into a fleet tracking system, the new app from the health department has Geo-coded all the city's condom distribution centers. When one powers up the app, the smartphone's internal GPS technology automatically determines its position. It then uses mapping software to calculate the best route to the closest location where the contraceptives are dispersed.

NYC Condom Finder is just one of many GPS software programs being released for mobile phone users this year. Earlier in the year a real time smartphone tracking platform, the Trackberry, was announced. Hopefully the NYC Health Department will keep more people safe and healthy with their new forward-thinking offering.