Know where your kids are? T-Mobile adds FamilyWhere check-in service to line Up

Many carriers have offered and added in location-based services to their product line up. I know Sprint has had a similar service for a while now. Letting you pull up the location of a device and the associated family member that is supposed to be attached to it. T-Mobile is now entering the game with their version called FamilyWhere.

The software and service will let you keep tabs on all the devices attached to your account easily. You can pull the locations up on the web or via your Android device with a handy free application. According to what we see on the market app, there is a free service version with limited but handy functionality. Letting you send your location via text message to any mobile phone via text so others can see where you are. If you are looking to really track where your family is though, you can upgrade to a $9.99 a month subscription service that covers up to 10 lines. The upgraded version offers much more functionality –

FAMILYWHERE LOCATE – Upgrade for only $9.99 a month for up to 10 lines
* Locate any mobile device on your T-Mobile account at any time
* Works with any mobile device – no GPS or extra software required
* Locate from the convenience of the Android App or from a web browser on my.t-mobile.com
* Schedule automatic location checks and get notifications by text or email
* First 30 days are free with a FamilyWhere subscription

We assume that when they mean there is no GPS or extra software required they plan to pull the device’s location via triangulation. With anyÂ serviceÂ there will be limitations and potential hang ups. The service is reallyÂ optimizedÂ for Smartphones and it might not be compatible with tablets. Of course the users device needs to be powered on and connected to T-Mobiles network, meaning roaming on another network won’t kick back a location for you.

Personally, I think it is a great idea, but I amÂ leeryÂ about the price of the service and how well it will actually work. With claims that it doesn’t need GPS orÂ additionalÂ software to run. They are offering a free 30 day trial to test it out on your account and see if it is something that is worth your time and money. I may just enable it and see what it can do. Feel Â free to look into your self via T-Mobile.com. You can also check out the application by clicking or scanning the QR code below.