Okay, we’re taking credit for this one. A year ago, Mat Mullen’s iPod was stolen from his car while he was attending a TechCrunch MeetUp in Silicon Valley. (Sorry, Mat). He was so upset that he came up with a way to get them back. Yesterday, he launched the beta of iHound Software, which makes tracking software for USB devices like iPods, digital cameras, and USB drives.
The software acts like a secret beacon, transmitting a device’s IP address, computer name, and ISP name whenever it is plugged into a computer. For now the software is free, but Mullen plans on charging something along the lines of $1 per device per month, starting next February. (The first device will likely remain free, though, as a way to get people to try the software). The pricing is similar to that of GadgetTrak, which does the same thing. Warning: iHound does not yet support Macs or cell phones (GadgetTrak does).
Sounds great, but iPod tracking software without Mac support? Nice work, iHound.
Looks like a complete rip off of GadgetTrak.
Wow, nice site! I’m gonna try this out for my phone and thumb drive. (From the description on the site, it seems like it will work on my cell phone, a Helio Ocean, because my phone plugs into my machine and gets recognized as a USB mass storage device.) I lost my mp3 player a little while back, I wonder if this would’ve helped me find it. I’m not really concerned about no mac support… most people have Windows anyway, chances are if someone finds my lost stuff they’ll plug it into a Windows machine. Great idea, I’m gonna go see how well it works.
Ryan don’t you think it’s a little strange that when you click on your name it links to GadgetTrak’s website?
Not at all, why would it be? GadgetTrak launched in February of this year and this service appears to be a complete copy-cat.
Even copied the supported devices list directly from GadgetTrak
http://www.ihou...ortedDevices.vm
I am shocked to see the exact same things at ihoundsoftware.com, it is clearly a rip off! I believe gadgettrak launched it much earlier.
the problem with gadget trak is that it’s not FREE. ihound seems to be free for now so I’m going to try using it and see how well it work.s
Err.. even the terms and conditions taken out from gadgettrak website?
http://www.ihou...ndConditions.vm
http://gadgettrak.com/legal/
Warranties and Disclaimers
Except as expressly provided otherwise in a written agreement between you and GadgeTrak, the materials in or downloaded through this site are provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind either express or implied. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, GadgetTrakâ„¢ disclaims all warranties,
Except as expressly provided otherwise in a written agreement between you and ihoundâ„¢ Software, the materials in or downloaded through this site are provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind either express or implied. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, ihoundâ„¢ Software disclaims all warranties,
says it supports all versions of ipods, but it can’t work with the touch can it?
Ryan and Mike,
Are you guys for real? I have no idea if this ihound is similar to your gadgettrak or not, but don’t sound so incredulous. Ideas are copied (intentionally and not) every day. You can be sure someone else will be improving on this idea next week. The superior product and marketing will survive. And then a new product will take its place. Ever heard of AOL? It’s called business.
Jason, the argument here is not whether it is free or not but it is a rip off. Anyway it is free probably to win some customers like yourself and quoted: (The first device will likely remain free, though, as a way to get people to try the software) but ultimately it cannot deny that it is a rip off with even the texts and sentences the same. Come on, at least don’t be lazy and write your own and not just rip it whole sale.
You get what you pay for and GadgetTrak has actual recoveries, as well as collaboration and experience with law enforcement. They also appear to have a patent pending, I wonder if iHound can sniff out a lawsuit.
Only when MS copies something that it’s a rip-off.
As much as we can argue about it, let the law decides on this.
Chris, I suggest you take a look at both sites first.
Contributing it to idea copied or not is one thing, ripping the exact information and post it as your own is not. Before we talk about superior product or not if it will survive remains to be seen but it cannot stop at the fundamental understanding that there is a lot of similarities with even the legal statements copied too.
Hah! You’re right. That is awesome, geez if you are going to rip someone off at least make an attempt to cover your tracks.
So I’ve just played with this and it is so easily defeated it is almost useless. Except for the situations where the theif is an idiot, which is true most of the time.
Granted I’ve only tested it on Vista with a thumb drive, so WinXP or an iPod may work differently.
Scenario 1 – Turn off AutoPlay on PC.
Scenario 2 – On the AutoPlay menu, click “Open folder to view files” under the General Options, and not the faked “Open Folder to Browse Files” application.
Scenario 3 – When the AutoPlay menu is shown, close it.
Scenario 4 – When the AutoPlay menu is shown, go to my computer and delete the autorun.inf or simply format the device.
Scenario 5 – Connect device to a Mac, Linux or Unix box, and delete the autorun.inf.
I’m sure there are more…
Probably that sets both apart.
Imitation is sincerest form of flattery
Yeah, doesn’t Windows ask when anything tries to access the internet? If I were a paranoid thief with a new toy, I’d probably be suspicious.
This idea won’t fly if they start charging $1 per month.
Hello,
My name is Ken Westin and I am the founder of GadgetTrak (www.gadgettrak.com). I don’t want to comment too much on the apparent similarities to our patent-pending anti-theft solution for removable media devices such as iPods, or the coincidence regarding duplicate content appearing on the site. When it comes to our intellectual property we have excellent legal counsel looking out for our interests.
GadgetTrak provides leading edge technologies as well as service to assist customers in the recovery of their devices. We are the only theft recovery software company to recover devices such as iPods from thieves. We started in February of this year and have recovered 5 of the 6 devices reported stolen to us by our subscribers. Most recently we have recovered two iPods for subscribers, one in Newmarket, Ontario and another in Dublin, Ohio:
http://www.gadg...a-stolen-ipods/
GadgetTrak’s theft recovery technology is not limited to iPods and removable media devices. We also have software for mobile phones that enable stolen phones to send SMS messages with forensic data to predefined numbers, as well as a new theft recovery solution for Mac computers that utilize the built in iSight camera to capture video of thieves caught in the act.
We not only have the technology, but also the knowledge and experience to take this data and work with law enforcement to get devices back for our customers. Our products are distributed worldwide and are now also currently available in retail stores.
All of this we have accomplished in one year, with new solutions on the way, you will be hearing more about GadgetTrak in the future. This is a warning to thieves, the next gadget you snatch may just be a GadgetTrak snitch.
Kind Regards,
Ken Westin
GadgetTrak – Founder
kwestin@gadgettrak.com
Wow..Gadget Trak is pretty good at trying to bash other companies. Tech Chrunch looks like it’s turning into an add platform for them. I’ve been in the software industry for a long time and from the sounds of it, there’s not way you could patent this type of .exe technology. The CEO probably realizes that Patents take about 5 years to complete and just because your software is “patent” pending really mean nothing expect you have filed the documents.
How about stop bullying this and other companies buddy? You know there are lots of alternatives to trying to recover your missing iPod etc…
Am I only the only paranoid one who is nervous about downloading and installing a “free” program from a website that doesn’t even list an address? iHound? What else are they “sniffing” and installing on my computer? No thanks man.
Wow, so original.
Only works if someone has an internet connection and doesnt wipe it out first. What a tool.
“Only works if someone has an internet connection and doesnt wipe it out first. What a tool.”
WTF do you expect it to send out a carrier pigeon or something? What a douche.
I tried signing up for Gadget Trak over the summer and it sucked. It was hard to install and often didn’t work. I emailed them to get a refund and they told me no. Just seeing the CEO’s little ad at top is a sign of how afraid they seem to be. Let me think FREE ihound or $20 Gadget Trak? Pretty tough decision.
REALLY ?
software that autoruns from “drive” and then pings a server
you think that this is unique or even worth more than “hack” status ?
i wish them good luck with it but its really easy to replicate
( here’s a tip MacOS is about 10 minutes of work creating a autmounted volume)
have fun
John Jones
Nice catch, Jason (@4). Ryan above (@2, 5,6, and 13) is kwestin@[email address]. I asked him to [post under his real name, which he did @22.
If you are a CEO responding to something written about your company in a post, you really ought to use your real name.
GadgetTrak support the cell phone seems better than iHound at the moment.
Wow, to think he came up with something SO inventive!
NOT! There was stuff like this for a LONG time! FREE stuff! Then, when the PSP homebrew scene took off, I saw tons more FREE stuff.
I want someone to analyze the code on this. $5 says it was completely knocked off one or more of the FREE services.
Kent’s Comment: I don’t think this is a customer, we have always offered full refunds to any customers who were not completely satisified with our product. Contact us with your full contact information and we will see what we can do, if this is a real complaint, which I do not think it is. We have never said no to a customer. It would be interesting to see who really posted this one.
Neat.
Does it come with a subpoena tool to help the police to get the information from the ISPs?
Ken Westin claims he did not post the comments by Ryan above. In a private e-mail to me he says:
“Jason and Ryan are not me, they are people who work in the same office
as GadgetTrak.”
The e-mail they used, he says, is a shared account. They are still fakers as far as I’m concerned.
Very nice and I am sure there are no other biased opinions on this string. The post itself is biased.
who cares who copied who.
does it work?
that’s what matters.
i don’t care who made it, or how they made it, as long as it does what it says it does, and only that.
So I guess “private e-mail” is open to interpretation at TechCrunch? See Erick (@34)
LoJack does not have a “w” in it. It is “LoJack” not “Lowjack”
Looks like Mat Mullen himself is posing as others in replies? same use of sentence structure?
Giving it a try here at the xcampus!
http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com
i did try this on my helio ocean phone and it totally worked for both the internal/external memory when the phone is plugged in as usb mass storage (had to set these up as 2 separate devices in ihound)… also when i use the external memory card in a reader…
This is a phenominal example of a business filling a need. More start-ups need to focus on fixing something that doesn’t work or filling a need. There would be many more “useful” start-ups if they kept this in mind.
read more
http://actionstalk.com
I tried both out on my Zen Vision:M and they don’t work. Even when both softwares claim to support all Creative Zen line of products… The reason being, Zen enumerates as a MTP device in XP and does show the usual autorun…etc dialogue box…. I’d suggest people to try if it works on your device before you buy any of these…
The ihound link is not working, the connection just sits there. Nice. Another crappy startup not researched, probably running on some unsecured shared hosting server somehwere in Russia. It might good to do a bit of homework before you link to a sites where TechCrunch readers download trojan like applications. This might be a nice attack vector for a bot net, or maybe I am just paranoid.
it works just fine for me, is it possible that if a website doesn’t work for a moment or two, it’s just a technical problem and not a global conspiracy
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
I like the ihound software. It got my USB memory device returned to me yesterday as a result of having ihound on it. Also, it helps track these things in our office. I never heard of gadget track… suck it up boys and play ball.
Is there similar software or application that can track my missing laptop or PDA products?
that looks like it would help if i had my ipod but it is stolen so looks like i am SOL!!!