Physical asset tracking has never been easier than it is today, with companies like GTX Corp seamlessly bringing together all of the technologies needed to render real-time situational awareness of a vast array of field devices, directly to the end user via any networked intelligent device, from a smartphone to a PC. Whether the asset in question is personal property like a UAV, a loved one such as a child, or an elder suffering from some form of dementia like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, the ability to find a lost asset using an elegantly meshed architecture of small GPS/BLE (Bluetooth low energy) wearable systems and software changes everything. More importantly, it becomes quite easy to ensure such assets are never lost in the first place, thanks to always-on and assisted two-way tracking capability that is available at the touch of a button via GTX’s Smart Locator app, and enhanced by automatic alerts routed from the company’s IoT (Internet of Things) tracking platform. GTX Corp also owns and runs an app development firm, LOCiMOBIL, as well as Code Amber Alertag, a secure digital personal identification tag platform that helps first responders by providing rapid access to critical personal/medical information.
The immediacy of the company’s real-time IoT-driven platform, accessible from iOS and Android apps, or from any tablet, PC or laptop, has thrust open the door for what has quickly become GTXO’s flagship product, the GPS SmartSole™. An ingenious tracking system that completely eliminates the stigma attached to other wearable trackers like bracelets, the award-winning GPS SmartSole looks much like any other commercially available insole for shoes you might find, but has a robust embedded GPS tracking system and long-life rechargeable battery that can go for two or three days without needing to be recharged. The overall product execution here is easy to use, powerful, discreet, and does not have to be remembered to be taken along. These unique characteristics make the SmartSole an ideal solution for people who wander, such as people with autism spectrum disorder, or elderly people with dementia, as such individuals almost never take off or forget their shoes.
According to Alzheimer’s Disease International’s World Alzheimer’s Report 2015, every three seconds someone on earth develops dementia and over 9.4 million people in the U.S. alone currently live with dementia. A number which will likely more than double by 2050, mirroring a similar global trend that will come to represent $1 trillion in healthcare and associated costs to the global economy by as early as 2018. Chief among the recommendations included in the report are finding ways to address the 68 percent or more of dementia sufferers who live (or will live) in low and middle income countries, finding ways to reduce risk from dangers such as wandering, and implementing national plans in all countries that are designed to support people living with dementia, and their caregivers. This is a clearly developing market for which the SmartSole is ideally suited. Alzheimer’s Disease International made it clear that tackling the stigma surrounding dementia and actively working to ameliorate people’s preconceived notions about dementia sufferers was of utmost importance, and SmartSole’s existence in the retail marketplace is one big step towards achieving that directive.
CDC estimates from last year were that 1 in 68 children in the U.S. were identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), around 30 percent higher than projected back in 2012. This is another massive, and sadly, growing market that is directly addressable by the company’s tracking solutions, and the SmartSole shines as the most appropriate option. According to the Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response and Education (AWAARE) Collaboration, a working group comprised of six national autism non-profits for the purpose of helping to prevent autism-related wandering incidents and deaths, almost half of all children with autism engage in wandering behavior which is similar to the behavior seen in seniors with dementia and/or Alzheimer’s. And while official data indicates that there is indeed already a sizeable global market for wandering assistance devices, software and services such as those provided by GTXO, the problem of wandering in general which is addressable by IoT-driven location technologies is likely far larger than has been accurately quantified thus far.
Any way you slice it, GPS tracking insoles for shoes are one of the most compelling wearable technologies in existence today and GTXO has an extremely strong IP position with over 80 patents to back it all up. Patents that are collectively worth nearly three times the company’s current market value. GTX Corp’s extant IP portfolio is also clear evidence of the company’s comprehensive IP strategy and investors should take note of the numerous patents pending, registered trademarks, copyrights, and URLs that GTXO has under its belt.
Whereas big names like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), with its Apple Watch, or Alphabet, (NASDAQ: GOOG; GOOGL) with its Android Wear, have failed to really captivate consumers, GTXO’s SmartSole-driven PLS (Personal Location Services) platform has quickly rooted itself in the minds of its core demographics. Reception to the product so far has been outstanding, with the initial production run selling out on zero advertising or preorders. At a sticker price of only $300 a pair and basic online tracking starting at just $25 a month, alarming statistics about the mortality rate among those living with dementia who wander don’t seem quite so insurmountable and terrifying. Statistics like 60 percent of those living with dementia becoming lost at least once in their lives and half of those who become lost subsequently perishing within the first 24 hours.
GTXO’s IoT PLS leverages packet oriented mobile data service on the 2G/3G global system for mobile communications in order to drive continuous, real-time coordinates to the user via Google Maps. This same easy to use tracking architecture, centered on a licensable global IoT M2M (machine to machine) monitoring portal, is also employed in GTXO’s cutting-edge workforce situational awareness solution, the Track My Workforce app, and its miniaturized standalone tracking devices. Devices like GTXO’s tiny little Prime AT Lite, which is perfect for tracking assets like vehicles or containers. Or the take-along GTX VL2000 model, another extremely lightweight quad-band device that is also about the size of a D battery, and which comes with an inductive charging option, programmable voice call capability, and an SOS button. Subscribers are provided access to the GTX Corp Tracking Portal, where an unlimited number of devices can be organized, located and followed in real-time using any internet connected device, or the smartphone app.
Continuous interval tracking that shows things like direction and route makes generating various types of reports on mileage and location very simple, delivering even more finely tuned situational awareness. The geo-fencing and SMS or e-mail alert capabilities GTXO’s platform offers users a no-hassle asset localization methodology so easy that anyone can do it. This ease of use factor is a commercial goldmine given the size of the potential market from wandering assistance alone, but there are certainly other markets. The media has not failed to notice this either, with GTX Corp and the SmartSole receiving a great deal of attention. From being featured at the 2015 CES in the Internet of Things webcast and receiving coverage from a host of mainstream news sources like the BBC, NBC, NPR, and Fox News, to winning numerous industry awards. The SmartSole even placed second in Wearables, Health, Fitness and Wellness at this year’s 2015 CTIA E-Tech Awards, beating out Samsung’s (OTC: SSNLF) Gear S, and coming in just behind the winner, Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Microsoft Band. Let’s face it though, the wearable market is saturated with souped-up watches. However, GTXO’s SmartSole is effectively in a class all its own and has the IP muscle to really shake things up.
Notable midcap/microcap equity research and corporate access firm, SeeThruEquity, even recently announced initiating coverage on GTX Corp with price target of $0.09 a share (November 6 close, $0.011) and underscored the commercial potential of the company’s flagship product as a best-in-class solution for the wandering and ancillary markets. Los Angeles-headquartered GTX Corp is a proud member of the United Nations Global Compact and has an extensive distributor and reseller network serving customers in over 20 countries, as well as a substantial distribution and fulfillment center in Ireland/UK. This overall distribution footprint has grown mightily in recent months as well, with the company seeing numerous key deals across Europe, as GTXO ramps towards serious commercial success in Q3 and on this year. The company is going strong on a full head of steam from initial commercial success with the launch of the SmartSole at the start of the year and its distribution footprint’s growth is a very clear sign of the company’s forward trajectory.
Major provider of GPS tracking systems to the healthcare sector in Denmark and Norway, Safecall Denmark, signed on for distributor status in October alongside German geo location and tracking services provider, Way4Net. One of the leaders in Sweden and other Nordic countries of mobile safety alarms for the elderly, Posifon AB, also signed on as a reseller/distributor in September. Furthermore, the company’s agreement signed in early October with Telefonica Germany, to leverage Telefonica’s global Smart M2M platform and network of strategic relationships throughout Europe, was a sweeping victory for GTXO. This single move gave the company’s entire tracking platform global deployment capability via a single SIM card and provisioning backend. Using Telefonica’s API, GTXO will be able to seamlessly integrate its platform’s backend architecture with Smart M2M, saving a bundle on M2M development, as well as IT infrastructure costs.
Q2 financials posted in August look solid too, with revenue nearly tripling from the same quarter last year and subscribers to the company’s PLS platform up 72 percent from Q1, even as subscriber revenue grew 136 percent quarter over quarter. Also among Q2 highlights was word of a next-gen SmartSole that is already in the works and a continued effort to broaden the core market for the product, including growth markets like security, with ongoing pilot programs underway at with local Sheriffs and PDs. The new (2G/3G/LTE compatible) SmartSole is being upgraded for even longer battery life, a smaller form factor, and the new version will even have motion sensor capability, in addition to costing around $240 a unit, or 20 percent less than the current model. The security space is a very interesting play for GTXO and the SmartSole has a golden opportunity to find fast adoption as a surreptitious tracking solution for high-risk kidnapping targets and the like.
The versatility of the asset tracking platform GTXO has put together, combined with the company’s IP-centric nature – as evinced by the ‘286’ patent issued last year which effects any tracking device, from embedded units to hand held wireless GPS trackers – should give investors an idea of how aggressive GTX Corp is in the sector.
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