Last month I wrote about the GPS Snitch, a portable device you can carry around or place in a vehicle then track through the Web via its GPS and cellular connectivity. Here are two more services and devices that do similar things.

The scoop: Livecontacts.com beta service, by FindWhere, free.

What it is: Currently in beta, the livecontacts.com service lets you track friends who download the BuddyFinder application to their GPS-enabled cell phones (currently supported: Nokia 6110, N82 and N95; HTC P3300, TYTN II; Mio A701; Samsung i780, Blackjack II; Motorola Q9; and BlackBerry 8300 and 8800 series). Through the livecontacts.com Web site, you can then see where your friends are located, and you can do some basic route tracking for your own account (assuming that you’ve got the BuddyFinder application on your own phone).

Why it’s cool: It’s a free way to find out where family members or friends are through their cell phones, instead of giving them another device or secretly installing something in their car.

Some caveats: The livecontacts.com Web site is clunky and basic, and the Web application used to do the tracking needs some improvements. For example, the application tends to refresh the person’s location at either a super-high or super-low zoom level. Also, there’s not really much else to do on the site other than find out where your friend is. There’s no route tracking of friends, including things like speed data. Also, the BuddyFinder application on the mobile phone is really basic; it would have been nice to use one phone to track the other one (the only way you can do that is by using the phone’s mobile Web browser to head back to the livecontacts.com site, which isn’t optimal).

Grade: 2.5 stars (out of five).

The scoop: DriveOK device, about $240, plus monthly service, which ranges depending on how often tracking points are recorded.

What it is: This in-vehicle device is aimed at small businesses that want to conduct fleet tracking (or paranoid parents). The device can be tracked through the company’s Web site, with tracking points registered every 10, 20 or 30 minutes depending on level of service ordered (tracking every 10 minutes costs $10 per month, while tracking every 30 minutes costs only $6 per month). If you needed to track even more often, the company suggests its VehiclePath device, with tracking available every 1, 2 or 5 minutes.