Airbus, Orange and Geoflex Partnering on Location Services
Prototype Focusing on Ride-Hailing Markets
Airbus Intelligence, Orange Business Services and Geoflex are working on a prototype to deliver a mix of telecom and cloud services that rely on GPS/GNSS positioning of vehicles, smartphones and assets.
The goal of the partnership, which was first announced at CES 2020, is to build an up-to-date digital twin of the reality on the cloud to help companies in the field, Geoflex said.
The partnership’s prototype focus is on the precise positioning of a ride-hailing vehicle and its client’s smartphone that will augment the success rate of pick up in a Mobility-as-a-Service (MAAS) environment, the company said. Geoflex cited industry data that indicates one of five pick-ups are delayed or uncompleted because customers cannot find their ride.
Geoflex, based near Paris and founded in 2012 by Romain Legros, says its “hypergeolocation” service has been available worldwide since 2018. The service, which corrects GNSS inaccuracies in real-time or post processing, was initially developed by the French space agency CNES over a 12-year period.
Key Takeaways:
The company is actively pursuing other markets—conducting tests in Europe, South America and Africa in aviation/UAV, rail, LBS and other market segments.
Competition includes Berlin-based Sapcorda, a u-blox company that specializes in GNSS augmentation services. Vodafone and Sapcorda recently tested positioning technology to within 10 centimeters.
Geoflex operates a network of 80 GNSS ground stations.
HERE Partners With Siemens Healthineers for Tracking System
HERE Technologies is partnering with Siemens Healthineers for HERE Tracking technology to allow engineers to follow the location of service parts during transit and after delivery inside a hospital and monitor their condition in real-time.
The Customer Services unit of Siemens Healthineers, with 1 million annual service part deliveries, has a labyrinth of warehouses, hospitals and laboratories to monitor to ensure on-time availability of parts for company engineers.
As part of the project, a smart sensor tracking device was developed to complete shipment condition monitoring, include global connectivity and the ability to record data when offline, the company said. Other features include tracking and monitoring of location, condition and ETA of medical equipment service parts.
Key Takeaways:
Siemens Healthineers submitted requirements for tracking and monitoring to HERE, which then developed the shipment delivery product.
Most of these indoor location and monitoring partnerships seem to be originating in Europe lately.
This product will be used by Siemens in Europe, first for ground transportation, and then air carriers later in 2021. Worldwide roll out will be in 2022.
Contact: James Overstall, HERE, 49 171 533 4418, james.overstall@here.com, www.here.com.
Hexagon and Fujitsu Roll Out Shared Mobility Tracking System in Munich
Hexagon’s Geospatial division said that a Munich city agency is using its smart monitoring system to manage and understand the impacts of shared mobility services in the city. Hexagon, along with Fujitsu, will provide Munich a SaaS product for tracking, visualizing and analyzing IoT data from a variety of mobility providers, the company said.
The unnamed product will monitor e-scooters, bikes, cars and other shared vehicles. Hexagon, which said it was selected from14 competitors, will use its M.App Enterprise software while Fujitsu will provide the project’s infrastructure.
Key Takeaways:
Urban mobility tracking and monitoring isn’t going to decrease as a location market—and Hexagon said this effort with Fujitsu is the first of its kind in Germany.
Hexagon will also provide a “dynamic digital twin” of Munich, which allows users to receive constant updates in a real and digital setting.
Other Location News:
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👏 Movement to Control GNSS’ Jamming Gaining Steam. “Jamming a GPS signal requires little more than generating an RF signal strong enough to drown out GNSS transmissions.”
🤞 CES To Return In Person In 2022. Will be smaller, with a virtual version. Some of us remember the good times when the massive trade show was much smaller…
✔ Speaking of conferences, Ericsson plans participated at the FT Future of the Car 2021.
👍 First Autonomous Ship Goes on First Voyage. “Having a ship without people on board allows scientists to expand the area they can observe."
👌 Retail and Services Top Bluetooth Location Services Implementations. “Bluetooth tracking tags account for the ‘vast majority’ of Bluetooth Location Services device shipments globally.”
👍 Want to get the scoop on lane-level navigation? Geoflex is sponsoring a 45-minute webinar on May 6.
✌ UK-Based Fleet Tracking Company Expands to U.S. Market.
✔ Orange Business Services Using Visioglobe’s indoor maps.
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Location Industry Briefs
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Raytheon Gets $228 Million GPS Ground Systems Contract
The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile System Center last week awarded Raytheon [RTX] a $228 million contract to continue development of the OCX GPS ground system. The contract, for a trouble-plagued ground system estimated to cost $6 billion, helps to control the newest Lockheed Martin [LHT] GPS 3 satellites.
OcuMap Rolls Out Infrastructure Mapping Software
OcuMap Inc. rolled out a product called, you guessed it, OcuMap, a software platform for geospatial media that brings together GPS videos, images and maps under a single dashboard, the company said. Organizations can use OcuMap to locate infrastructure assets and generate an asset inventory directly from street-level images, the company said.
OcuMap applications include road and highway mapping, video logs, public works and infrastructure condition assessment. OcuMap is available as a SaaS offering.
Contact: Ala Hamdan, OcuMap, (281) 702-9495, https://ocumap.com.
AAMP Global Buys Fleet Software Company M2M in Motion
AAMP Global has acquired M2M in Motion, a fleet intelligence software company, to integrate M2M in Motion's fleet management platform for GPS tracking and telematics. Financial details were not disclosed.
M2M in Motion's existing customers will have no impact on their products and services, the company said. AAMP’s products include PAC, Connects2, EchoMaster, Stinger and other brands.
Contact: Maria Miller, AAMP, mmiller@aampglobal.com, aampglobal.com.
Ultrack Says Certification Going Forward
Ultrack Systems [MJLB] told its investors that FP Innovations is handling all ELD certification in Canada—and expects approval and unit availability before this summer—for its DriveLineELD GPS tracking product. "This slight speed-bump hasn't lowered our morale or our resolve,” said CEO Michael Marsbergen, in a prepared statement. “We are living in unprecedented times and there are occasions when issues arise that are completely out of our control.”
Contact: Ultrack, info@ultrack.ca, http://ultrack.ca.
USAA Telematics App Expands to 10 More States
USAA said it has expanded its SafePilot insurance telematics app to 10 new states, for a total of 16. Members who enroll in SafePilot are now eligible for initial policy discounts up to 10 percent for signing up for the program, the company said.
USAA said that SafePilot enrollments grew more than 200 percent in 2020--nearly half of the new policyholders in states where the program was available opted-in
Contact: USAA, (210) 498-0940, External_communications@usaa.com, usaa.com/insurance/safedriving.
Taoglas Launches 4G/5G Public Safety Portfolio
Taoglas announced its new 4G/5G public safety portfolio, to help agencies prepare for the launch of 5G and decommissioning of 3G networks. Nearly half of IoT users are unaware that their mobile operator plans to shut down its 3G network, Taoglas said, citing an industry study. As part of the portfolio, the company is offering its Guardian X MA963; Synergy MA15XX Series, which includes GNSS (GPS/GLONASS/Galileo) antennas; Raptor III MA1270 Series; and Pantheon MA750 Series.
Contact: Emma Walsh, Taoglas, 353 (0)87 317 0897, mediarelations@taoglas.com, www.taoglas.com.
Nasdaq to Suspend LBS Company’s Shares This Week
We’ve written quite a bit about Luokung Technology Corp.’s [LKCO] battle with the U.S. government over potential ties to the Chinese army. As a result, the company announced that Nasdaq informed it that its shares will be suspended on May 9, 2021. Trading the company’s securities will be halted at the end of the day on May 7.
Contact: Jay Yu, Luokung, ir@luokung.com.
Garmin Adopts DiSTI’s HMI Development Tool
DiSTI Corp. said its GL Studio, HMI development tool, was adopted by Tier 1 auto OEM supplier Garmin [GRMN] in some of the company’s next-generation in-vehicle infotainment platforms.
Known for consumer location products, Garmin continues to expand its automotive OEM electronics business, said Craig Puder, Garmin’s vice president of automotive OEM engineering.
Contact: DiSTI, Sales@Disti.com.
People
BlackBerry [BB] named Mattias Eriksson as president and general manager of the newly-formed IoT business unit. Eriksson, an automotive location data services veteran, was HERE Technologies’ senior vice president, global head of product. He was in charge of HERE’s location services platform strategy and product roadmap.
Contact: BlackBerry, (519) 597-7273, mediarelations@BlackBerry.com.
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