California Vetoes Intelligent Speed Assistance Legislation
ISA, which uses mapping and other location technologies, will be delayed for years in the United States as a result
It what could delay a potentially huge market for such companies as HERE Technologies and TomTom, California Gov. Gavin Newsome recently vetoed a bill that would have required new vehicles sold in the state to alert drivers when they exceeded the speed limit. Had the legislation passed, it would have made California the first U.S. state to require Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) by 2030.
ISA, an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), uses GPS and other technology to assess a vehicle’s speed with mandated speed limits. The system launches audio and visual warnings if the driver exceeds the limit by 10 mph.
Newsom argued that federal law issues vehicle safety standards and his state would be creating a patchwork of rules. However, California has been trailblazer for setting its own vehicle standards, including requiring emissions standards and even a ban on gas-powered cars that automakers have followed.
Since July 2022, all new passenger and commercial vehicle types and models introduced in the European Union are required to be equipped with an ISA solution. Both HERE Technologies and TomTom offer ISA mapping products to meet the requirement in Europe.
“California has a history of pioneering vehicle standards that influence the national agenda. The hope was that this ISA bill would drive broader discussion and accelerate the debate and adoption of ISA technology across the United States. The benefits of ISA are clear: fewer serious crashes, more lives saved and enhanced overall road safety,” says Giovanni Giancaspro, TomTom senior manager, product marketing, in a blog post.
For its part, HERE Technologies has contracts with 33 passenger and commercial vehicle makers to use its ISA Map. These contracts cover more than 70 brands, including Toyota, Lexus, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, VinFast, IVECO, and Scania, the company said.
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MWC Las Vegas 2024 Focuses on 5G, Spectrum and Connectivity. Not So Much Location or Auto Tech
LAS VEGAS—The MWC Las Vegas 2024 trade show here again focused on the carrier’s 5G efforts, connectivity solutions and AI. However, the location industry, including connected and autonomous vehicle participation was only visible through a few product introductions and displays.
One company, Quectel Wireless Solutions, launched its BG770A-SN 5G-ready satellite communication module. The module supports LTE NB1 and NB2 bands as well as non-terrestrial networks (NTN) over narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT).
Applications include transportation, energy, maritime, heavy industry and agricultural applications. The company said that module is dual mode, supporting both NTN & TN and features GNSS for positioning.
Another company, Telit Cinterion exhibited to discuss vertical market opportunities for its NExT IoT Connectivity Starter Kit. The free cellular plan SIM testing kit allows integrators, device OEMs and IoT service providers evaluate device management, remote SIM provisioning, billing, security and other capabilities, the company said.
Market opportunities for the solution include asset tracking and telematics. The kit provides cellular-delivered insights that include location, status and other information about high-value assets, the company said. In addition, the insights include geofencing to locate stolen construction equipment or errant livestock, the company said.
While not known as an auto show, and outside of a Connected Car Summit, MWC Las Vegas had a few connected car companies including Soracom, which announced its strategy for the industry by addressing connectivity and cloud management challenges. These obstacles mirror those faced by the global IoT ecosystem, the company said.
“The connected car journey has been like a long family road trip, with the kids continually asking, ‘Are we there yet?’ The good news is we are almost there - but for connected car services to succeed, the process of enabling them needs to be simple, secure, and scalable – for automakers, for dealerships, for connectivity providers, and most of all, for consumers,” said Kenta Yasukawa, CTO and co-founder of Soracom, in a statement.
Soracom offers a software-based, globally distributed infrastructure through Amazon Web Services that provides a direct link from the connected car to the cloud through its cloud-native cellular core and an on-demand virtual private gateway, the company said. The company also says its connectivity offers access to 417 carriers across 182 countries
In other MWC Las Vegas news:
NextNav’s NN 0.00%↑CEO Mariam Sorond and COO Sanyogita Shamsunder talked about the future of 5G technology for a terrestrial 3D PNT solution to solve critical national security and public safety challenges.
Combain Mobile said it has expanded its Cell-ID database from 200,000 to 220,000 AI-enhanced Cell-IDs in the U.S.
BeWhere's Alban Hoxha discussed smart logistics management, advanced track and other topics on a panel at the co-located Non-Terrestrial Networks Summit.
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IVECO Selects TomTom to Power Navigation Solution
TomTom [TOM2] has announced that IVECO has selected the company’s navigation, maps and traffic data to power its global commercial vehicles. IVECO's new light commercial vehicle Daily, the electric eDaily, and heavy-duty S-Way truck will come equipped with TomTom’s full stack navigation, featuring maps, custom truck routing, real-time traffic information, and connected services, the company said.
The TomTom solution offers over-the-air updates to ensure efficient navigation updates, maintenance, and repair operations, the company said. The company says the result is a solution that improves routing accuracy, reduces travel times, and enhances the user experience.
Such companies as General Motors GM 0.00%↑ and Polestar have picked Android Automotive and Google Maps for navigation, one publication believes that Google does not have the one feature it ignored for year—truck routing.
“If you've used Google Maps, you probably know that the application does not offer navigation tailored for large vehicles. It's a fantastic app for passenger cars, but if you drive a commercial vehicle, such as a lorry, you'd better stay away from Google Maps because it has no idea how large your vehicle is,” the article said.
Other Location News
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories. Location Business News is looking for your company’s product use cases to feature in each issue. Send us five paragraphs and an image/photo for consideration. Include a contact name, phone, email and web address.
Top News:
😮 Cisco Pulls Support for LoRaWAN; Lora Alliance Shrugs It Off. “Cisco CSCO 0.00%↑ is retiring 47 products or parts, including gateways, sensors, antennas, management software, power injectors, power protectors, and cable assemblies.
😐 There’s No Money in Disaster Response. “The experience has nevertheless highlighted the reality that disaster response – though a growth market – is unattractive from a revenue perspective.”
🛰 Xona Scales up Leo Navigation Constellation Plans in Canada. “The five-year-old venture said Sept. 27 it has opened its first international office in Montréal, Québec, as it prepares to deploy a commercial positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) service as an alternative or backup to the GPS.”
🛩 Ondas Holdings’ Airobotics Secures $5.4 Million Purchase Order. “Ondas Holdings ONDS 0.00%↑ has announced that its subsidiary, Airobotics , received a $5.4 million order for multiple Optimus Systems from a major defense customer.
📱 Tesco To Serve Self-Scan Shoppers With Ads Based on Their Location Within a Store. “The supermarket’s retail media division – Tesco Media & Insight Platform, a partnership between Tesco and Dunnhumby – launched ads on the self-scanning devices last year, claiming to be the first retailer globally to do so.”
Maps:
😕 Google Will Track Your Location ‘Every 15 Minutes’—‘Even With GPS Disabled.’ “You can’t say no to Google’s surveillance,” the Cybernews research team warns, describing a secretive stream of data they say continually transmits from a new phone to Google’s servers. Even more “concerning,” they say, “the phone periodically attempts to download and run new code, potentially opening up security risks.”
🗺 GeoTechnologies Signs Reseller Agreement with Mappedin in Japan. GeoTechnologies has signed a reseller agreement with Mappedin and has begun selling Mappedin’s indoor digital map solutions in Japan. In other company news, Mappedin and Ground Support Labs: Changing the Way People Find Their Way. “The Mappedin and GSL partnership serves Macerich retail properties across the U.S. Mappedin's mapping technology powers directory kiosks provided by GSL across 24 Macerich locations, featuring 360 endpoints that connect consumers with the retailers and brands.”
🏅 AutoTech Breakthrough Awards Feature HERE, Aptive, Mapbox and Others.
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Connected and Autonomous Vehicles:
🙂 Google’s Waymo Chooses Hyundai Ioniq 5 for Autonomous Driving Fleet. “Waymo plans to integrate the Ioniq 5 into its Waymo One fleet, which currently operates in select regions of the U.S., including San Francisco, Phoenix, and parts of Los Angeles.”
🚍 California Governor Again Vetoes Bill Banning Large Driverless Trucks. “California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed – for the second time in two years – legislation that would have prohibited driverless autonomous trucks weighing 10,000 pounds or more from operating on state roadways. A.B. 2286 also would have required autonomous truck manufacturers to report to the California Department of Motor Vehicles – within 10 days – any collision “originating from the operation of the autonomous vehicle on a public road that resulted in the damage of property, bodily injury or death.”
🌍 Baidu's Robotaxi Unit Is Exploring Expansion Into Global Markets in the 'Near Future.' “Chinese tech company Baidu’s $BIDI robotaxi unit, Apollo Go, is in talks to expand overseas in the near future, according to a source familiar with the situation.”
🏎 Indy Autonomous Challenge Awarded DARPA Contract. “DARPA has selected Indy Autonomous Challenge as an official test and evaluation platform for the Transfer Learning from Imprecise and Abstract Models to Autonomous Technologies program, which aims to develop rapid autonomy transfer techniques to enable same-day autonomy that is robust to the quick and inevitable changes in dynamic environments and adaptable to a variety of platforms and domains.”
🚛 Gatik Launches Third-Party Safety Assessment Framework for Driverless Operations. “Gatik is committed to launching Freight-Only operations at scale once it satisfies the most rigorous evaluation ever performed on its autonomous driving system by independent third parties.”
🚗 Mcity Opens for Remote Testing of Autonomous Vehicle Technologies, Calls for Federal Standards. “The opening also coincides with a new industry partnership project announced at the NVIDIA AI Summit.”
Fleet Telematics:
🚚 Platform Science Partners With Phillips Connect to Deliver Trailer Insights. “The partnership brings Phillips Connect’s DriverAssist and TPMS directly into the cab for drivers, to the Virtual Vehicle Marketplace.”
👌 Kestrel Insights and Samsara Overcome Industry-Wide Geofencing Limitations. “Kestrel Insights has announced an integration with Samsara IOT 0.00%↑ to enhance connectivity, giving mutual users access to polygon data directly within their Samsara dashboard.”
👍 H Clarke and Sons Group Choose Inseego Fleet Telematics. “The company has rolled-out the system to an initial 44 vans, used by its team of engineers, as part of plans to consolidate fleet technology requirements and ensure complete visibility over its vehicle fleet.”
Financial:
✔ Luokung Regains Compliance with Nasdaq Minimum Bid Price Requirement.
Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Advanced Navigation Wins $6 million APNT Contract
Advanced Navigation has been awarded a $6 million contract from Hanwha Defence Australia for 138 Boreas D70 units, a digital fiber-optic gyroscope (DFOG) inertial navigation system (INS), as part of the country’s LAND 400 Phase 3 program. The company says the dual-use technology works in contested environments where GNSS is not available.
In other company news, Advanced Navigation recently rolled out its Certus range, with a Mini series. The product line comes in three versions: the Certus Mini series, which includes a GNSS-aided Certus Mini D and Certus Mini N INS; and Certus Mini A to function as an attitude and heading reference system.
u-Blox Extends Reach of PointPerfect Gnss Correction Service via RTCM RTK Data Format
Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox said it extended the reach of its PointPerfect GNSS correction service by adding the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) data format standard. The company said this opens the service to for all GNSS and real-time kinematics (RTK) receiver hardware.
The company also said the expansion allows RTCM users to have access to PointPerfect’s flexible usage-based pricing plans as an alternative to more expensive RTK suppliers. Overall, the company says that PointPerfect GNSS correction service will address a broader range of devices in segments that use the RTCM data standard—such as robotic lawnmowers, service delivery robots, UAVs and precision agriculture.
Contact: Natacha Seitz, u-blox, 4177 436 0788, natacha.seitz@u-blox.com.
HERE Launches EV Charge-Aware Routing Service in India
HERE Technologies has announced the availability of an EV charge-aware routing service in India. HERE says EV charge-aware routing service, which is offered to drivers and automakers, offers routing that assesses a vehicle's battery status, available chargers and traffic conditions.
The company says that HERE EV Charge Points service allows drivers to mitigate range anxiety, plan efficient routes and access real-time information on charging locations. Other features include a battery consumption calculation via range along the way; charge-aware routing and isoline routing; which offers drivers a range map of the area they can reach based on distance, travel time or fuel/energy.
Contact: Camy Cheng, HERE Technologies, 65 9088 4127, camy.cheng@here.com.
APG Enhances NaviGuard Amid Surge in GPS Spoofing
In response to a 500 percent increase in spoofing incidents, Aircraft Performance Group (APG) has launched the latest NaviGuard release, a free GPS anomaly detection app. The company cited OpsGroup, in a report, that found 1,500 flights per day are experiencing some sort of GPS spoofing. NaviGuard is built to detect abnormal GPS readings on iPads and verifies GPS data using radio navigation, the company said.
Contact: Daryl Reva, APG, marketing@apgdata.com, www.flyapg.com.
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Location Changer Changes GPS Location on Mobile
Hong Kong-based TunesKit Studio has launched its Location Changer that allows users to modify their device’s GPS location. The company said the software allows enhanced privacy, accessing geo-restricted content and creating an improved gaming and social media experiences.
TunesKit Location Changer allows users to spoof their location on both iOS and Android devices with just a few clicks, the company said. With TunesKit Location Changer, users can create custom routes by selecting multiple locations on a map, with the ability to set speeds to mimic walking, cycling, or driving, the company said.
Contact: Andres Green, TunesKit Studio, support@tuneskit.com, www.tuneskit.com.
People
Topcon Positioning Systems has announced the appointment of Antonio Marzia as executive vice president and general manager of Topcon Agriculture. Marzia succeeds Albert Zahalka, who has retired.
Alpine has announced the appointment of Olivier Guintrand as vice president, Alpine Cars Engineering.
Tim Dolan has been named global general manager, Taoglas Mobility and Infrastructure at Taoglas.
David Getzlaf has started a new position as director, strategy and implementation at Hexagon's Autonomy & Positioning division.
Erika Gogh has been named head of automotive at Sygic.
Pointr has named Eric Myers-Tayne as enterprise sales director.
Peter Thompson has been named senior account manager, enterprise at TomTom.
MapLibre has appointed Isaac Besora as graphics engineer, Meena Chandrasekar as head of marketing and fundraising, and Ramya Ragupathy as head of product and operations.
Frederic Silva has been named senior business development manager, Europe, for
Mat Kellett has been named regional senior manager, sales Northern Europe at Topcon Positioning Systems.
Marcelo Lehmen has been named product manager, autonomy at PTx Trimble.
Jobs
Uber Places Product Manager. Uber.
Business Development Manager. JAVAD GNSS.
Senior AE-GNSS Engineer. Quectel.
Field Application Engineer. Telit Cinterion.
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