Geotab Passes 4 Million Subscribers
Company counts more than 700 partners in its worldwide ecosystem
Editor’s Note: We are taking a one-week break due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which lands on our usual deadline of Thursday (Nov. 23). We will be back with a new issue on Thursday, Nov. 30.
Canada-based Geotab recently announced that it has surpassed 4 million worldwide subscriptions for its fleet telematics solutions. The company announced that it passed 3 million subscriptions just last year.
“Twenty-three years ago, we were a company of two operating out of the basement of my home. Now, as I reflect on our incredible journey and remarkable growth in the last 15 months, it’s clear that the potential we saw in this industry many years ago has been proven out,” said CEO Neil Cawse, in a statement. “Fleets are under mounting pressure to improve their bottom line, reduce emissions, prioritize road safety, and find cost-effective solutions.
Cawse said that Geotab-connected vehicles have traveled more than 89 billion kilometers since last year. “If you think about all of those trips, it equates to massive amounts of data. Because of this, we are able to deliver more impactful insights to our customers,” he said. “We’re informing them when an engine may fail before it fails, or the likelihood of a collision. We are incorporating generative AI to reduce time to insight.”
In one of the bigger deals for the company, Geotab signed a contract in January 2022 to supply the U.S. Air Force fleet management technology for 21,000 vehicles.
While the growth of fleet telematics is strong, it appears that the Latin American market could be the next big thing as several telematics companies have recently launched offices in that region. For its part, Geotab opened an office in Brazil in 2019, with the establishment of Geotab Telemática Ltda.
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U-blox Wins Patent Infringement Lawsuit against Techtotop, Announces Largest Investor
Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox [UBXN] has announced that the Chinese Supreme Court has ruled in its favor in a patent infringement claim filed by Techtotop Microelectronic Technology Co.
The company said that in July 2021 the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court had ruled that TTT had infringed on u-blox’s intellectual property in its TD1030 navigation chips and that TTT should pay damages—about $1.5 million.
U-blox said the dispute started in 2019, when it filed claims against TTT for both copyright and patent infringement. The company said it noticed similar functionalities of TTT’s TD1030 chip and corresponding modules with u-blox’s M8 GNSS receivers. The company alleged that Techtotop illegally copied its source code.
In other company news, u-blox said investor Spectrum Entreprenuerial Ownership has been named a long-term anchor shareholder. The company said that SEO crossed a 5 percent stake in the company this month, which makes it the largest shareholder. The company said it will propose an additional seat on its board of directors for an SEO representative at its 2024 annual meeting.
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BAE Systems DIGAR to Continue in Eurofighter Program
BAE Systems said its Digital GPS Anti-jam Receiver (DIGAR) has been selected to continue to the next phase of the Phase 4 Enhancements (P4E) capability program on the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. The company says DIGAR will boost the protection of the aircraft from GPS signal jamming, spoofing, and radio frequency (RF) interference.
BAE Systems, which is part of the four-nation Eurofighter consortium, says DIGAR uses advanced antenna electronics, high-performance signal processing, and digital beamforming to improve GPS signal reception and jamming immunity.
The fighter will also receive BAE Systems' new GEMVII-6 airborne digital GPS receiver, the company said. Work on DIGAR and GEMVII takes place in BAE Systems' facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
In addition to Typhoon, DIGAR is also installed on the F-16, F-15, and other aircraft in the U.S. such as air interdiction and force protection platforms, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles, the company said.
Overall, Eurofighter Typhoon is the United Kingdom’s major defense aircraft—and the No. 1 jet in other European nations.
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Other Location News
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Top News:
📌 JammerTest2023. Test Report.
😦 Qualcomm Satellite Deal Crashes to Earth. “Qualcomm QCOM 0.00%↑ and Iridium IRDM 0.00%↑ made the arrangement, with much fanfare at CES, during a time of increasing hype on direct-to-device satellite connectivity, with Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ unveiling the functionality in September 2022.”
💲 Telenor Sells Satellite Unit for $217 Million.
🚛 Geotab's Global Connected Transportation Solutions Hits 4 Million. “Geotab increased the number of users for connected transportation services by one million in the last 15 months, reaching a tally of four million.”
📌 Command Alkon’s Acquisition of Trimble’s Construction Logistics Business is Complete. “Financial terms were not disclosed. The TrimFleet suite of products will move forward under the Command Alkon brand under the name of TFleet.”
And…
“Nashville,Tennessee-based FreightWise has acquired transportation management system software provider Kuebix from Trimble TRMB 0.00%↑. The acquisition comes just over a year after Trimble announced it was shutting down Kuebix as the company pivoted to another platform.
👍 INRIX Announces Acquisition of Ride Report. “Ride Report is a shared mobility management platform that helps cities launch, manage, and evaluate shared scooter, bike, and car programs.”
🙂 Apple Extends Emergency SOS via Satellite for an Additional Free Year for Existing iPhone 14 Users. “Users can open the Find My app and share their location via satellite to reassure friends and family of their whereabouts while traveling off the grid.”
Maps:
👍 Esri and NGS Launch MapMaker. Esri and National Geographic Society (NGS) have launched the National Geographic MapMaker.
Developed with Esri, MapMaker is National Geographic’s online mapping tool that uses GIS software to connect classrooms and individuals with geographic information and technology for exploration and education. MapMaker features a web-based 2D and 3D app.
🤔 A New Navigation App Is Coming to CarPlay With Real-Time Weather and Waze-Like Alerts. “Sygic announced a massive makeover of their Android app, aligning the experience with modern expectations and giving Google Maps users another reason to jump ship.”
😉 Google Maps Is Getting a Big Upgrade for Holiday Travel. “Announced in a new Google blog post, Google Maps transit directions will soon help users quickly determine which of their transit directions would be best for them, based on estimated time of arrival, number of transfers and trip length.”
Image: Google.
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Connected and Autonomous Vehicles:
🤦♂️ Important Updates from Cruise. “As part of our larger efforts to assess, identify and remedy issues as we work with NHTSA and other regulators, we have issued a voluntary recall of part of our AV software based on a new analysis of our AV’s post-collision response on October 2. The recall addresses circumstances in which the Cruise collision detection subsystem may cause the Cruise AV to attempt to pull over out of traffic instead of remaining stationary when a pullover is not the desired post-collision response.”
😮 Hesai Slams Rival Ouster as 'Downright Un-American.' “A senior executive at China-based lidar company Hesai Technology has attacked the patent litigation case against the firm brought by U.S. rival Ouster earlier this year as “desperate”, and “un-American.”
🤔 Ghost, Now Openai-Backed, Claims Llms Will Overcome Self-Driving Setbacks — But Experts Are Skeptical. “Ghost Autonomy, a company building autonomous driving software for automaker partners, this week announced that it plans to begin exploring the applications of multimodal large language models (LLMs).”
Financial:
😐 Sigfox Parent Unabiz Slashes Workforce – Revenues Rising, Profits Elusive.
💰 Zephr Raises $3.5M to Address Critical Challenges. “Zephyr’s big-time GPS augmentation and support can be delivered without the need for device hardware changes; it’s purely software-based, rather than chipset or firmware-based.”
😒 Luokung Announces Receipt of Nasdaq Notification Regarding Minimum Bid Price Deficiency.
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Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
TomTom and Bridgestone Partner for Enhanced Fleet Electrification
TomTom [TOM2] has signed a multi-year contract with Bridgestone Mobility Solutions to support businesses in optimizing their fleets and accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Bridgestone Mobility Solutions' fleet management software Webfleet leverages TomTom’s navigation, maps, and live traffic data from more than 600 million connected devices worldwide, the company said.
The companies said they will offer an integrated fleet management solution that allows businesses to manage all their vehicles on a single platform. As part of this deal, Webfleet incorporates TomTom's latest EV data and routing products.
Contact: TomTom, mediarelations@tomtom.com, www.tomtom.com.
Woolpert and Allvision Partner to Enhance Geospatial AI Capabilities
Woolpert has partnered with geospatial analytics and asset management company Allvision to enhance geospatial artificial intelligence capabilities and applications. The agreement will combine the AI, machine learning, and deep learning technologies of Allvision with Woolpert’s lidar and imagery collection and processing expertise to develop new and enhanced geospatial solutions for clients worldwide, the company said. As part of the deal, Woolpert receives exclusive rights to Allvision’s AI technology.
Contact: Woolpert, woolpert.com.
Point One Navigation Launches Atlas INS
Point One Navigation has introduced the Atlas Inertial Navigation System (INS). Atlas offers accuracy and affordability for autonomous vehicles, mapping, and other applications, the company said.
Atlas, which is less expensive than legacy INS solutions at a starting price of $6,500, is designed for deployment in large fleets, the company said. Atlas features a low-cost GNSS receiver and IMU with the Polaris RTK corrections network and Sensor Fusion algorithms, the company said.
Contact: Mark Shapiro, for Point One Navigation, (619) 249-7742, mshapiro@srs-techpr.com, https://pointonenav.com/atlas.
PreAct Technologies’ Mojave Lidar Available Through Arrow Electronics
PreAct Technologies has announced that its Mojave flash lidar sensor will be available through Arrow Electronics. Mojave is a sensor solution that addresses a variety of applications including smart cities, robotics, cargo monitoring, education & university research, building monitoring, patient monitoring, agriculture and others, the company said.
The $350 Mojave is currently available for pre-order through Brevan Electronics. It will also be available through DigiKey and Amazon.
Contact: Angela Simoes, for PreAct Technologies, (415) 302-2934, angela@mpublicrelations.com, www.preact-tech.com.
Spire Global Launched 11 Satellites on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 Mission
Spire Global SPIR 0.00%↑ has successfully launched eleven satellites on the SpaceX Transporter-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Four launched satellites were for the Vindlér satellite constellation that carry radio frequency (RF) technology. Vindlér can be used to locate emitters of interest throughout the world and can be used to track dark vessels, GPS jammers and more in support of national security efforts, the company said.
Contact: Sarah Freeman, Spire, sarah.freeman@spire.com, www.spire.com.
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HAAS Alert Joins the AWS Public Sector Partner Program
HAAS Alert has joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Public Sector Partner (PSP) program. HAAS Alert’s Safety Cloud V2X allows agencies to digitize their safety programs. More than 3,000 agencies are using Safety Cloud to send real-time safety messages to nearly 2 million connected Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and RAM vehicles and tens of millions of mobile navigation apps.
Contact: HAAS Alert, (833) 433-4227, info@haasalert.com, www.haasalert.com.
AutoFlight Launches High-Payload Drone
Global eVTOL company AutoFlight has launched a high-payload firefighting program and released a fully functional prototype. With a maximum takeoff weight of two metric tons (MTOW), the firefighting model is designed to lift a 400-kilogram payload over a distance of up to 200 kilometers and can reach speeds in excess of 200 kilometers per hour, the company said.
It can transport four fire-extinguishing canisters, each weighing 100 kilograms, with the capacity to extinguish fires covering up to 200 square miles.
Contact: Peter Goff, for AutoFlight, (353) 87 4680866, peter@nexusvista.com, www.autoflight.com.
Smith Micro Software Enhanced Location-Based Child Safety Offering
Smith Micro Software SMSI 0.00%↑has enhanced its flagship SafePath platform for 2024. These upgrades will provide mobile network operators (MNO) tools, with a go-to-market strategy, for rapid deployment and launch, the company said. Changes to the SafePath Premium product include enhanced AI/machine learning to optimize and customize families’ online experience to preclude cyberbullying, the company said..
Contact: Paula Yurkovich, Smith Micro Software, (412) 260-1259,
pr2@smithmicro.com, www.smithmicro.com.
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People
Exyn Technologies, a manufacturer of multi-platform robotic autonomy for GPS-denied environments, has appointed Brandon Torres Declet as CEO.
VisionTrack has appointed Ben Pickard as CEO.
NOAA's Office of Space Commerce named Janice Starzyk as deputy director and Gabriel Swiney as head of the Space Advocacy Division.
Outsight has named David Wurtz as aviation regional director of sales.
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