India Pushes NavIC, Tech Giants Push Back
India is pushing companies to make smartphones compatible with NavIC...within months.
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India is pressuring tech companies to make their smartphones compatible with its Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, or NavIC. Such companies as Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ , Samsung [SSNLF] and Xiaomi [XIACF] are worried that the changes will increase costs because of required hardware updates, according to Reuters.
In private meetings in August and earlier this month, the companies pushed back on India’s plans to make phones NavIC-compliant by January 2023, according to Reuters. The changes would require more testing and would disrupt planned product launches.
Another point of contention is the Indian government’s reliance on the L5 frequency, which is not as common in smartphones. However, Apple’s new iPhone 14 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra can support L5.
Like many countries who have launched GNSS to reduce dependence on the U.S. Global Positioning System, India has expanded its use of NavIC, which went operational in 2018.
At the ION GNSS+ conference in Denver last week, P.S. Sura, Indian Space Research Organization program director, said the NavIC constellation currently has seven satellites—three in geostationary orbit (GEO) and four are in inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO). Sura said the constellation, which covers the India region, has two ground segment centers, 17 ranging stations and five two-way ranging stations.
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Telit Talks Merger, Telecom Industry Growth at MWC Americas
LAS VEGAS—Telit [TTCNF] explained its expanding presence in the telecom industry through recent acquisitions and how connectivity plays a role in IoT market growth here at this week’s Mobile World Congress Americas.
In August, Thales [HO] merged its IoT module business into Telit to form Telit Cinterion. Because of that deal, in which Thales owns a 25 percent stake, U.S.-based Telit Cinterion became the largest non-China IoT module solution provider.
“Our strategic objective as the leading western IoT provider is to simplify adoption by delivering as complete a solution as possible in sync with rising market demand and regulatory oversight into cybersecurity,” said Joe Braga, Telit’s head of marketing strategy. “That requires a broad portfolio of modules—as well as a unique set of capabilities integrating hardware, connectivity, device management, software and security—that enable customers to deploy IoT solutions seamlessly.”
Braga said the company’s acquisition of Mobilogix, a high-profile IoT provider, complements Telit’s existing R&D, design and general engineering resources and service offerings by adding design capabilities for devices based on cellular, Wi-Fi, BT/BLE and GNSS modules, IoT connectivity and IoT platform.
In terms of connectivity, which was a huge buzz word at this year’s MWC Americas, Braga said that normally those requirements are taken into consideration at the time of an Iot deployment. “Our approach, however, engages customers at their starting point—when the business vision is all they have, and we can accelerate the customer’s time to market with the hardware dimension of device design and the associated connectivity and platform requirements,” he said.
Inseego Pivots to Enterprise Solutions
Saying the company has a new sense of urgency because the market potential is vast, Inseego INSG 0.00%↑ said it is pivoting its operations to enterprise workflows and workforce at MWC Americas. “We know that 5G plus cloud is a key enabler and accelerator of digital transformation. We’ve been a core member of the 5G ecosystem from the beginning,” said Anette Gaven, Inseego senior director of marketing.
Gaven said that the Ctrack telematics units have been rebranded to Inseego as part of the corporate pivot to enterprise. The telematics solution has evolved to include AI, edge and other features, she said.
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Several Location Product Rollouts at MWC
LAS VEGAS—The Mobile World Congress Americas conference here highlighted connectivity solutions and even several location product introductions. Quectel Wireless Solutions released its new SC680A smart module that features LTE Cat 6, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0.
The company said the module is marketed to “mid-tier IoT devices including POS and payment terminals, industrial handhelds for logistics and warehousing, in-vehicle infotainment and dashcam solutions, small electric cars and micro-mobility applications. The L1+L5 dual-band multi-constellation and high-precision GNSS receiver is also embedded for positioning services, the company said.
Taoglas launched a new series of multi-band GNSS front ends for autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, automotive, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and robotics at MWC Americas. The new TFM.110A, when used between the device’s GNSS receiver and antenna, features a two-stage amplifier that saves designers months to years of engineering hours by eliminating the need for complex and challenging onboard filter and amplifier circuits, the company said.
The TFM.110A offers a fully integrated external RF circuit in a 15.5 x 15.5 x 2.76 mm package for use between GNSS receivers and Taoglas’ range of high precision multi-band antennas, the company said. The amplifier solution supports L1, L2, and L5 bands.
In other MWC news:
JimiIoT displayed its systems and solutions for GPS asset tracking and video telematics. These include VL02, a vehicle tracker that uses the Cat-M1/NB-IoT networks for data transmission and features multiple I/Os for function expansion, the company said.
Combain has developed a new indoor positioning system using deep learning. The company tested the new system indoors and received 1.5-meter, and some cases, 80-centimeter accuracy. The company offers its positioning solution, called Combain Indoor, as as cloud-based and on premises product.
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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:
✈ Intermap Wins Position on $950,000,000 IDIQ Contract to Support U.S. Air Force as Member of the FGS Team. “Advanced Battle Management System contract targeting research on next generation Joint All-Domain Command & Control and Position, Navigation, and Timing.”
Maps:
😲 Location Harvesters, Personal Information Brokers & Assholes. “Big tech should figure out a way to enable location sharing for the general good in a non-creepy way.”
🗺 Announcing New Routing, Address Validation and Map Customization Capabilities. “We’re announcing several features in high demand from developers across the world, including new advanced routing, map customization and address validation capabilities.”
😉 Google Maps Will Help You Discover a Neighborhood's 'Vibe’. “The company is introducing a "neighborhood vibe' feature for Maps on Android and iOS that will help you learn what's new and worth seeing in a particular area through info and imagery.”
🙂 12 Map Happenings That Rocked Our World: Part 2.
👍 MapMyIndia Inks MoU with UP Police.
Connected and Autonomous Vehicles:
🚙 DARPA Autonomous Vehicles Take on California Hills in Off-road Testing. “The Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency, or RACER, project aims to develop autonomous uncrewed ground vehicles to maneuver in unstructured off-road terrains”
Financial:
✔ CalAmp Q2 2023: Too Much Weakness To Make Sense. “There exists too much uncertainty right now and management needs to get the firm's house in order before the company makes for a compelling opportunity.”
Military:
💲 Northrop Grumman Delivers 100,000th GPS-guided Kits for Artillery Shells. “The Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) is a modification pack that turns conventional 155mm artillery into a near-precision shell.”
Satellites:
🛰 Are We Running Out of Space? “By end-2021, US-based environmental group The Union of Concerned Scientists reported a total of 4,852 satellites in various orbits, 4,078 of which were LEO birds, those located 400km to 1,200km above the earth’s surface.”
Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
GPS Insight Partners With Geotab
GPS Insight has entered into a reseller agreement with Geotab to integrate data from Geotab’s GO9 device into its own fleet and field management solutions. GPS Insight will also become a consumer and distributor of data from Geotab’s telematics devices, the company said.
Contact: Coleman Pyeatt, for GPS Insight, (214) 797-9848, coleman.pyeatt@anthonybarnum.com, www.gpsinsight.com.
Trimble Ventures Invests in Civ Robotics
Trimble Ventures $TRMB has announced an investment in San Francisco-based Civ Robotics, a construction tech startup focusing on transforming surveying layout for civil engineering and infrastructure projects. The investment terms were not disclosed. Civ Robotics, which announced a $5 million seed round last week, uses Trimble's GNSS positioning technology and surveying software to improve productivity and increase safety, the company said.
Contact: Trimble Ventures, ventures.trimble.com.
Everywhere Communications Announces Iridium Messaging for Garmin Device
EVERYWHERE Communications has announced specialized encrypted firmware and device protocol features for the Garmin GRMN 0.00%↑ inReach Mini 2. The platform, available for purchase on the Garmin inReach Mini 2 through EVERYWHERE Communications, offers government and enterprise customers with specialized communication requirements.
Some of the features include over-the-air AES-256 message encryption, 336-hour battery life, and enhanced features for restricted data access including device pin code and remote device data wipe capabilities.
Contact: EVERYWHERE Communications, https://everywherecomms.com.
ITSWC Reports Record Attendance
ITS World Congress 2022 had a record number of registered attendees and announced Atlanta as the next U.S. city to host the events. Hosted in partnership with ITS America, ITS Asia-Pacific, and ERTICO – ITS Europe, ITS World Congress, held in Los Angeles last week, had more than 6,000 industry professionals from 64 countries in attendance.
Contact: ITS World Congress, www.itsamericaevents.com.
PreAct Named TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Company
PreAct Technologies has announced that it has been named a TechCrunch Startup Battlefield company—one of only 200 startups exhibiting at Disrupt 2022, Oct. 18-20, 2022. PreAct’s Flash LiDAR is a software-definable sensor designed to integrate into a car or truck’s ADAS or self-driving system stack so automakers can support over-the-air updates throughout the life of the vehicle, the company said. Leveraging PreAct’s cloud platform enables OEMs to future-proof embedded technology and monetize features, apps and data, the company said.
Contact: PreAct Technologies, sales@preact-tech.com, www.preact-tech.com.
Spire Awarded NRO Contract
Spire Global SPIR 0.00%↑ has announced that it was awarded a study contract by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for commercial radio frequency (RF) remote sensing. Spire’s RF data will be used by the agency to evaluate how commercial radio frequency (RF) will be integrated into its overhead architecture, the company said. “The remote sensing technique of monitoring radio frequency signals plays a crucial role in gathering intelligence through GNSS jamming detection and geolocation,” said Chuck Cash, Spire’s vice president of federal sales, in a statement.
Contact: Andrew Cameron, Spire, Andrew.Cameron@spire.com, www.spire.com.
Trackem Rolls Out New GPS Tracking Platform
Trackem GPS has launched its latest version of its GPS tracking platform. The company said client migration has begun and is expected to be ongoing for months.
The new system features fuel bills monitoring and expenditure, plus mileage analysis and driver scorecards. Trackem will begin testing and exploring ways to integrate BLE sensors, dash cams, WiFi trackers and other sensors, the company said.
Contact: Shaun Gratrix, Solutions Into Motion, (866) 868-7225, www.trackem.com.
Velodyne Gets Lidar Contract
Velodyne Lidar $VLDR has announced a multi-year agreement to provide its lidar sensors to Stanley Robotics for an automated valet parking solution. The innovative service uses autonomous handling robots to help car parks to improve the customer experience and increase the number of vehicles that can be stored, the company said.
Stanley Robotics is working with Velodyne’s Puck and Velarray M1600 lidar sensors to provide perception and navigation capabilities that enable its all-electric Stan robot to operate. The sensors provide real-time 3D perception data for localization, mapping, object classification and object tracking, the company said.
Contact: Jane Maynard, Velodyne Lidar, PR@velodyne.com, www.velodyne.com.
TGI-Connect and McLeod Software Partner
Trailer tracking company TGI-Connect has announced integration with McLeod Software’s Mobile Communications Web Service API library. Through the partnership, the companies plan to offerjoint customers the ability to have position and landmark data delivered from the TGI web application to the McLeod Loadmaster system, the company said. Data from TGI’s satellite-based asset trackers is mapped with asset data in the McLeod system and position updates are sent in real time, the company said.
Contact: Noha Abdelaziz, TGI-Connect, nabdelaziz@tgi-connect.com, www.tgi-connect.com.
Papay Displays Indoor Location Tech
Papaya has displayed technology for their AI indoor-outdoor positioning through Pangyo Techno Valley’s YouTube channel. Papaya, established in 2013 by Korean map service providers, has developed a sensor map image that captures wireless signal patterns.
The company says that its positioning service uses only a smartphone without additional equipment. Some use cases for it include finding people in power plants, train stations and construction sites, the company said.
Contact: Papaya, contact@papaya.camp, www.papaya.camp.
People
The Institute of Navigation’s (ION) Satellite Division presented Dr. Boris Pervan with its Johannes Kepler Award during the ION GNSS+ Conference last week in Denver. Pervan was recognized for his pioneering contributions to high-integrity GNSS-based aviation navigation.
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