LBS Company Fights U.S. Government Ban
Luokung Technology contends that it is a non-state-owned company
Saying it is not affiliated with the Chinese military, Luokung Technology [LKCO] filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court to fight a Trump administration ban. As part of the lawsuit, the company filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop the government from enforcing the ban.
Luokung, which offers location-based services (LBS) and big data technology, was recently implicated, along with nine other companies, under Section 1237 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999.
The U.S. Defense Department says that Luokung, along with the others, are “Communist Chinese military companies” operating “directly or indirectly in the United States.” The DoD says that it is “determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Military-Civil Fusion development strategy, which supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise.”
As a result, Nadaq notified Luokung that because it was placed on the DoD list, its stock’s trading will be suspended on March 15.
A Motley Fool article last month, which didn’t mention the government turmoil, said the company’s stock plunged after a massive stock offering. The article said that Luokung’s shares quadrupled after an acquisition candidate, eMapgo Technologies, said that it would be co-developing mapping services with Beijing New Energy Automobile.
“The sheer size of the stock offering likely spooked Luokung's existing shareholders, who will now see their ownership stakes diluted by the newly created shares -- and potentially even more so if the warrants are eventually exercised,” the article said.
Contact: Jay Yu, Luokung, ir@luokung.com.
Tive and Skyhook Partner for Location Positioning
Skyhook and Tive are partnering to provide hybrid location to in-transit shipments. Skyhook's Precision Location product will replace and supplement existing location sources on specific models of Tive shipment trackers, the company said.
Skyhook's Precision Location positioning system API is integrated with Tive's platform to resolve location from RF signal observations, both Wi-Fi and cellular, when the devices transmit these measurements to the Tive Data Cloud, said Nick Knellinger, Skyhook’s vice president of product.
No additional work is required as Tive upgrades its location tracking services and onboards new customers, Knellinger said. “The integration is completed at this time. As Tive brings on new customers and partners, they'll have immediate access to this premium service as a component of Tive's [product line],” he said. “In the future, there may be opportunities to survey the RF environment, particularly in controlled areas, like warehouses, distribution facilities, to optimize indoor, network-based positioning at these facilities without adding additional infrastructure.”
Tive said that their shippers, 3PLs, brokers, LSPs receive accurate shipment location, said Krenar Komoni, Tive founder and CEO, in a company blog. “I met the founder of Skyhook, Ted Morgan, many years ago and never imagined one day we would be partnered with the amazing company that he founded,” he said.
Last month, Skyhook partnered with Coolpad for its Emergency Positioning Software for public safety markets. However, Knellinger didn’t say whether the company was focused on public safety or asset location.
“Skyhook’s core mission is to provide services that enable the ability to locate any device in the world. This spans across many, many market verticals and sub-segments,” he said in a prepared statement. “Logistics and asset tracking has been an area of focus for years but has picked up even more traction recently alongside higher expectations of real-time asset visibility, continued reduction of costs in hardware components, and the growing global availability of low-power wide area networks.”
Knellinger did say that public safety has seen significant market growth over the past 12-18 months because of FCC positioning accuracy requirements, here and internationally, that require mobile network operators to have location accuracy during emergencies. “There is a significant hole to fill for devices OEMs/ODMs that are not iOS or GMS Android t
hat need to adhere to these requirements to meet carrier certification,” he said. “In short, Skyhook is continuing to invest in improving and expanding our integration options, positioning techniques, and partnerships to reduce friction to meet the needs of both these markets, as well as others.”
Contact: Isolde Decker-Lucke, Skyhook, Idecker-lucke@skyhook.com.
Space Hurricane Spotted Above North Pole, Could GPS Satellites Be Disrupted?
What scientists are calling a “space hurricane” has been spotted above the North Pole, leading some to say that the massive amounts of electrons in it could disrupt GPS satellites.
The storm, a few hundred miles above the North Pole, is about 600-miles-wide, but can it jam the GPS, or other GNSS, signals? “ The whole idea of space hurricanes is a completely new one for me and most of the folks in the GPS community I have spoken to. What isn't new is that space can be a hostile electromagnetic environment where things constantly change,” said Dana Goward, Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation president. “ It is not yet clear to me how much of a threat this particular phenomenon is to GPS and other satnav systems
Goward, a proponent of backing up GPS and other satellite navigation with ground-based systems, says that even if space hurricane turns out to be a minor one, that governments shouldn’t “put all [their] eggs in one basket.”
Another GNSS expert, Logan Scott, says that while the space hurricane was an intense event, it was in a very isolated location. “An aircraft flying under it might lose GNSS, but with a diameter of 600 miles, the aircraft’s [inertial navigation systems] would provide adequate backup during transit,” he said.
Other Location News:
Thales Alenia Signs $933 Million Galileo Contract, Reuters.
Details were released in January, but it is official.
Self-Driving Startups are Becoming an Endangered Species, Ars Technica.
“Commercializing self-driving technology is taking longer than many expected.”
Orca wants to give boating navigation its ‘iPhone moment,’ TechCrunch.
“All these devices are built on a user interface that’s 10-15 years old; think about a Tom[T]om, lots of menus, lots of clicks. This business hasn’t had its iPhone moment, where it had to rethink its entire design.”
The Impact of 5g on Location Technology: What’s Real and What’s Hype,? Pointr.
“Inside buildings and in dense urban areas, the super-fast 5G (mmWave) should be capable of achieving a positioning accuracy of 1 meter or below. This sounds promising, but mmWave is unfortunately not a reality just yet.”
Avast Sells Family Safety Mobile Division To Focus on Iot Threats, TechRadar.
The Family Safety product has “location features.”
Advertisement
Have you ever been reluctant to reveal your personal email address online or in person?
The answer is almost universally YES! So, if you happen to be one of those who thinks twice about these matters, ManyMe might be the answer to your worries.
Location Industry Briefs
Ecopia and Airbus to Provide Digital Maps
Ecopia and Airbus are partnering to produce next-generation worldwide digital maps for commercial and government users. The agreement calls for Ecopia to have access to Airbus’ global imagery database to apply artificial intelligence-based systems to extract vector maps, the company said.
The new maps will help customers make decisions in several industries, including land administration, insurance and others, the company said.
Contact: Emily Jackson-Baur, Ecopia, emily@ecopiatech.com.
Location IQ Monitors Shopper’s Activity in Australia
Location IQ last week partnered with Orbital Insight to use the Orbital Insight’s GO platform to monitor the shifting patterns of shopper activity in more than 1,000 shopping centers in Australia. Location IQ first partnered with Orbital Insight in March 2020 to analyze 40 shopping centers in New South Wales, amid growing uncertainty at the start of the pandemic, the company said.
The company said it will apply artificial intelligence to anonymized location data, through the GO platform, for a better understanding of the travel patterns in and around shopping centers, including how activity has changed because of the pandemic. Location IQ clients include AMP Capital, Lendlease, The GPT Group, Woolworths, Stockland and Dexus in Australia and New Zealand.
Contact: Ali Ius, Orbital Insight, orbitalinsight@missionnorth.com.
NextNav Offers Certification for Barometric Sensors
NextNav launched NextNav Certified, which improves the accuracy of vertical location by standardizing performance metrics for barometric sensors used in mobile devices, the company said. Barometers, which are used for crowdsourcing weather apps and other services, are a recent addition to most smartphones. Vertical location services, including NextNav Pinnacle, rely on quality barometric pressure readings to deliver vertical positioning, the company said.
Through the NextNav Certified program, NextNav will work with barometric sensor manufacturers, through test plan development, to improve the quality of their products, the company said. By testing sensors against real world data, NextNav will help manufacturers measure performance against higher standards which will benefit a wide variety of solutions.
Contact: Chelsea Hoedl, NextNav, NextNav@launchsquad.com.
LBS Software Used by Regional Hospital
Phunware [PHUN] signed a five-year contract extension with Prescott, Ariz.-based Dignity Health, Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC) for its Multiscreen-as-a-Service (“MaaS”) platform and MaaS location-based services (LBS).
Phunware’s MaaS LBS software and beacon maintenance products deliver proximity, sub one-second, real-time blue dot indoor positioning, navigation and wayfinding functionality, the company said. The software, which is ADA compliant, allows hospitals to streamline beacon deployment and management, the company said.
Contact: Matt Glover, Phunware, Phun@gatewayir.com.
Aioi Nissay Insurance Services and PreAct Technologies Partner
Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Services USA and PreAct Technologies are partnering to commercialize data insights. With PreAct's near-field sensor technology, future cars will be able to better understand driving risks related to insurance when coupled with Aioi's edge computing data science platform, MOTER, the company said.
PreAct's near-field sensing technology and edge processing are slated to be fielded in several vehicle models as early as model year 2024. This technology enables advanced protection systems, such as airbags, to activate milliseconds before a collision increasing safety, which could reduce collisions by 80 percent, the company said.
Together PreAct and Aioi USA will offer their solution to OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and insurers. Applications also include CASE fleets of Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric transportation solutions such as buses, trucks and autonomous mobility solutions like self-driving ride hail or last-mile delivery vehicles, the company said.
Contact: Paul Drysch, PreAct Technologies, paul@preact-tech.com.
Laird Connectivity Offers New GNSS Antennas
Laird Connectivity rolled out six GNSS-ready external antennas that include a vehicle mount. The antennas, part of the company’s single- and multi-port GPS antenna line, can be used in such applications as public safety, in-building connectivity, fleet management, and tracking of physical assets, vehicles and personnel, Laird said.
The five multi-port antennas offer coverage for cellular, Wi-Fi, GNSS, FirstNet, and Emergency Services Network (ESN) frequencies and allow for MIMO and/or navigation/location opportunities within the same antenna, the company said.
Contact: Laird Connect, www.lairdconnect.com.
People
Velodyne Lidar {VLDR] named Sinclair Vass as chief commercial officer, succeeding Mike Jellen. Vass joins Velodyne from Focuslight Technologies, where he served as corporate senior vice president. Jellen has been named chief strategy officer, where he will be responsible for mergers and acquisitions and corporate development initiatives, the company said. Vass and Jellen will report to CEO Anand Gopalan.
HERE Technologies appointed Gino Ferru senior vice president (SVP) and EMEAR general manager. Ferru replaces Fred Hessabi, who was named chief customer officer. Ferru was HERE’s area vice president in The Netherlands.
Jobs
Head of the Office of the Executive Director, European GNSS Agency.
Chief Accounting Officer, INRIX.