NavIC Gaining Credibility With New Navigation Satellite Launch
Qualcomm and Apple already working with NavIC to increase visibility, capabilities
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Weekly Location Industry News
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Top News:
🏛 More Than 25 GM OnStar Data Collection Class Action Lawsuits Have Been Filed So Far. “GM GM 0.00%↑ is facing more than 25 lawsuits over the issue. Per CarComplaints, the class action lawsuits have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation titled, IN RE: Consumer Vehicle Driving Data Tracking Litigation, and alleges that plaintiffs were not properly informed how using OnStar and the Smart Driver program could impact their car insurance.”
📌 GPS III SV-07 Receives Operational Acceptance. “The U.S. Space Force transferred Satellite Control Authority of the GPS III Space Vehicle 07 to the 2nd Navigation Warfare Squadron on Jan. 8. Nicknamed “Sally Ride” on the production line, SV-07 is set healthy and available to global users on Jan. 22, bringing the GPS constellation to 31 active vehicles.”
⚡ U.S. Manufacturers to Benefit from CRPAs Removed from ITAR List. “U.S. GNSS manufacturers will benefit from removal of anti-jam Controlled Reception Pattern Antennas (CRPA) from International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
🛰 GMV to Advance the Galileo High Accuracy Service with New Data Generator. The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has chosen GMV to develop a new iteration of the High Accuracy Data Generator (HADG) as part of Phase 2 of the Galileo High Accuracy Service. The service provides free real-time positioning corrections to all users. Under the terms of the contract, which has a budget of up to 12 million euros, GMV will handle the design, development, deployment, commissioning support, and optional maintenance of the enhanced HADG.”
Expert nationwide installation services for fleet technologies.
🤦♂️ Garmin Users Say Their Watches Are Bricked with a Blue Triangle of Death. “It’s not just you. Several users are reporting their watches are crashing while displaying the ‘blue triangle of death.’”
😮 Calif.-Founded EV Maker Canoo, Once Worth $2.4 Billion, Goes Belly-up After Moving to Texas. “Canoo and its subsidiaries filed for liquidation bankruptcy on Jan. 17, marking the end of the road for a company that couldn’t justify its glut of early funding. In its four-year span as a public company, Canoo battled investor lawsuits, Securities and Exchange Commission charges, executive departures and a mixed reception of its cars.”
🌨 The Aerospace Corporation and Google Public Sector Join Forces to Revolutionize Space Weather Forecasting with AI. “By bolstering the resilience of satellite communications, it safeguards global connectivity and data transmission for countless applications. It ensures accurate GPS navigation, vital for transportation, logistics, emergency services, and more.”
😉 Just How Many Robots Can One Person Control at Once? A DARPA Project Overturns Longstanding Assumptions. “In a study funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), experts show that humans can single-handedly and effectively manage a heterogenous swarm of more than 100 autonomous ground and aerial vehicles, while feeling overwhelmed only for brief periods of time during an overall small portion of the mission.”
Maps:
🤷♂️ Google Maps to Rename 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' for Us Users. “-Google Maps will change the name of ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘Gulf of America’ once it is officially updated in the U.S. Geographic Names System, Google GOOG 0.00%↑ said. The change will be visible in the U.S., but the name will remain ‘Gulf of Mexico’ in Mexico. Outside of the two countries, users will see both names on Google Maps. Google Maps will make a similar change with Mount McKinley.
👉 Overture Maps Data in ArcGIS. “Since joining Overture, Esri has been contributing data to different data themes, most notably buildings and divisions.”
👍 MapmyIndia Acquires 9.37% Stake in AI Startup SimDaaS Autonomy. “Digital mapping and geospatial services company MapmyIndia has acquired a 9.37 percent equity stake in Kanpur, India-based startup SimDaaS Autonomy, according to reports.”
🙁 Google Just Made an Irksome Change to Maps on Android Auto. “It seems the tech giant didn’t account for using Maps with navigation disabled. When navigation isn’t on, the app will instead display a box with a search field and common destinations below it.”
🗺 Mapbox Data Products Deliver Research Insights for Development Data Partners in 2024. “Researchers at the World Bank and OECD apply Mapbox Traffic and Movement data, as well as the Mapbox Isochrone API, to inform transportation infrastructure planning and service availability around the world.”
Connected and Autonomous Vehicle News:
👌 Kodiak Has Made Its First Driverless Truck Deliveries to Customer Atlas Energy. “Kodiak Robotics has officially handed off two autonomous trucks to customer Atlas Energy Solutions, marking the startup’s first commercial launch. Atlas, a provider of (sand) and oilfield logistics, received its first Kodiak-equipped trucks in December and began driverless operations in an off-road environment in West Texas’s remote Permian Basin shortly after.”
💲 Waymo Lobbyist Activity in SF Skyrocketed in 2024. “A recent review of lobbyist disclosure data by the San Francisco Examiner revealed Waymo paid lobbyists to meet with San Francisco government officials 348 times last year, more than double the 137 times it reported in 2023.”
🤞 Waymo Begins Testing Robotaxis on LA Freeways…and Alphabet's Waymo to Test its Autonomous Driving Technology in Over 10 New Cities.
😏 Elon Musk: Tesla Will Launch Unsupervised Full Self-Driving in Austin as Paid Service in June. “During the earnings call following the release of Tesla’s Q4 2024 results, CEO Elon Musk said: Tesla will launch unsupervised full self-driving as a paid service in Austin in June.”
😕 Tesla Refuses to Do the Right Thing About 'Full Self-Driving' Transfers. “Tesla is now using both nodes on the HW3 computer – meaning that it doesn’t even have any compute redundancy, which is required for level 4-5 autonomy.”
🗾 Nexar and Japan Post Join Forces. “Using images and location data from Nexar's dashcams in Japan Post Transport Co.'s vehicles, the partnership will monitor highway road construction and damage, helping to develop a system that improves and maintains roads across the country.”
💲 GM Expects to Save up to $1 Billion on Cruise Costs. “General Motors GM 0.00%↑ expects to save up to $1 billion annually by ending its Cruise robotaxi development program, CEO and Chair Mary Barra said Tuesday during the company’s earnings call.”
😧 Did Elon Musk’s ‘Salute’ Cripple the Tesla Robotaxi? “If Tesla, fairly or unfairly, gets a Nazi taint among that population, that creates a big barrier in competing with other services unless it’s vastly superior in service or price.”
🙂 Mobileye and Innoviz Move Up on the Autonomy Scale.
🚘 Rivian Takes Its First Steps Toward Autonomous Driving With a Hands-Free Driving Feature. “The system is classified as a Level 2 autonomous driving feature. The technology will be similar to existing systems like Ford's F 0.00%↑ BlueCruise and General Motor's GM 0.00%↑ Super Cruise.
🏎 Can an Autonomous Racing Car Beat an F1 Driver? A2RL Aims to Find Out. “What if an autonomous vehicle could drive a racing car faster than a human around a track? That’s the question the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) is trying to answer.”
Fleet Telematics:
🚛 Telematics Player Amber Connect to Hire 1,000 People in Coimbatore. “Amber Connect, a telematics company, plans to hire 1,000 people in its Coimbatore, India, facility, over the next 2 years.”
🚍 Transporeon Launches Integrated App Program to Enhance Accessibility and Use for Carriers. “Transporeon, a Trimble TRMB 0.00%↑ company, announced today the launch of the Transporeon Integrated App Program. TIAP is an application integration framework that ensures interoperability between Transporeon’s transportation management platform and transport management systems.”
🚚 Wialon Reveals 2024 Top Telematics Partners and Fleet Management Growth Trends. “The platform, which hit the landmark of four million connected vehicles in July 2024, continues to see steady growth across all regions but has reported a rapid increase in new vehicle connections in the Middle East, Africa and North America, each seeing a 14 percent rise over the past year.”
👉 Verizon Connect Debuts New Technology Solutions for Fleet Safety and Compliance.
Financial:
✔ Lockheed Martin Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results.
💰 Bonsai Robotics Secures $15 Million in Series A Funding. “Bonsai Robotics, which develops AI products for agriculture applications, raised $15 million in Series A funding. With its flagship product, Visionsteer, Bonsai provides technology to include data insights, crop analysis, notifications, job planning, and autonomous vehicle control.”
✔ Spirent Trading Update - Strong Close to the Year. “Spirent Communications is in the process of being acquired by Keysight Technologies KEYS 0.00%↑, with the transaction expected to close before the end of April 2025. Keysight offered about $1.5 billion for Spirent, outbidding fellow T&M company Viavi Solutions.”
📊 1,664,189 Shares in Powerfleet Purchased by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK.
The D-Day Visitor's Handbook: Your Guide to the Normandy Battlefields and WWII Paris by Kevin Dennehy and Steve Powers. The guidebook uses location technology from what3words to locate monuments, museums and other attractions. Get your guidebook today.
Weekly Product News
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Topcon Provides GNSS Correction Services for Emergency Response in Southern California
Topcon Positioning Systems is supporting recovery efforts in Southern California following the recent wildfires by providing emergency Topnet Live subscriptions. This support provides access to the company’s GNSS correction services network
The technology delivers positioning data for infrastructure assessment, surveying, utility mapping, and 3D machine control systems for construction machines among other applications and will be available at no cost within affected areas, the company said. The subscriptions will be active for 90 days and will support any brand receiver that is capable of using RTCM format NTRIP corrections, the company said.
Contact: Staci Fitzgerald, Topcon Positioning Systems, (925) 245-8610, corpcomm@topcon.com, www.topconpositioning.com.
Soracom Announces Commercial Availability of iSIM Technologies and Modules
Soracom has launched its integrated SIM technology (iSIM) as well as an iSIM-compatible cellular module built off of the Murata Type 1SC. Soracom developed the module in conjunction with IoT chipset developer Sony Semiconductor Israel, Murata and iSIM Security solutions provider Kigen. The iSIM evaluation kit can handle NTN-IoT services, as well as GNSS, the company said.
Contact: Justine Schneider, for Soracom, (404) 266-2060, ext. 507, jschneider@calysto.com, www.soracom.io.
Taoglas Launches New GNSS Antennas
Taoglas has rolled out new multi-band GNSS antennas, the Levity Series. The new antennas include AHP24510 (L1/L2/L-Band) and AHP54510 (L1/L5/L-Band), both are directional patch antennas for compatibility with GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou satellite constellations.
“With greater GNSS precision and lower energy consumption becoming key design criteria for many engineers, we see a growing opportunity for multi-band antennas in critical applications, not least drones, robotics, precision agriculture, and ADAS. The premium performance of multi-band GNSS technology is providing competitive advantage for the end products in these competitive markets,” said Dermot O’Shea Taoglas CEO.”
Contact: Taoglas, www.taoglas.com.
Parkopedia Park & Pay Available on CUPRA Models
Parkopedia and SEAT have partnered on in-car payments for parking. CUPRA drivers are now able to access Park & Pay in-car payment functionality, allowing them to make parking payments without leaving the vehicle, the company said.
This new functionality is currently available on CUPRA Born and Tavascan models with the CUPRA Navi system across 17 European countries. The service is planned to be added to the remaining CUPRA range and SEAT models during 2025, the company said.
Contact: Adam Calland, Parkopedia, 44(0)7838219129, adam.calland@parkopedia.com, www.parkopedia.com.
Suntech Offers GPS Asset Tracking Solutions Without Tariffs
Suntech said it is offering GPS asset tracking solutions, warehoused in San Diego and priced FOB California, that do not have tariffs, delays at customs and hidden costs. The company said that while the global supply chain brace for tariffs, the company avoids those charges. The company quoted Gartner as saying that 30 percent of companies have already adoped nearshore strategies to reduce reliance on Chinese suppliers.
Contact: Tim Newberg, Suntech US, tnewberg@suntechus.com, www.suntechus.com.
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Teledyne Exhibits at Geo Week, Rolls Out Mapping Solution
Teledyne Geospatial will be at Geo Week, February 10-12, 2025, in Denver. The company is rolling out Fathom, an airborne coastal mapping solution. The SAM team, among the first to adopt the system, will be onsite to share insights about Fathom, the company said.
Teledyne Geospatial will also display its new airborne lidar solution Galaxy Edge, featuring parallel scan lines, higher resolution and a reduction in manual labor for noise filtering, the company said.
Contact: Jennifer Parham, Teledyne Geospatial, Jennifer.Parham@teledyne.com.
Adtran Launches Optical Cesium Clock Upgrade for Precision Timing Applications
Adtran has launched its Enhanced Short-Term Unit (ESTU) precision timing module—an addition to its OSA 3300 and OSA 3300 Super High-Performance optical cesium clocks. The ESTU Upgrade improves short-term Allan Deviation, ensuring greater timing accuracy and performance for mission-critical operations, the company said.
The company said that such industries as metrology, aerospace and defense need ultra-stable timing for accurate data collection and reliable communication.
Contact: Gareth Spence, Adtran, 44 1904 699 358, public.relations@adtran.com, www.adtran.com.
RoGO Communications Launches DropBlock GPS Tracking
RoGO Communications has launched DropBlock 2.0 to track the location of firefighters and equipment. DropBlocks, made for wildland firefighters, feature location and weather data. Some of the weather information includes wind speed, direction, temperature, humidity and other IoT sensor data, the company said.
Contact: Scott Yates, for RoGO, (919) 649-6621, scott@onpointprgroup.com.
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