Semtech Buys Sierra Wireless for $1.2 Billion
Announcement comes days after Thales IoT business merges with Telit...
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Internet of Things solutions provider Semtech Corp. SMTC 0.00%↑ has acquired Canada-based Sierra Wireless SWIR 0.00%↑ for $1.2 billion. Semtech purchased Sierra Wireless shares at $31 each in an all-cash deal.
The companies say the acquisition combines two big IoT components: LoRa and cellular. In addition, Semtech is adding one of the larger location industry companies that offers IoT and GNSS modules as well as robust fleet management services.
The transaction comes a few days after Thales [HO] merged its IoT module business into Telit [TTCN] to form Telit Cinterion. In that deal, of which Thales owns a 25 percent stake, U.S.-based Telit Cinterion becomes the largest non-China IoT module solution provider, according to Neil Shah, partner with Counterpoint Research.
The Semtech-Sierra Wireless deal allows the companies to focus on logistics and asset management, smart cities, utilities, smart agriculture and other markets. Complimentary technologies include IoT modules (where Sierra Wireless is a top-10 vendor), gateways, 5G and Cloud services, the company said.
Other transition details:
The companies will operate as independent companies until the transition closes, which is expected at the end of Semtech’s fiscal year 2023.
Sierra Wireless will share its second quarter financial results on Aug. 11, 2022.
The deal is expected to double Semtech’s annual revenue and add greater than $100 million of high margin IoT Cloud services recurring revenues.
Expected to grow Semtech’s IoT SAM 10 times to $10 billion by 2027.
Contact: Julie McGee, Semtech, jmcgee@semtech.com, www.semtech.com.
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Innoviz Grabs $4 Billion Deal With Volkswagen
Israel-based Innoviz Technologies INVZ 0.00%↑ announced this week that it has won a $4 billion contract from a Volkswagen Group unit to supply lidar and software across its automotive brands. The deal, which is expected to take eight years, will supply lidar for around 5 million and 8 million Volkswagen Group vehicles.
As Location Business News reported, Innoviz announced the deal in early May, but did not reveal the name of the automaker. However, speculation from trade press mentioned Volkswagen or Daimler as possible Innoviz dealmakers.
Founded in January 2016 by Omer Keilaf, Oren Rosenzweig, Oren Buskila, and Amit Steinberg, Innoviz completed its merger with Texas-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Collective Growth Corporation at a $1.4 billion valuation in April 2021.
Overall, the worldwide Lidar market has failed to meet the lofty expectations in the past year or so, said business publication Seeking Alpha. Because many of the automotive production agreements don’t begin until 2025, which limits revenue potential, the stock market has to trust backlog totals—even when not a lot of information is available, Seeking Alpha said.
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OneNav Smokes Leading Android Smartwatch in Tests
OneNav said it averaged six times better accuracy than “a leading Android smartwatch” in recent side-by-side test results that compared its pureL5 GNSS receiver customer evaluation system.
The company said it used only GNSS measurements in the tests, which were conducted in a “challenging urban environment,” while the smartwatch was augmented by inertial systems. Both the oneNav unit and the smartwatch used commercial antennas during the testing.
“As we continue to fine-tune the pureL5 system, we’re excited to see the current version perform so well against a leading smartwatch in a challenging real world environment,” said Steve Poizner, oneNav co-founder and CEO. “Ongoing tuning of our machine learning algorithms will improve our performance even further.”
Overall, the pureL5 reported 8-meter accuracy—compared to the smartwatch’s 29-meter score. The accuracy led Poizner to say that the L5 signal is more accurate and reliable than L1 as it has wider bandwidth and better power.
Quality One Acquires Q-Matics
Quality One Wireless [QOWI] has announced that it completed acquisition of telematics service provider Q-Matics. Financial details were not disclosed.
Q-Matics, which cites “all major Tier 1 wireless carriers as well as many Tier 2 carriers and major MVNOs” as its customers, manufacturers the Fleet GPS tracking system. The system features driver’s reports, downloadable data that includes driver score, distance, hard breaking and other features, compares individual driver performance to the overall fleet.
Citing growth in telematics and tracking industries, particularly during the pandemic, Quality One said it wanted to expand its business and “thread [Q-Matics] into everything we do,” said John Chiorando, company CEO.
Quality One, which had a partial stake in Q-Matics for years, said the two companies will operate as their own entities.
Contact: Mick Olinik, for Q-Matics, (407) 857-3737, 341468@email4pr.com, www.q-matics.com
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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.
Automotive:
🚘 GM’s OnStar Unveils New Brand Identity, Expands Services. Pioneer of car monitoring and tracking offers new safety services.
😮 Teletrac Navman Review of Seasonal Driving Dangers. “Teletrac Navman has created an infographic featuring breakdowns of the 10 U.S. states and cities with the highest rate of fatal car collisions in the summer.”
👏 Safety View by GM Future Roads & INRIX Now Available. “The cloud-based application provides transportation officials with insights using crash, vehicle, vulnerable road user (VRU), and U.S. Census data.”
Maps:
🤨 Why I Use Snap and TikTok Instead of Google. “In our studies, something like almost 40 percent of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps GOOG 0.00%↑ or search. They go to TikTok or Instagram.”
🗺 MapmyIndia Takes On Google With India’s First 360-degree Panoramic Street View. “MapmyIndia released the country's first and fully-indigenous 360-degree panoramic street view and 3D Metaverse Maps Service.”
🚲 Apple Maps Now Offers Cycling Directions Across All 50 U.S. States. “Apple Maps AAPL 0.00%↑ cycling directions fully covered 49 U.S. states as of July.”
👍 GM, Mapbox Collaboration Glimpse of What's To Come. “Rolling out an onboard, live navigation system retroactively to vehicles as much as four years old is a pretty good hint of what will be possible as the software-defined vehicle takes hold.”
In other Mapbox news, this is pretty cool…
Military:
😮 Adios GPS! US Air Force To Dump ‘Vulnerable’ GPS For NTS-3 As Russia, China Wield Laser, EW Prowess. “Vice Chief of Space Operations General David D. Thompson admitted before the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Sub-Committee hearing on May 11 about “(the US having) rely on [GPS] solely and exclusively and too heavily.”
Autonomous Vehicles:
🚚 Self-Driving Truck Service Expands to Florida. “Kodiak Robotics has deployed a mapping solution to bring new routes for its AVs online.”
🚘 BMW Builds €300 Million Test Track for Autonomous Cars.
😐 NavInfo Partners With CAIC for Intelligent Vehicle Development. “China’s navigation product supplier NavInfo inked a strategic cooperation framework agreement with China Automotive Innovation Corp. (CAIC) for long-term partnership in high-precision map, location-based service, chip, smart cockpit, and autonomous driving fields.”
Financial Results:
✔ MiX Telematics Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 U.S. GAAP Financial Results.
Siemens and Pointr Partner
Siemens and Pointr have partnered through the Xcelerator platform and marketplace. Pointr’s indoor location technology and mapping platform has already been integrated into Siemens’ workplace technology solution, Comfy.
Pointr’s SDK integrates with the Comfy app and detects and processes Bluetooth signals from sensors to accurately calculate a users’ position within 1-3 meters, the company said.
Pointr and Siemens have already rolled out or are actively implementing smart building and workplace solutions in Siemens Germany HQ, the University of Birmingham’s new campus in Dubai, and McDonalds HQ in Chicago.
In other company news, Pointr, Cisco DNA Spaces and Verdantix are partnering on location services. The companies are offering a webinar to discuss the potential of location awareness in global workplaces.
Contact: Marianne Slamich, Pointr, (978) 222-7929, marketing@pointr.tech, www.pointr.tech.
Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Faction Selects Point One Navigation for Autonomous B2B Delivery Fleets
Silicon Valley startup Faction has partnered with Point One Navigation to bring driverless delivery and transportation solutions to the mass market. Faction’s DriveLink platform integrates Point One’s positioning technology with centimeter-level accuracy to enable fleet autonomous operations, the company said.
Faction offers three-wheel production electric vehicles, which are purpose-built for driverless fleet services. By combining autonomy with remote human supervision, Faction’s vehicle fleets are available now and “are not waiting for the development of 100 percent autonomous technology,” the company said.
Contact: Aaron Nathan, Point One Navigation, press@pointonenav.com, www.pointonenav.com.
Ryan Signs Agreement With Geotab
Global tax services provider Ryan has signed a reseller agreement with Geotab Inc. to offer a subscription-based product that allow clients to have telematics insights and advisory and compliance services. Ryan’s clients will be able to purchase Geotab’s telematics device solutions and tax information to solve cross-border challenges, the company said. “We’re seeing the use of telematics data as a valuable data source in helping clients solve tax problems across a range of taxes globally, from fuel taxes in trucks to income taxes on company cars,” said Brint Ryan, Ryan chairman and CEO, in a statement.
Contact: Stacey Underwood, Ryan, (972) 934-0022, stacey.underwood@ryan.com.
Radar Introduces Place Matching
Radar has introduced Place matching to improve the accuracy and streamlines maintenance of geofences that are created in the company’s platform. For developers, place matching removes the burden of maintaining data for accurate and timely location-based customer experiences, which includes curbside pick up and promotional mobile messaging, the company said.
When a geofence is uploaded to Radar's platform, it is verified against Place's data to ensure accuracy. If a location changes, the geofence is automatically updated without requiring manual entry from a developer, the company said.
Contact: Jim Dalin, for Radar, radar@launchsquad.com, www.radar.com.
Semtech, Skylab and HeNet Provide Stena Line Vessels Logistics Monitoring
Semtech Corp. SMTC 0.00%↑ along with GPS tracking supplier SkyLab and HeNet B.V., are providing Semtech’s LoRa devices for Stena Line’s RoRo/Passenger vessel MV Stena Hollandica. “Asset tracking and condition monitoring at sea is now easier than ever through our work with Semtech and its LoRa 2.4GHz technology alongside HeNet B.V.’s LongAP Pro gateway,” said Remy de Jong, Skylab’s senior technical director, in a statement.
When there is a need to continually track and trace across vessels and land carriers in different regions of the world, a gateway offering coverage, using the 2.4GHz and the sub-GHz bands, can simplify the roaming of trackers and sensors, the companies said.
Contact: Ronda Grech, Semtech, (805) 250-1263, rgrech@semtech.com, www.semtech.com.
NextNav Partners With Valor Systems
NextNav NN 0.00%↑ has partnered with Valor Systems to provide z-axis vertical location capabilities to first responders, public safety agencies, and corporate security clients. Valor’s CAD products, aided by NextNav’s Pinnacle network, will provide vertical location data to pinpoint the location of threats or civilians in distress during an emergency, the company said.
Valor, with clients in North America, Europe and Asia, provides a scalable, multi-stakeholder solution to help command centers and investigators increase situational awareness and synchronize response efforts, the company said.
Contact: Gillian Smith, NextNav, media@nextnav.com, https://nextnav.com.
Rand McNally Rolls Out Asset Tracker Lineup
Rand McNally has launched an asset tracker on its Rand Platform called the TrueTrack W110. The unit’s features include enhanced reporting and dashboard views of advance fleet tracking features such as details from vehicle "breadcrumb" trails, geofences, and more.
Launch of the Rand Platform and the TrueTrack W110 wired asset trackers were enabled by TELEO Capital, which acquired Rand McNally in late 2020.
Contact: Rand McNally, https://fleet.randmcnally.com.
JAVAD GNSS Releases New GNSS Firmware and JAVA Mobile Tools
JAVAD GNSS has released new versions of its GNSS Firmware and JAVA Mobile Tools. The company’s GNSS Firmware version 4.2.01 improves the RTK performance of JAVAD receivers, adding new features and fixes bugs for easier operation, the company said. The JAVAD Mobile Tools version 4.5.0 adds several new features and enhancement for Android devices.
Contact: JAVAD GNSS, support@javadgnss.com, www.javadgnss.com.
IARAI and HERE Sponsor Traffic Congestion Competition
The Institute of Advanced Research in Artificial Intelligence (IARAI), in collaboration with HERE Technologies, have opened up the 4th annual Traffic4cast competition that challenges participants to use the latest AI methods to predict traffic congestion. The model and prediction are for congestion levels and speeds across London, Madrid and Melbourne.
The competition includes two years of real-world data provided by HERE Technologies, derived from billions of GPS points from vehicle fleets. Submissions for this year’s competition are due by October 15, 2022. To learn more and compete in Traffic4Cast 2022, click here.
Contact: Jordan Stark, HERE, (312) 316-4537, jordan.stark@here.com, www.here.com.
3Dtracking Launches Personal Tracking Solution
3Dtracking has launched a new personal tracking solution that provides the framework for telematics service providers to offer new services for individuals, staff and mobile workforces, children, senior citizens and pets. Features include check-in, panic, fall detection and geo-fencing alerts and reporting.
These personal tracking features can be connected to either the 3Dtrack mobile app or third party personal GPS trackers, the company said. With the 3Dtracking platform, telematics service providers can offer personal tracking services as a standalone offering or bundled with other fleet management and asset tracking packages, the company said.
Contact: Tony Miller, 3Dtracking, (617) 418-3024, tony@3dtracking.com, www.3dtracking.com.
Wejo Partners With Roadside Telematics
Wejo Group Limited WEJO 0.00%↑ has partnered with Roadside Telematics Corp. (RTC) to deploy the Wejo RTTI (Real-Time Traffic Intelligence) for 9-1-1 first responders and emergency roadside assistance providers. The RTTI gives first responders access to real-time comprehensive traffic data derived from millions of connected vehicles through the RoadMedic Next-Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) Intelligent Crash Data Ecosystem, the company said. RTC’s NG9-1-1 RoadMedic, embedded in the operating systems of connected cars and autonomous vehicles, will be able to provide 9-1-1 first responders with instant crash detection combined with intelligent crash data, the company said.
Contact: Ben Hohmann, Wejo, Ben.Hohmann@Wejo.com, www.wejo.com.
People
Drivewyze has named Jim Wells as Vice President, Sales. Wells was Regional Vice President, Americas Sales for Sierra Wireless and held leadership positions at Jasper Cisco.
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