UnaBiz Signs Distribution Agreement, Seeks $100M Funding
Sigfox owner seeks $100 million in Series C funding...
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Singapore-based UnaBiz signed a distribution agreement with Soracom to offer cellular connectivity to its customers. The deal allows UnaBiz customers access to Soracom’s global cellular networks, which include 350 mobile carriers in 170 countries.
The deal initially calls for customers located in Singapore, Taiwan, France, Spain and Portugal will be able to purchase IoT SIMs from local operators or contact UnaBiz for cellular-based IoT solutions, the company said.
UnaBiz, which recently signed a deal with Paris-based Actility, has a robust asset tracking background, particularly in niche markets. One of these is in tracking beer kegs, a market where the company says 12 percent go missing each year. UnaBiz has supplied Konvoy Kegs’ 120,000-unit fleet in Australia and New Zealand with its IoT tracking solution, Kegfox beacons.
The company also announced last month that J Networks has connected 10,000 plastic pallets on AMO-SNet’s 0G Network powered by UnaBiz’ Sigfox 0G technology. The deal was the first asset tracking system in South Korea’s pallet pooling business using a tracker designed by ALPS, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electromechanical devices.
UnaBiz, which owns the Sigfox IoT brand and technology, raised $10 million in Series A funding in 2018—which was led by Soracom. In published reports, UnaBiz said it plans to raise an additional $100 million in a Series C round, primarily to sell IoT solutions in Japan, according to The Nikkei.
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Microsoft Maps Reports 1.2B Building Footprints
Microsoft Maps said it its worldwide datasets now include 1.2 billion building footprints and 174 million height estimates. The company, which has a dedicated Maps AI team, has been taking advantage of Microsoft’s MSFT 0.00%↑ investments in deep learning, computer vision, and machine learning, according to a company blog.
These footprints and building height estimates come from Bing Maps imagery between 2014 and 2023, the company said. In addition, the company used imagery from Maxar, Airbus and IGN France.
For its part, Bing Maps has used deep learning, ml and computer vision technology to release more than 130-million building footprints in the United States to the OpenStreetMap community.
In OpenStreetMap there are currently more than 30 million building footprints in the United States, according to the blog. The company said Bing Maps is making this data available for free.
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Visioglobe Indoor Maps Used By Kuala Lumpur Aiport
France-based Visioglobe has integrated its indoor mapping technology at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as a navigation tool to allow travelers to reach their gates, amenities and other points of interests (POIs). The deal’s financial details were not disclosed.
KLIA, which one of Asia’s largest airports and Malaysia Airlines’ hub, uses the mapping technology in their app. Some of the features include gate information, restrooms, check-in counters, restaurants and shops.
Visioglobe said the big deal about its technology is that it can deliver real-time updates to passengers via the app. The airport, via the app, can provide live information regarding gate changes, flight delays, security check-in requirements.
KLIA said the app, with the indoor mapping technology, helps streamline operations—and give passengers a better experience. The app, they say, allows a smoother flow of foot traffic and precludes passengers getting lost.
Contact: Visioglobe, www.visioglobe.com.
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Advanced Navigation Awarded $3.47M In Funding From Australian Space Agency
Advanced Navigation has been awarded a $3.47 million grant, as part of the Moon to Mars Initiative: Demonstrator Mission, by the Australian Space Agency to support NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration.
The grant will spur the development and production of the company’s Light Detection, Altimetry and Velocimetry (LiDAV) technology. Advanced Navigation will deliver a LiDAV sensor called LUNA (Laser measurement Unit for Navigational Aid) to US-based space systems company, Intuitive Machines, as part of NASA’s ongoing Commercial Luna Payload Services (CLPS) program, the company said.
Project LUNA will be demonstrated on board Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander during the final descent on the lunar surface, the company said. Afterward, Advanced Navigation’s LUNA technology will be offered commercially for integration into landers in 2025-2026.
When visual references are unavailable and cameras fail due to lack of light, dust and other obscurities, LUNA can serve as a primary navigation input, the company said. The company said the navigation sensor will become a technology that will improve safety and reliability of complex autonomous landing maneuvers.
Advanced Navigation is also working with Australian company Transparent Earth Geophysics to test terrestrial applications of LUNA for airborne gravimetry and navigation of airborne vehicles when GPS is unavailable or unreliable, the company said. This testing includes on aircraft, helicopters, commercial drones and flying taxis
Contact: Laura Hayward, Advanced Navigation, laura.hayward@advancednavigation.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.
Top News:
🤔 Alberto Broggi: With My Chip Your Car Will Drive Itself. “We will introduce the chip-based system at CES in Las Vegas in January 2024 and it will be a game changer.”
😕 The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire 'Absolutely' Recommends Dropping Out of College To Make Money Instead—Here's Why. Yeah, if Peter Thiel gives you a bag of money to start a lidar company…
💰 NoTraffic Raises $50M to Tackle Congestion and Enhance Road Safety. “NoTraffic’s solution involves installing smart sensors with V2X (vehicle-to-everything) chips onto existing infrastructure at intersections, conflict points or complex roadways.”
💲 Rypplzz: $3 Million Raised To Accelerate Growth of Its Geo-Location Platform. “Rypplzz – the creators of Interlife, a multi-patented geo-location platform – recently announced $3 million in pre-seed funding from a group of investors including Deal Box Ventures, Fulcrum Investing, and Innovative Venture Partners.”
🛰 NorthStar + SES To Provide RSO Tracking From Space. “The aim is to significantly increase the precision of resident space object (RSO) tracking to enhance the safety and sustainability of operations in space.”
Maps:
👍 Apple Vision Pro + Geospatial. A Match Made in Heaven? “To anyone who’s familiar with Geographically Insidious Systems your mind should be exploding — the possibilities of what you could do with viewing and controlling data layers in Vision Pro are endless.”
☹ It Looks Like Google Might Be Giving Waze the Nest Treatment. “Users, however, will see parallels with Google's integration of Nest into its main hardware division, a move that has been criticized as having taken away Nest's unique identity. Google GOOG 0.00%↑ intends to provide further information about this transition on July 11 during the upcoming Waze Town Hall meeting.”
🗺 AI Turns Old Maps Into 3D Digital Models of Lost Neighborhoods. “Imagine strapping on a virtual reality headset and ‘walking’ through a long-gone neighborhood in your city – seeing the streets and buildings as they appeared decades ago.”
😐 Android Auto Finally Ditches an Annoying Restriction When Using Google Maps. “Maps now displays simultaneously on phones and head units for a number of users.”
✔ Google Maps Rival Creates Feature to Offer Navigation Without GPS Signal. “HERE is investing aggressively in new-generation capabilities, and a recent patent provides us with a closer look at a system that could completely change the way navigation systems work.”
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Connected or Autonomous Vehicles:
🚛 TuSimple May Sell Us Business as It Turns Attention to Asia. “TuSimple, which is on the verge of being delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange for failing to file two quarterly reports, said it is exploring strategic alternatives for its U.S. business, including a possible sale.”
🤔 Lidar Remains the Secret Sauce for Truly Autonomous Cars (Despite What Musk Says). “Lidar has become a surprisingly bitter bone of contention for those competing for a self-driving future.”
🤞 PANYNJ Holds First U.S. Airport Demonstration of Three-Vehicle Autonomous Platooning. “The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Ohmio, a New Zealand-based autonomous mobility company, hosted a demonstration of three-vehicle autonomous platooning, the first at any U.S. airport.”
😲 TV journalist not having good Waymo ride in San Francisco:
🤞 Halo.Car Launches Remotely Piloted Rental Car Deliveries in Las Vegas. “Halo.Car, a startup that uses remote operators to deliver rental cars to a customer’s door, has launched driverless operations in Las Vegas.”
Other Stuff:
🚲 Garmin's Climbpro Post-Climb Notification Is Driving Cyclists ‘Nuts’... So Will the GPS Giant Change Its Tune? “Far from finding it flattering, some cyclists aren't happy with the merry jingle that plays on their Garmin GRMN 0.00%↑ computers whenever they reach the top of an ascent. Will Garmin answer their prayers and tone it down?”
😮 In This Beach Town, Sometimes the First Cop on the Scene Is a Drone. “Officers respond, as well. But most of the time, the drone gets there first — rushing to a set of GPS coordinates punched in by the controller. Sometimes it is there in as fast as 30 seconds.”
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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.
Airmax Remote Telematics Installed in 550 Vehicles
UK-based Airmax Remote has announced that St John Ambulance is installing its telematics solution for its emergency fleets. Airmax’ RESPONSE will identify each driver using RFID technology.
Vehicle diagnostic faults can now be monitored in real-time as part of an internal monitoring tool via IoT connectivity, the company said. The strategy for the 550 vehicles operated by St John is to reduce vehicle downtime and provide insight for operational deployment requirements, the company said.
Contact: Airmax Remote, www.airmaxremote.com.
Wien Energie Partners and Actility Deploy LoRaWAN Network in Vienna
Wien Energie and Actility have announced a partnership to deploy a LoRaWAN network in Vienna. Actility will provide its ThingPark Wireless platform for the project. Wien Energie will focus on indoor solutions. The network is being tested—with implementation of use cases and projects expected to begin in early 2024.
Contact: Actility, www.actility.com/contact.
U-blox Launches JODY-W5 Modules
Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox [UBXN] has introduced the JODY-W5 series modules, which brings Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE Audio to wider automotive segments to prevent network congestion and delivering enhanced audio functionality, the company said. First samples will be available by the end of the third quarter of 2023.
JODY-W5 is a compact module with dual-band Wi-Fi 6, dual-mode Bluetooth 5.3, and LE Audio, the company said. The module is suited for use cases specific to two-wheel vehicles, EV charging solutions, telematics control and head units, as well as rear-seat infotainment applications, the company said.
Contact: Natacha Seitz, u-blox, 41 76 436 0788, natacha.seitz@u-blox.com, www.u-blox.com.
Danalto Announces Integration With Autodesk Construction Cloud
Dublin-based Danalto has announced a new integration with Autodesk Construction Cloud to allow customers location tracking of project assets. With this integration, users will be able to locate items in real time, analyse location histories and patterns and optimize operations, the company said. Potential customers include those in the oil, gas, mining, construction, energy and other industries.
Contact: Mary Kathryn Midgett, Danalto, marykathryn@danalto.com, www.danalto.com.
PTV Group Launches Flows
PTV Group has launched a cloud tool, PTV Flows, for real-time traffic management to monitor and predict traffic. PTV Flows can visualize incidents in the road network and forecast unexpected congestion up to 2 hours in advance, the company said.
The solution, marketed to cities and road authorities, analyzes historical and current speeds as well as specific KPIs monitoring zones or corridors. By identifying patterns and trends, the self-learning system generates forecasts for the next 30 to 120 minutes, the company said.
Contact: Stefanie Schmidt, PTV Group, stefanie.schmidt@ptvgroup.com, www.myptv.com/en/mobility-software/ptv-flows.
Quuppa and Siemens Xcelerator Offer Tracking Solutions
Quuppa has announced it is “an official part” of the Siemens Xcelerator Ecosystem. The Siemens Xcelerator is an open digital business platform to accelerate digital transformation, the company said. Through the business platform, Quuppa will deliver real-time location systems to customers globally.
Contact: Sari Arjamo-Tuominen, Quuppa, sari.arjamo-tuominen@quuppa.com,
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Pozyx Achieves ISO 27001 Certification
Real-time location systems company Pozyx has obtained ISO 27001 certification. Pozyx company completed rigorous auditing protol and demonstrated a systematic and consistent approach to managing customer information, the company said.
Contact: Pozyx, www,pozyx.io.
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WARTA and CMT Partner
WARTA and Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) have partnered to roll out Warta4U, a connected insurance program that offers safe driving discounts. The program will begin by focusing on young drivers, providing them feedback on risk factors like speed, acceleration, braking, cornering, and phone distraction while driving, the company said. Warta4U is currently available in four provinces in Poland.
Contact: Cambridge Mobile Telematics, www.cmt.ai.
ComNav Technology Introduces T20 Palm RTK
Shanghai-based ComNav Technology has released its T20 Palm RTK. The GNSS receiver is designed for surveying and mapping, GIS, marine, precision agriculture and machine control.
T20 integrates a GNSS and datalink module, 4G, 5.0 Dual-mode Bluetooth and data memory system.
Contact: ComNav, 86 21 64056796, sales@comnavtech.com, www.comnavtech.com.
Airbiquity Grabs Frost & Sullivan Award
Airbiquity has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan as a recipient of the 2023 Enabling Technology Leadership Award. The recognizes Airbiquity as a leading provider of telematics software solutions for automotive original equipment manufacturers based on years of technology innovation and proven development and deployment results, the company said.
Contact: Airbiquity, airbiquity@finnpartners.com, www.airbiquity.com.
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The Royal Institute of Navigation has awarded Ramsey Faragher its Harold Spencer-Jones Gold Medal for an outstanding contribution to navigation: “In recognition of developing innovative technologies to improve smartphone and automotive navigation.” RIN also awarded the 2003 Certificate of Achievement to Lars Bergman, David Mearns and Robin Stuart for their data analysis that led to the location of the Endurance wreck.
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