Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Three new market studies — from Berg Insight, ABI Research, and Markets and Research — focus on GPS chipsets and the high-volume consumer device markets that drive them, all predicting continued rapid growth.
By Glen Gibbons
“Growing Galileo” is the theme of a conference and exhibition taking place November 14–15 in Brussels, Belgium, that will highlight the work under way and planned for developing applications of Europe’s GNSS system.
By Glen Gibbons
At the premiere Location 2.0 Summit on October 23, SiRF Technology will roll out its “ecosystem” strategy for the location-based services (LBS) community, enabled by a set of SiRF-designed development tools, a test environment, and marketing support from the GNSS chip and software manufacturer.
By Glen Gibbons
ESA/CNES launcher at Toulouse Space CenterNext April’s Toulouse Space Show will provide a good deal of company for the European Navigation Conference (ENC-GNSS 2008).
In addition to the annual European Frequency and Time Forum (EFTF 08), which joined ENC-GNSS 2007 this year at TimeNav ’07 in Geneva, Switzerland, events include a Space Applications symposium sponsored by the French space agency CNES, a commercial exhibition, and associated events for the general public, students, and young people, to promote the value of space applications in daily life.
By Glen Gibbons
Ten-year-old u-blox AG has launched its initial public offering (IPO) of stock, which will begin trading October 26 on the Swiss Exchange. Price range for the offered shares is between 42 and 54 Swiss francs (CHF: US$35.53 and $45.68).
By Glen Gibbons
The University of Nottingham and the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) have signed a formal agreement that will create a £9 million (US$18.3 million) state-of-the-art GNSS facility built in Nottingham, United Kingdom.
By Glen Gibbons
Swedish technology group Hexagon AB, which acquired Leica Geosystems in 2005, launched its tender offer to acquire all the issued and outstanding common shares of NovAtel Inc., a Calgary, Alberta, Canada–based developer and manufacturer of OEM GNSS and related products, at a price per share of US$50 cash.
By Glen Gibbons
The stunning sequence of multi-billion-dollar buyout offers for the two leading navigable map data providers TeleAtlas and NAVTEQ — by TomTom and Nokia, respectively — raises issues not only of access to critical intellectual property (IP) and a long-delayed explosion of location-based services (LBS) but may also determine the outcome of the long-debated platform of choice for GNSS-enriched consumer applications.
By Glen Gibbons
NovAtel Inc. has acquired privately held antenna manufacturer Antcom Corporation (Antcom) for $5 million in cash and an additional $1 million in cash subject to Antcom’s achievement of certain financial targets for the calendar year ended December 31, 2007.
By Glen Gibbons
BlueTooth technology provider CSR, of Cambridge, United Kingdom, has acquired NordNav Technologies AB, of Sweden, and Cambridge Positioning Systems Ltd. (CPS) of also of Cambridge, UK. Taken together, the acquisitions will allow the company to provide software-based low-cost GPS suitable for mass-market mobile phones and Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs).
By Inside GNSS
Trimble of Sunnyvale, California, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire publicly held @Road, Inc. of Fremont, California, and has purchased privately held Spacient Technologies, Inc. of Long Beach, California.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Air Force has awarded two $50 million contracts to Boeing and Lockheed Martin to execute a system design review for the next-generation GPS space segment program, GPS Block III.
The contracts come on the heels of both companies successfully completing system requirements reviews in November 2006. Those reviews, part of a $10 million follow-on order to a Phase A Concept Development Contract awarded in 2004, assessed Boeing’s and Lockheed’s ability to mitigate development and delivery risks associated with building the Block III satellites.
By Inside GNSS
L-3 Interstate Electronics Corporation (IEC), Anaheim, California, has been awarded a preproduction contract for Advanced Three-Dimension Locators by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Advanced Research Project Agency. The contract represents an initial step by DHS to provide a solution for accurately identifying the location of emergency response personnel in disaster or emergency situations.
By Inside GNSS
