GPS World articles from March 2004

GPS World archives from March 2004

Return of the bad penny.(The View from Here)
March 1, 2004... Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come. But a bad idea whose time has passed, like its opposite, recognizes no national boundary. So, at the moment of an imminent trans-Atlantic accord in the matter of compatible Galileo and GPS...

GPS and Galileo reach signal agreement.(Global View)(global navigation satellite system)(Global Positioning System)(European Commission)
March 1, 2004... U.S. and European negotiators have reached a provisional agreement to ensure interoperability between the Global Positioning System and the Galileo system now under development. Following talks in Brussels, Belgium, on February 24-25, "The...

A sense of place: GPS and Alaska rail safety.(Collision Avoidance System)(Alaska Railroad Corporation)(Global Positioning System)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... This article describes recent implementation of the first phases of a collision avoidance system (CAS), based primarily on real-time GPS positioning and VHF data radio communications. The system is designed to prevent train-to-train collisions,...

Simulating GPS: in urban traffic environments.(Road User Charging)(Satellite Positioning-based Road User Charging)(Global Positioning System)
March 1, 2004... Researchers used a GPS simulation tool to investigate the feasibility of urban Satellite Positioning-based Road User Charging (SPRUC), As more metro areas expect to implement road user charging in the near future, system developers will first...

Wireless in the Alps: an LBS prototype for mountain hikers.(Infomobility)(geographic information systems )
March 1, 2004... Rapid developments in mobile technology hardware and infrastructure make possible a range of new services for people on the move, particularly tourists visiting unfamiliar places. These travelers require up-to-date information and may need...

Combining low-cost inertial systems with GPS: applications for general aviation.(Autonomous Navigation)(United States. Department of Transportation)
March 1, 2004... THANKS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MICROMACHINED SENSORS, the cost of some fairly sophisticated three-axis inertial navigation systems has dropped to a level where they can be seriously considered for use in a variety of demanding civil applications,...

SiRF launches starIII, files for IPO: new chip, mobile software target location services.(GPS Inside)(Initial Public Offerings)
March 1, 2004... GPS OEM manufacturer SiRF Technology has simultaneously introduced a new generation of hardware and software while announcing plans to make an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. The new products from the San Jose, California-based...

Consumer telematics attitudes gauged.(GPS Inside)
March 1, 2004... A recent nationwide survey of 10,000 U.S. households focused on interest and willingness to pay for telematics and vehicle navigation systems, and for location-based services delivered to cellular phones or other portable devices. The study, by...

Leica unveils universal survey.(Launches)(Leica Geosystems AG)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Leica Geosystems (Heerbrugg, Switzerland) has introduced the Universal Leica System 1200, a universal survey system with standardized operating and data concept, which consists of three newly developed and fully coordinated basic modules: the...

Galileo/GPS consumer chip.(Launches)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A consortium of Bavarian companies has formed to develop a highly integrated chipset for Galileo/GPS receivers targeting high-volume consumer markets. Led by Ifen GmbH, of Poing, Germany, the group also includes Infineon Technologies AG...

Fastrax, RCN-Conti fleetly manage.(Launches)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Fastrax of Vantaa, Finland, and RCN-Conti of Riga, Latvia, announced the inclusion of Fastrax OEM GPS technology in Navil100 and Navil200 tracking devices produced and marketed by RCN-Conti. RCN-Conti's tracking devices are designed for...

GPSFlight's telemetry module.(Launches)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... GPSFlight of Bellevue, Washington, announced availability of its micro-sized GPS telemetry transmitter, the STXe Telemetry Module, GPS-TEAM software application, and add-in module that provides temperature-adjusted barometric pressure to...

Underwater tracking system floated.(Launches)(ORCA Instrumentation partners with Advanced Concept and System Architecture)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... ORCA Instrumentation (France) has partnered with French research and development firm Advanced Concept and System Architecture (ACSA) to develop the GPS Intelligent Buoy (GIB) system or "underwater GPS" to track pinger-fitted underwater...

AmbiCom puts GPS in pocket.(Launches)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... AmbiCom of Santa Clara, California, has introduced the GPS Navigation Receiver CompactFlash Card that serves as a GPS receiver for Pocket PCs, as well as an accessory for personal digital assistants (PDAs). The GPS-CF Pro includes a...

Database will bust traffic enforcement.(Launches)(eStrategy Partners)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... eStrategy Partners (Los Angeles, California) has launched a user-contributed database, Photo Enforced, that tracks red-light camera districts, violations, and fines in 24 major U.S. cities, and can be used in GPS navigation systems and consumer...

IEEE Vehicular Tech Conference.(Events)(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 60th Vehicular Technology Conference will focus on "Wireless Technologies for Global Security" September 26-29 in Los Angeles, California, bringing together international...

EURAN 2004.(Events)(European Radio Navigation Systems and Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The International Symposium on European Radio Navigation Systems and Services will convene June 22-23 in Munich, Germany. The conference, organized by German Institute of Navigation in cooperation with the International Loran Association,...

ESRI Summit call for papers.(Events)
March 1, 2004... The second annual Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Survey and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Summit, August 7-10, in San Diego, California, is now accepting abstracts. The summit, "Integrating Survey and GIS," targets...

Cairo navigation conference.(Events)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Arab Institute of Navigation is organizing its biannual international conference on satellite navigation April 13-15 in Cairo, Egypt. Melaha 2004 will focus on recent developments in satellite navigation and position fixing systems and...

Septentrio secures Galileo contract.(Deals)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The European Space Agency has awarded a (3-million contract for the CO phase of the Galileo Test User Segment to a consortium led by Septentrio Satellite Navigation, a European designer and manufacturer of satellite navigation receivers based...

Logica to design Galileo facilities.(Deals)(LogicaCMG Wireless Networks)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... London-based LogicaCMG, an international force in IT services and wireless telecoms, has been awarded (7.5 million in contracts from the European Space Agency to define and design two sets of ground facilities for the Galileo program. The...

Merrimac gets IIF Satellite order.(Deals)(Merrimac Industries Inc.)(Integrated Defense Systems)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Merrimac Industries, Inc., of West Caldwell, New Jersey, has received a $1.1 million order from Boeing Company Integrated Defense Systems (Seal Beach, California) to supply Beamforming Networks, and RF/Microwave signal processing components on...

ITT buys Kodak Remote Sensing.(Deals)(ITT Industries Inc.)(Eastman Kodak Co.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... ITT Industries, headquartered in White Plains, New York, has signed a $725-million agreement to buy Eastman Kodak Company's Remote Sensing Systems business, a major supplier of high-resolution satellite imaging systems and image information...

NavCom, C & C land UK Navy contract.(Deals)(C and C Technologies Inc.)(Navcom Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... NavCom Technology, Inc., of Torrance, California, has announced that its strategic partner C & C Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, has entered into a service contract with the U.K. Ministry of Defense to provide GPS...

N.A. GPS market going up, up.(Industry Bytes)(North American GPS equipment markets)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Revenue in North American GPS equipment markets hit $3.46 billion in 2003, and is expected to reach $10.77 billion by 2010, according to analysis by Frost & Sullivan, an international corporate consulting and market research company in Palo...

Trimble L2C receivers.(Correction)(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2004... The 2004 GPS Receiver Survey printed in the January issue inadvertently omitted some key information about three receivers from Trimble Navigation. The Trimble NetRS, R7GPS, and R8 GPS recievers all have L2C capability, for the new civil GPS...

Hall of Fame for GPS pioneers.(People)(Global Positioning System)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, recently inducted Ivan Getting and Bradford Parkinson as members of the class of 2004 for their instrumental work on the Global Positioning System. Getting was an astro-physicist, founding...

Exec changes at iSECUREtrac.(People)(Michael P. May and Thomas E. Wharton appointment and resignation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... iSECUREtrac Corp. of Omaha, Nebraska, has announced the resignation of CEO and Chairman of the Board Michael P. May, and the appointment of Thomas E. Wharton as interim CEO. May stepped down for personal reasons, according to a company press...

Personal vehicle monitoring.(Tracking & Wireless)
March 1, 2004... Trimble's TrimTrac locator is an automatic vehicle location device for personal vehicle monitoring, security and theft recovery that can support selective roadside assistance and concierge services with application server and call-center...

Micro-sized GPS Telemetry transmitter.(Tracking & Wireless)
March 1, 2004... STXe Telemetry Module by GPSFlight, Inc., is a micro-sized GPS Telemetry transmitter with 12-channel L1 receiver using the Garmin GPS15 chip, 1575.42 MHz frequency GPS, onboard 900 MHz spread spectrum radio transmitter with demonstrated line-of...

Vehicle protection system.(Tracking & Wireless)
March 1, 2004... EziTrak by Rojone Pty. Ltd. is a vehicle security and tracking system for cars, earthmoving equipment, roadside signage and other vehicles that provides vehicle owners with instant tampering notification, control, tracking and emergency alert...

GPS receiver for Pocket PCs.(Navigation & Guidance)
March 1, 2004... AmbiCom of Santa Clara, California, has introduced the GPS Navigation Receiver CompactFlash Card that serves as a GPS receiver for Pocket PCs. The GPS-CF Pro features a built-in receiver and CompactFlash Type 1 Card. The card, has a built-in...

Navigation software.(GPS-Related Software)
March 1, 2004... TeleType version 092003 software for pocket PCs is a street, aviation, and marine navigation system that supports Bluetooth and provides live weather updates, incident avoidance capabilities, and voice recognition. The system enables users to...

Map kit, translation.(GPS-Related Software)
March 1, 2004... Blue Marble Geographics has released its 2002/TIGER/Line map kit that includes upgraded versions of the company's TGR2SHP and TGR2MIF translator software for converting or batch processing TIGER 97, 98, and 2002 files to ESRI ArcView Shapefiles...

Fleet-management software.(GPS-Related Software)
March 1, 2004... Air-Trak.com's Cloudberry software for use with Nextel i58sr and i88s GPS-enabled phones is designed for Internet-based wireless vehicle, personnel, and asset tracking and uses ESRI ArcLogistics Route to enhance back-office mapping, routing,...

High power amplifier.(GPS-Related Hardware)
March 1, 2004... OPHIR RF's 5125 is a 70-Watt broadband amplifier that covers the 20-1000 MHz frequency range. The 19 X 5.25 X 20-inch, 48-pound amplifier uses Class A/AB linear power devices that provide a 3rd order intercept point, high gain, and a wide...

Integrated GPS Loran-C receiver.(Receiver Technology)
March 1, 2004... reelektronika's new generation of LORADD receivers marks the start of a new era in Loran-C receiver technology. The LORADD receiver consists of two parts, the basis Loran-C receiver with its associated Eurofix decoding algorithms, and the...

Universal survey system.(Survey & Mapping)
March 1, 2004... The Universal Leica System 1200 by Leica Geosystems is a universal survey system with standardized operating and data concept, which consists of three newly developed and fully coordinated basic modules: the Leica GPS1200 family of receivers,...

GIS data collection device.(Integrated Solutions)
March 1, 2004... Surveylab has released ike, a highly versatile GIS data-collection device that features digital camera, laser distance meter, inclinometer, digital compass and GPS receiver. The 260 X 110 X 70-millimeter handheld includes a NovAtel Superstar II...

Calendar 2004.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... * MARCH 22-24 CTIA Wireless Atlanta, Georgia. Tradeshow and conference of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, with exhibits, educational sessions, and seminars, including one on wireless location-based services....