LBS

Shipments of cellular M2M modules reached 96.0 million units in 2015

Berg Insight estimates that global cellular M2M module shipments increased by 19.4 percent in 2015 to a new record level of 96.0 million. A somewhat higher growth rate is expected for 2016. Until 2020, shipments of cellular M2M devices are forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.7 percent to reach 256.0 million units. East Asia, North America and Western Europe were the main geographical markets in 2015, accounting for around 75 percent of the total demand.

Samsung challenges Fitbit with $180 fitness tracker with GPS

Samsung is unveiling a new fitness tracker that aims to undercut gadgets from market leader Fitbit. Beyond offering all-day step counting and automatic sleep tracking, the $180 Gear Fit2 comes with GPS sensors for more accurate measuring of distance and pacing for runners and cyclists. GPS is typically limited to higher-end devices, such as the Fitbit Surge and the Microsoft Band 2. http://www.theledger.com

Sierra Wireless and OriginGPS Partnership

Sierra Wireless and OriginGPS, a leading manufacturer of miniature GNSS modules, have announced a partnership to deliver the industry’s smallest integrated 2G to 4G cellular and GNSS modules solution. It offers a miniaturized footprint that is one third smaller than other solutions and is targeted at the growing IoT devices market. http://iotbusinessnews.com

HERE, automotive companies come together on ITS

Following the success of monthslong discussions with the international automotive and mapping companies in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, location cloud company, HERE has submitted a universal data format called SENSORIS to ERTICO – ITS Europe. It is a European public/private partnership for intelligent transport systems, which has agreed to continue as an Innovation Platform to evolve a standardized interface specification for broadly using across the automotive industry.

To date, 11 major automotive and supplier companies have already joined the SENSORIS Innovation Platform now under the coordination of ERTICO. SENSORIS was initiated by HERE in June 2015 when the company published the first open specification for how vehicle sensor data gathered by connected cars could be sent to the cloud for processing and analysis. Currently, vehicle sensor data exists in multiple different formats across automakers.

MapmyIndia launches DriveMate

MapmyIndia has announced the launch of DriveMate, its next-generation Connected Car IoT (Internet of Things) technology. A simple yet powerful plug-and-play device, it offers real-time monitoring of your car and fleet of vehicles from wherever you are. Combining this with MapmyIndia’s and location technologies, it continuously and securely monitors, records and transmits the car’s live (exact) location down to building-level detail etc. http://www.mapmyindia.com

Subaru to equip its cars with Magellan SmartGPS

Japanese automobile manufacturer Subaru will install Magellan SmartGPS navigation systems in its cars, according to company president Billy Ho. According to Ho, cars equipped with Magellan SmartGPS navigation systems will be available in Japan from the third quarter of this year. Magellan is a brand of GPS navigation products operated by Mitac’s US-based subsidiary Mitac Digital.