Car owners ‘frustrated’ by navigation systems, says report
According to the J D Power and Associates 2012 US Navigation Usage and Satisfaction study, the increasing complexity of navigation systems is beginning to impact how happy consumers are with their cars.

Nokia has acquired 3D-mapping company Earthmine. Moving quickly, the struggling mobile firm has launched a new free location cloud service called Here, available at the URL Here. net.

According to Microsoft, some products sold by Google-owned Motorola Mobility infringe on a patent that describes a method of obtaining the map from one database, resource information such as Starbucks locations from a second database, and overlaying the two sets of data.

Spirent 8100 Location Technology solution was used by Signals Research Group (SRG) in the industry’s fi rst independent benchmark study of the performance of location technologies in chipset platforms and leading smartphone models.

Northern Constabulary are urging hill walkers not to rely solely on ‘smartphone’ apps for navigation. On two occasions in recently, both Police and Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team have been involved in the rescue of lost walkers who were relying entirely on apps which proved to be insufficient on their own.

Researchers at Anna University of Technology in Tamil Nadu, India have developed a technology that not only jams cell phone calls while a vehicle is in motion, but can report a driver’s attempt to use their mobile communication devices to the authorities. The technology, based on RFIDs, is aimed at preventing truck drivers and other road users from using their cell phones while driving and could also be integrated with police traffi c monitoring.

Platform for innovation project Ford has selected the Nokia Location Platform to leverage Nokia’s global location content, including NAVTEQ Map, as well as scaleable cloud services and APIs. This complete solution offers a fast, easy and cost-effective path to create innovative and differentiated location products.

The latest Apple iPhone will be the first among cellphone manufacturers outside Russia to use both the global navigation satellite systems – American GPS and Russian GLONASS. Russia is working on promoting the use of the GLONASS, an in order to do so it is planning to levy heavy import duties in the country on the Phones not using GLONASS.

According to ABI research report, the market for radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders, readers, software and services will generate USD 70.5 billion from 2012 to the end of 2017. The market was boosted by a growth of USD 900 million in 2011 and the market is expected to grow 20 percent YOY per annum. Government, retail, and transportation and logistics have been identified as the most valuable sectors, accounting for 60 percent of accumulated revenue over the next five years.

The European Union (EU) funded ‘i-GOing’ project, which aims to design, develop and demonstrate a precise indoor navigation service based on Galileo and advanced ‘pseudolite’ technologies. Pseudolites are small transceivers that are used to create a local, ground-based GNSS alternative. With the help of pseudolites, users will be able to locate themselves using GPS and Galileo signals, and then continue to receive accurate location signals in a seamless transition while moving into a building equipped with pseudolites.