Airtel announces GPS navigation
Bharti Airtel, in collaboration with Sweden-based Wayfi nder Systems, launched its GPS-based Navigation Application on compatible mobile handsets. The systems is complete with detailed maps and points-of-interest of several cities across the country. It will be available on the BlackBerry 8800 and will cover information on cities including Delhi and NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai & Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chandigarh. www.techtree.com

Asus launches PDA GPS phone in India
Asus launched the P535 tri-band PDA phone in India with full wireless functionality, GPS and auto-focus camera. It also offers push email, Internet access, off-site synchronization of calendar and contact information over wireless (802.11b+g) or mobile phone GPRS networks. www.pcworld.in

Motorola RF switch enables location services
Motorola has announced several new enhancements to its RFS7000 RF Switch to support location services, management and security services including own and and third-party vendor services. www.motorola.com

Mobile industry set to boom with GPS technology
As per the RNCOS report, “Globally, the GPS market is expected to exceed US$ 30 Billion by 2008. The two segments under this technology namely people tracking & handset market will have maximum growth rate, about 9%.” Mobile industry is set to boom in 2007 with mobile giants, application developers, and OS managers planning to introduce various large-scale rollouts of GPS technology. Most phone manufacturers will introduce devices enabled for navigating with a GPS like Nokia has plans to introduce a personal mapping program that’ll let users to send messages to each other and also have instructions on how to congregate, delivered to the handset. www.rncos.com

Nokia N95 smartphone with GPS capabilities starts shipping
Nokia N95 has started shipping in key European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. The phone is an all-in-one multimedia computer with a unique 2-way slide design, integrated GPS functionality and many other features. www.nokia.com

GloNav unveils industry’s lowest-power GPS RFIC
GloNav Inc. announced the volume production availability of its ultra low-power L1 GPS RFIC optimized for integration into cellular handsets, portable consumer electronic devices and battery operated GPS devices.
The GNR1040 is a highly integrated, low-power, single-conversion low- IF GPS RFIC for the 1.575GHz – L1 signal that includes built-in flexibility and programmability to support multiple GPS baseband processors. www.glonavgps.com

BSNL Cellone launches pilot project in Andhra Pradesh
The BSNL cellone has taken up a pilot project in Andhra Pradesh, India to develop location-based services for cellone subscribers. A gamut of services like Industry “Where Am I” information by various industry services will be provided. Once successful, the services will be introduced in entire South India, said J V Reddy, General Manager, Cellone services, A P Telecom. www.hindu.com

Garmin enters LBS platform market
Garmin has announced the availability of the Garmin LBS Toolkit, a flexible location-based service platform that can serve as the engine behind third party LBS applications. It incorporates Garmin’s navigation API, local search, real-time content delivery services, and mobile advertising delivery services, into one powerful platform. www.garmin.com

GPS coming to GSM handsets
After years of anticipation, GPS technology should finally arrive in a significant number of GSM mobile handsets in 2007, according to a new study by market research analyst ABI Research, USA. The report also says that 25 percent of WCDMA handsets will incorporate GPS by the end of 2008. The factors like government regulations covering location technology for emergency services such as E911 as well as a recognized demand for LBS will be responsible for the expected rise of GPS in GSM and WCDMA handsets, according to Alan Varghese, ABI principal analyst. www.eetimes.com

LBS subscribers will total 315 million in five years
In 2011, the total population of GPSenabled LBS subscribers will reach 315 million, up from 12 million in 2006, according to a new study from ABI Research, USA. This represents a rise from less than 0.5% of total wireless subscribers today to more than 9% worldwide at the end of the study’s 5-year forecast period. The LBS market took off first in South Korea and Japan, driven by personal navigation and some family- and people-finder services. In the United States, Nextel and Sprint initially drove LBS adoption with a focus on fleet applications. www.abiresearch.com