US PND market doubles in Q2
Shipments of portable navigation devices (PNDs) in the United States almost doubled in the second quarter (Q2) of this year at 3.7 million units, compared to the 2.8 million units in Q2 2007, but
prices are still dropping, according to market research firm Canalys. At this time last year, unit volume shipments were depressed following an inventory buildup resulting from extremely high sales into the channel in the final quarter. While shipments have grown,
Canalys estimates that average selling prices have dropped approximately 40 percent drop year over year.
Canalys estimates that Garmin remained the US market leader with 47% share, up 4% on its Q1 position, but down slightly on the 50% it had a year ago. TomTom, in second, saw year-on-year growth substantially above the market average, almost trebling its shipments, and giving it a share of 25%. Despite this high growth, this was down on the 28% it had in Q1, meaning that Garmin increased its lead by several percentage points sequentially. Magellan retained its third place with a reduced 11% share. These three vendors have consistently taken more than 80% of the market for several quarters. Outside of the top three, several vendors posted high year-onyear
growth, notably Mio Technology, Navigon and Nextar, albeit on much lower volumes. www.canalys.com

Honeywell selects Spirent GPS simulator for NASA’s Orion project
Honeywell has selected a Spirent GPS/ Inertial simulator to develop, integrate, and verify the navigation system for NASA’s Orion project. The simulator includes comprehensive modeling of the space environment and will provide multiple radio frequency outputs. It will include multiple SimINERTIAL units Spirent Inertial interfaces that provide Honeywell engineers the capability of emulating Inertial sensor output while simultaneously simulating GPS RF signals.

SLA and MapKing launch free mobile StreetMap

Singapore Land Authority and MapKing (Singapore) Pte Ltd have jointly launched StreetMap@Singapore. It can be viewed on PDAs, PDA phones, and smart phones. Named as `SLA StreetMap Mobile’ it can be downloaded for free onto any mobile device running on Windows Mobile Operating System.

SLA StreetMap Mobile has similar functions with its online StreetMap@ Singapore at www.map.gov.sg. Anyone with a compatible mobile device can search for location maps using address, road name, postal code, building or development name on the move. Containing about 2,000 buildings, 4,200 named roads, and some 120,000 updated address points, it is driven by the MapKing engine. www.sla.gov.sg

Leica GNSS QC and Spider V3.1
Leica Geosystems introduces GNSS QC V2.1, the latest version of the GNSS quality control and data analysis software. It includes an interface to geodetic processing packages such as Bernese by adding support for the SINEX format. It provides a convenient way of displaying and monitoring site displacements and troposphere estimates computed using high-end scientific software packages that are ideal for wide area or seismic GNSS monitoring and crustal deformation studies.

Leica has also released GNSS Spider V3.1. New are a Network based DGPS service and a unique User Location Service, providing secure external online access to user location information. www.leica-geosystems.com

Europe looks for intellectual GNSS expertise

S With a public funds set aside for Galileo and EGNOS and related projects being put out to bid, Europe is also looking for intellectual GNSS expertise to help it get Galileo in orbit.

The European Commission’s director general for energy and transport is advertising for a “contractor that has extensive experience with the project management of large projects, in particular public sector procurements, and knowledgeable in a range of domains, that will assist the Commission in making strategic decisions, in taking the right programmatic approaches, in analyzing and reviewing the state of the programs at various milestones, and in putting forward recommendations. That’s according to the “invitation to tender” issued by Fotis Karamitsos, head of the European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, on June 25.

This call for outside expertise arose from the moves the European Union made in late 2007 to rescue the Galileo program in the wake of the collapse of its public/ private partnership funding mechanism. As part of that decision to make Galileo an entirely public project, it created the European GNSS Programmes Committee to assist the European Commission in administering the Galileo and EGNOS programs. The full invitation to tender document can be downloaded at the European Commission Directorate- General for Energy and Transport website.

IIT Kanpur proposes micro satellite to ISRO

IIT Kanpur has submitted a proposal to the Indian Space Research Organisation, relating to design and development of a micro satellite. It shall weigh around 7 kgs, can be used as part of disaster management and in cartography. The project was expected to require a funding of around Rs 5-7 crore. www.business-standard.com

In-Stat expects Chinese GPS handset market to grow rapidly

According to In-Stat, “the Chinese GPS phone market is still small and has low penetration, but its high growth rate is a clear signal of its development, as is the fact that it is starting to have an impact on the growth of the PND market”. The findings of this report shows shipments of GPS phones will exceed 5 million in 2009 and will account for about 10% of total mobile phone shipments in 2012, compared to 0.6% in 2007. In 2008, more mainstream handset manufacturers have begun GPS phone production, and the number of models available will be at least three times that of those in 2007.

Introducing GIS for IP based network alert notification

Desktop Alert Inc. a premier provider of network centric emergency mass notification systems to the US government pronounced that it has completed its GIS for implementation with the Desktop Alert Mass Notification System being the first such implementation worldwide. It employs industry standards for GIS mapping systems. The new product has been built on using AJAX technologies along with detailed street and aerial imagery data, and an open API. It allows customization of the map output along with the ability to add situational awareness and response capabilities using application-specific data to the map. www.desktopalert.net

Boeing considering submitting bid for EU’s Galileo project

Boeing Co is considering submitting a bid in the forthcoming tender for EU’s Galileo satellite navigation project, Handelsblatt said, citing a Boeing spokeswoman. Handelsblatt said Boeing is interested in participating in the tender for 26 position satellites, which make up one-third of the overall budget for the estimated 3.4 billion euros Galileo project. The Galileo project would be divided into six segments — satellites, launchers, computer programmes, ground stations, control stations and system operation. EU officials have previously said the European Commission and the European Space Agency would launch public tenders by the middle of this year, with a view to first contracts being signed before 2009.http://www.hemscott.com/news/

GPS system used to slow speeding cars

Cars will be fitted with test systems which tell drivers of speed limits and reduce vehicle speeds if they fail to slow down, as part of a new road safety trial in NSW, Australia. It will be a $1 million, 18-month trial involving 100 cars. The cars will be fitted with GPS devices. It will also warn drivers if they are speeding. In addition, 40 of the cars will be fitted with separate technology limiting fuel to the engine if a driver fails to slow down, automatically forcing a reduction in the car’s speed. http://news.theage.com.au