The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has published an Open Positioning Framework (OPF) which is a set of standards and protocols which will help reduce the time and costs involved in developing and deploying Mobile Positioning and Analytics Services (MPAS) and enable more businesses in various sectors to reap the benefits of location-based services.

Septentrio jointly announced with Pythagoras BVBA that they have integrated key components to propose a complete solution, ready for geospatial applications. The solution combines the Pythagoras software with GNSS device called AsteRx-m™ GeoPod that enables accurate position measurements up to 1 cm level.

SELECT Open Access enables greater project agility through unrestricted access to Bentley’s portfolio of information modeling applications – unencumbered by conventional software procurement cycles. Bentley’s new MANAGE services offering facilitates the provisioning, rapid deployment, and operation of Bentley’s Project Wise collaboration services and Asset Wise asset information management services in a hybrid cloud services environment.

India and Russia have agreed to enhance cooperation in space technologies. India is the only country to which Russia has agreed to give access to Glonass military-grade signals, which will enable the Indian military to greatly improve the accuracy of its land-, sea-, air and space-launched weapon systems. www.thehindu.com

ORBCOMM Inc has completed the acquisition of Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation’s (Comtech) Sensor Enabled Notification System (SENS) operation, which includes satellite hardware, network technology and web platforms. SENS is a market leader in providing one-way satellite products and services to more than 20,000 subscribers worldwide. www.orbcomm.com

In Jerusalem, Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri and the head of the Israel Space Agency, Menachem Kidron, signed an agreement with European Union officials to give Israeli researchers and companies access to projects associated with the EU’s Galileo satellite program.

Leica Zeno GG03 SmartAntenna is the only IP68 certified SmartAntenna for GIS applications. IP68 represents the top rating for protection against dust, moisture and water.

Ordnance Survey have created a Minecraft world representing over 224,000 sqkms of Great Britain using two of their OS OpenData products…

The Government of Japan plans to devise a new air traffic control rule to prepare for the Self-Defense Forces’ introduction of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will start studying similar rules in other countries next month to work out a new rule in fiscal 2014 from April. The current aviation law may be revised since it only applies to manned aircraft.

Microsoft and Nokia have decided to enter into a transaction whereby Microsoft will purchase substantially all of Nokia’s Devices & Services business, license Nokia’s patents, and license and use Nokia’s mapping services. Microsoft will pay EUR 3.79 billion to purchase substantially all of Nokia’s Devices & Services business…