LBS

China builds accurate navigation system

According to the National Remote Sensing Center of China a new navigation system has been successfully tested to pinpoint positions within 0.1 meters in outdoor areas and 3 meters in indoor areas. The Xihe system, named after a God in ancient China, has already been tested on fieldwork devices. The center plans to develop an urban positioning system, first in large cities like Shanghai, and then across the country by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011- 15). The system is based on a technology known as CRP, or Cooperative Real-time Precise positioning, which is designed to enhance the accuracy of navigation satellite systems. There are four major navigation satellite systems: GPS, Glonass, Galileo and China’s Beidou. www.chinadaily.com.cn

BSNL India ties up with Russian major

Russian major Sistema is looking to partner with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for offering navigation system through GLONASS. BSNL is expected to sign a MoU to utilise this service. BSNL may initially start a pilot project to test the service before going commercial. There are a number of applications for this service, including police patrol monitoring, transport monitoring, city bus fleet management and accident emergency response system. Recently, NIS GLONASS opened a showroom in Mumbai. While the main focus for NIS GLONASS would be in commercial projects, the company is also looking at projects aimed at the social sector. According to Russia & India Report, the company is looking to implement a system in India similar to the ERA-GLONASS project in Russia, an accident and emergency response system. ww.thehindubusinessline.com

Microsoft sues Motorola

Microsoft is suing Motorola Mobility in Germany over a mapping patent that Microsoft alleges covers the Google Maps app that ships on Motorola phones. 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. A technique like this is used in Google Maps, which is installed on Motorola’s Android devices. www.computerworld.com

Baidu establishes LBS business department

Chinese search engine company Baidu Inc. announced the establishment of a new location-based service business department and launched a new scheme named “smart life”. Based on the “smart life” plan, Baidu’s LBS business department will implement cooperation with hardware makers, operators, websites, and vendors in China. Baidu’s map service has reportedly gained over 77 million users, realized data cooperation with over 40 vendors, and established a new marketing platform for more than 4,000 vendors. Baidu said that the establishment of the new LBS business department is based on the development of the industry and its own products. www.chinatechnews.com

MapmyIndia launches ‘Don’t Panic’

MapmyIndia has launched Don’t Panic, a full-featured maps and GPS navigation app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in India. The USP of the app is that it stores maps offline and does not require mobile data connectivity for navigation. We also like the fact that the app offers different versions for different states, in addition to an all-India version, and has priced them economically. www.medianama.com

Esri moves into Smartphone Mapping

Ramping up efforts to serve the growing market for mobile Web geocoding services, GIS provider Esri has purchased mobile location-based services provider Geoloqi. Esri plans to combine Geoloqi’s Web 2.0 technology with its own traditional GIS capabilities in order to offer advanced mobile location services for smartphone applications. www.cio.com

Etisalat and GAPCorp FNI to deliver GPS mobile telecom solutions

With the objective of providing mobile telecommunications solutions for GPS services, Etisalat has signed a partnership agreement with GAPCorp FNI. It will allow Etisalat to offer a wide range of positioning services such as hourly vehicle positioning, monitoring, follow up with emergency assistance, a geographical barrier service, automatic warning in case of theft, emergency cases warning facility, low battery warnings and other services. www.ameinfo.com