LBS

Handheld and SOTI alliance

Handheld Group, a leading manufacturer of rugged mobile computers, and SOTI, the world’s leading provider of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) have announced a strategic alliance. Certification of Handheld’s devices within the SOTI OEM partner program enables Handheld’s reselling partners to offer SOTI’s advanced technology to quickly provision devices, content and applications without end user intervention or downtime. Handheld chose SOTI based on the company’s vertical expertise and device control. www.handheldgroup.com

Intergraph Acquires IPR to NZ Police OnDuty Mobile App

Intergraph has acquired the Intellectual Property rights to OnDuty, a new suite of mobile applications developed in collaboration with New Zealand Police. Under this first-of-its-kind agreement for New Zealand Police, Intergraph Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I) will further develop and take to market the OnDuty suite to public safety agencies beyond New Zealand. Once commercialized, New Zealand Police would receive royalties for further technology investment and innovation.

OnDuty is expected to help streamline workfl ow and reporting, and provide greater collaboration, thereby optimizing police time and productivity. It is designed to provide unified access to information from various police systems. OnDuty allows officers to easily receive alerts, view information, update statuses, complete paperwork and attach multimedia files from their mobile devices in the field without having to return to station. www.intergraph.com

Indoor Mapping Project Attracts Funding from Google

School of Information Studies (iSchool) Assistant Professor Yun Huang has received funding from Google’s Faculty Research Awards Program that will help her continue research on an indoor mapping project. The award of $38,514 is for Dr. Huang’s work on the research initiative, “General University Feed specification (GUFS) for Google Indoor Map.

Improving awareness about and potential uses of facilities to enhance learning is the basis for Dr. Huang’s concept for creating a system to better map indoor environments, capabilities, and resources, she said. In developing the idea, she wondered how much people know about and understand the unique details of their indoor environments, as well as being aware of all the resources that are available in their surroundings, such as the centers and buildings where they work and study on a daily basis, she explained. That cognizance is a facet of location awareness that is especially useful in learning environments such as college campuses, and also of interest to a company such as Google, the professor noted. Her model offers a system that proposes to capture how people use and interact with indoor resources and information for different kinds of learning interactions. https://ischool.syr.edu/articles/news/

MapmyIndia Launches SafeMate, a GPS-Based Personal Safety Device

MapmyIndia, has launched SafeMate, a dedicated personal safety device for women, children, and families. Weighing just 50 grams, it is a matchbox-sized device that can fit in a school bag, purse, or pocket, and uses its built-in GPS and Internet connectivity to securely transmit live locations to the mobile phone and desktop. An SOS button can be pressed in case of an emergency, which sends an email and SMS alerts to designated people.

OriginGPS gets $1.75m funding

OriginGPS, a manufacturer of miniature GNSS solutions, has closed US$1.75 million of funding from existing shareholders and the technology accelerator, Lab IX.

Lab IX is a part of Flex, a sketch-toscaleT solutions company that designs and builds intelligent products for a connected world. www.m2mnow.biz