LBS

SK Telecom to merge with SK Planet’s LBS unit

South Korean operator SK Telecom has announced that its subsidiary SK Planet will spin off its location-based services (LBS) unit and merge with SK Telecom. Both entities separately held board meetings on 21 January and decided to split and merge SK Planet’s LBS unit. The date of the divisionmerger has been set for 5 April.

Via the spin-off and merger of the LBS business unit, including T Map, SK Telecom expects to create a synergy of various businesses, such as online-to-of ine (O2O), LBS, and Big Data, in the living value platform sector. www.telecompaper.com

Subaru partners with Magellan

Subaru has named Magellan SmartGPS as its mapping partner in future Subaru vehicles. The appointment means that Magellan’s smartphone-based cloud navigation, which works on both Apple iOS and Android, will port fully voiceguided navigation using constantly updated maps to the head unit in the car.

HERE and 1Spatial announce a strategic partnership

HERE and 1Spatial which manages the world’s largest spatial data, announced that they are teaming up to deliver high grade map content to the enterprise market.

As part of a strategic partnership formed to fulfil key enterprise account requirements and market opportunities, HERE is working with 1Spatial to provide data quality and processing solutions incorporating selected high quality map data from HERE. http://1spatial.com

Pitney Bowes acquires Enroute Systems

Pitney Bowes Inc. will acquire Enroute Systems Corp., a Seattle-based provider of cloud-based retail and fulfillment software. The company said the acquisition would complement its e-commerce offerings for companies throughout the retail supply chain and allow businesses to more efficiently manage their omnichannel operations.

Enroute Systems runs a transportation management system (TMS) that it said allows high-volume retailers and e-tailers to cut shipping execution times, lower shipping costs, enhance business intelligence, and generate real-time supply chain visibility and tracking. www.dcvelocity.com

GPS module gets access to Galileo

Swiss GPS module maker uBlox has added Galileo satellite navigation reception to its M8 series. Galileo reception comes as part of the FW 3.01 software update and allows any M8 product to track: Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS and SBAS.

BeiDou acquisition sensitivity has been boosted, and the Indian GAGAN augmentation system added. Power consumption is said to be improved by 10%.

Up to three constellations can be tracked concurrently and use is made of all SBAS and QZSS augmentation systems at the same time. Security mechanisms are embedded in FW 3.01. www.electronicsweekly.com

Improved positioning with new Broadcom chip

Broadcom has released new BCM89774 tri-band navigation chip that reads five different global positioning satellite networks, allowing for more accurate positioning.

The more satellites a navigation chip can “see”, the more quickly and accurately it can determine its position. The new chip, which has been built to automotive quality standards, can read satellites from every major positioning network.