Leica Geosystems launches Leica GMX901 GPS antenna
Leica Geosystems has launched Leica GMX901 GPS receiver with an integrated antenna for geodetic monitoring of sensitive structures. It streams single frequency code and phase data up to 1 Hz, providing the basis for position determination and deformation analysis.

Motorola RF switch enables location services
Motorola has announced several new enhancements to its RFS7000 RF Switch to support location services, management and security services including own and and third-party vendor services. www.motorola.com

European Union to sole-fund Galileo
Financing for Europe’s GNSS, Galileo, will come solely from the public sector, the European Commission declared, May 16, in Brussels. The public-private partnership (PPP) that had crippled the ambitious project was abandoned. EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said that the 27-nations bloc’s biggest-ever joint technological project could only reach orbit altitude if the public sector took full financial responsibility. He made the announcement as he presented three options for the bogged-down Galileo project: a complete EU takeover, partial public financing, or total elimination.
Barrot prefers to take over the project now, at an estimated public cost of about E2.4 billion in addition to the E1.5 billion already allocated in the 2007-2013 budget, and to issue a new tender to operate the system once it is built and in space by the end of 2012, according to recent forecasts. The European Space Agency would oversee construction and deployment of the satellites, though European aerospace companies would still supply technology, without assuming financial risk. EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen ruled out cancelling Galileo. “Galileo is from the European Commission standpoint an absolutely essential project,” he stated. “We don’t have an option of giving up on Galileo.” http://sidt.gpsworld.com

GPS navigation for athletes
eSymetric GmbH, Germany, has invented a computer program for use on mobile Pocket PC devices that offers navigation for athletes named “Run.GPS”. It makes navigation possible outdoors without looking on the screen. This is accomplished by speaking all the relevant information. www.businessportal24.com

Jack Dangermond, ESRI President receives honor from ASPRS
ESRI president Jack Dangermond has been awarded the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Outstanding Service Award for 2007. Dangermond is being recognized for his endowment of the ESRI Best Scienti? c Paper in GIS Award. Established in 1991, the award is given each year by the ASPRS Foundation to individuals who publish papers of scienti? c merit that advance the knowledge of GIS.

Pitney Bowes completes ccquisition of MapInfo
Pitney Bowes Inc. announced completion of the acquisition of MapInfo Corporation. Now MapInfo will be called as PB MapInfo Corporation. The merger followed the successful completion by Magellan Acquisition Corp. of a tender offer for all outstanding shares of MapInfo at $20.25 net per share in cash. Pitney Bowes, having 87 years of technological leadership, provides the world’s most comprehensive suite of mailstream software, hardware, services and solutions to help companies manage their fl ow of mail, documents and packages to improve communication. www.pitneybowes.com.

NovAtel Inc launches new OEMV products
NovAtel has launched its new OEMV-1G and FlexPak(TM)-V1G products with GPS+GLONASS positioning solutions. Also, full GPS+GLONASS AdVance RTK (Real Time Kinematic) positioning capabilities are available on all existing OEMV-2 and OEMV- 3 products via its 3.2 Firmware release. www.novatel.com.

Galileo – the European Programme for Global Navigation Services for civil purposes is an initiative led by European Union. We provide regular updates to our readers on the Galileo programme.

Consumer demand for GPS increasing: CEA report
According to a research report by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), GPS – Exploring Ownership and Interest revealed an 80 percent owner satisfaction rate, which was strongly influenced by the ease of use and display quality of the devices, which are used primarily for navigation assistance in a vehicle. While GPS ownership is still relatively small at 18 percent of online consumers, the research demonstrates shipment revenues nearly tripling between 2005 and 2006. Nearly 24% of online consumers are planning to purchase a GPS device within the next year, spending an average of $410 resulting in sales reaching $4.1 billion in 2007. The study shows that 33 percent of future GPS buyers are interested in owning a cell phone with a GPS. Rest of the other uses are hiking 18%, walking16%, boating 14% biking 7%, running 6% and flying 4% www.webwire.com

NRCan offers digital topographic data for free
As of April 1, 2007, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) began offering its electronic topographic mapping data for free over the Internet. It is now permitting people to freely redistribute this data, helping to ensure that users receive accurate and consistent information. It will make its data collections available through GeoGratis (geogratis.gc.ca), which is a portal, provided by the Earth Sciences Sector of NRCan.