China's SIMCom successfully tests 2G module for eCall & ERA Glonass readiness

11 Jan 2012

SIMCom Wireless Solutions has successfully concluded tests of SIMCom's GSM module for eCall / ERA Glonass readiness.

ORBCOMM To Acquire PAR Technology Subsidiary

28 Dec 2011

Global satellite data communications company with focus on Machine-to-Machine communications ORBCOMM Inc. and leading provider of hospitality technology and services, PAR Technology Corporation, announced that their entering into a definitive agreement under which ORBCOMM will acquire the assets of PAR's subsidiary, PAR Logistics Management Systems, which is a leading provider of advanced solutions for monitoring transport assets and cargo in the transportation and distribution industries.

Everything Everywhere announces new M2M partnerships

30 Sep 2011

By its announcement of the partnership with automotive solutions providers Redtail Telematics and Plextek Everything Everywhere continues M2M expansion.

Telekom Austria Unveils M2M Unit

13 Sep 2011

Telekom Austria has become the latest carrier to establish a division dedicated to developing solutions for the machine to machine (M2M) market. Announced in mid-September, Telekom Austria Group M2M was actually created in August in recognition of what TA CEO Hannes Ametsreiter described as "a very promising development of the M2M business".

NAVIGON announces iPhone car Kit & upgrades INRIX Traffic Live service

01 Feb 2011

NAVIGON US has announced the launch of a design focused car kit for the iPhone at the Macworld Expo 2011. The kit consists of an iPhone mounting device and designer suction pad holder, an Apple-certified connection cord and a car charger, powering the iPhone while on the road.

Programmable embedded SIMs - the future of telematics?

28 Dec 2010

The GSMA has recently announced the formation of a task force of mobile operators to explore the development of an embedded SIM that can be remotely activated.

VW launches iPhone app - Accident Assistance

19 Nov 2010

Volkswagen's Insurance Services Group has developed an iPhone application called Unfall-Hilfe (Accident Aid).

Smartphone App Tracks How Drivers Use Their Cars. Startup company's program helps drivers determine what kind of vehicle works for them.

18 Oct 2010

With all of the advanced hybrid, plug-in hybrid, extended-range electric and electric vehicles, there should be something to help buyers decide which vehicle is right for them. Now there is.

GM's New App Turns Smartphones into Virtual Key. New app uses OnStar to access vehicle functions.

13 Oct 2010

The automotive world is going smartphone app crazy. The latest to join the fray? General Motors will roll out smartphone apps - specialized apps geared for customers of its four remaining U.S. brands - this fall.

Navmii launches free iPhone navi app with Open Street Maps

05 Oct 2010

Navmii has announced the launch of its new community-based navigation product, NavFree.

US: Mercedes updates smartphone app with concierge and bcall services

14 Sep 2010

The mbrace Mobile Application version 2.0 builds on the automotive industry's first fully integrated smartphone application which was launched by Mercedes Benz and HTI in November 2009.

Chery and China Unicom to launch 3G-based telematics service

10 Sep 2010

Chery Auto and China Unicom, the country's second-biggest mobile-phone carrier, signed a framework agreement, to jointly build a 3G onboard information platform, China Securities Journal has reported.

Embargoed until Monday 6th September: Wireless Logic Sim Provisioning (SIMPro) Platform Gets £1 Million Upgrade

06 Sep 2010

• Enhanced Customer Service, Reduced Technical Support Costs for Systems Integrators
• SIMPro only M2M platform offering "One Window" view of SIM estate
• Multiple networks, global coverage offers real choice

Ford working on V2X-based Collision Avoidance System - ABICAS

30 Aug 2010

Ford Motor Company's researchers are developing advanced crash avoidance systems that use wireless and GPS technologies to help vehicles communicate with each other in traffic and help drivers avoid or mitigate accidents.

Mobile phone based pedestrian collision avoidance system

27 Aug 2010

In collisions with vehicles, pedestrians typically have far less chances to survive than vehicle occupants. A technology developed by the University of Kassel (Germany) aims at improving the situation by establishing a radio-based warning system.

Four New Patents For Skyhook

06 Aug 2010

Skyhook Wireless, which makes location-tracking software used in smart phones and other mobile devices, announced that it has been granted four new patents to go along with eleven it already has. The announcement comes days Apple inc. revealed that it was no longer using the Boston-based company's technology in its new products, including the five-week-old iPhone 4.

Ford adds Bluetooth MAP to SYNC; Aims to address driver distraction

14 Jul 2010

To help make the in-car connection safer, Ford is improving the SYNC text message readback feature and empowering drivers with a "Do not Disturb" button so they can decide the level of connectivity and communications they want to manage while in the car.

BMW adds new mobile office feature: e-mail access with read out

05 Jul 2010

As part of the ongoing expansion of office functions in BMW ConnectedDrive, BMW is now the first automobile manufacturer in the world to enable e-mail messages to be received inside the vehicle enabled by a Bluetooth connection.

EU: Citroen to equip all models with WiFi router

05 Jul 2010

French car maker Citroen has announced that it will offer internet connectivity in all their vehicles by the end of the summer - " WiFi

Onboard."

Chrysler to launch free Smartphone app with vehicle information

21 Jun 2010

Chrysler Group LLC announced it is introducing a smartphone application to download vehicle information, starting with the 2011 Grand Cherokee, the newest vehicle in the automaker's showroom.

US: Hughes using IBM for telematics back - end

18 Jun 2010

IBM has collaborated with Hughes Telematics Inc. (HTI) to develop software platforms that more quickly deliver telematics services to its customers.

50% Of Worlds Population Must Have Access To Broadband By 2015 Says ITU

17 Jun 2010

International Telecommunication Union's World /ICT Development Report 2010, focusing on monitoring the targets of the World Summit on the information Society (WSIS), was presented on 25 May 2010 at the 5th World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-10), in Hyderabad (South-Central India).

Teenagers Text More Than They Call

25 May 2010

OMG (Oh my God), W8 (wait) till U read this: one in three teenagers sends more than 100 text messages a day, and 72 percent are now text-messagers, compared with 51 percent in 2006, according to a recent Pew Internet report. (www.pewinternet.org) Nearly half who take phones to school text at least once a day in class.

AT&T to connect with KORE

01 Feb 2010

World's largest digital wireless services provider KORE Telematics has signed an agreement with AT&T to support wireless data services through their Control Center. Therefore, KORE Telematics will manage customers benefitting from accass to AT&T Control Center's diagnostic tools as well as further streamline the recently introduced certification process.

Ofcom allows emergency roaming

19 Oct 2009

Ofcom has announced that mobile phone users will now be able to call emergency service numbers 999 and 112 from another network if their own network is unavailable. As a part of the company's strategy to ensure availability, take-up and effective use of communications services, the regulator is also looking into text services for disabled users.

Cobra and SA’s Tracker announce alliance

01 Oct 2009

A new strategic alliance between Cobra and South Africa's Tracker Network includes commercial collaboration and an investment by Tracker Network in the new Cobra business unit dedicated to location based services.

GSMA signs eCall MOU

14 Sep 2009

Representing the worldwide mobile communications industry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to secure the deployment of a single in-vehicle emergency call service - eCall - across Europe.

Lockheed Martin’s final modernised GPS satellite begins operations

09 Sep 2009

The last in a series of eight modernised GPS IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellites built by Lockheed Martin has been declared operational by the US Air Force for military and civilian navigation users worldwide.

SkyTerra plans public safety cell-satellite system

24 Aug 2009

In order to develop public-safety communications devices that work all across the U.S. and Canada, a subsidiary of hybrid satellite-cellular company SkyTerra is seeking U.S. federal stimulus money.

PHH Arval unveils Blackberry mobile app for fleets

18 Aug 2009

Designed to increase the productivity and satisfaction of it clients' fleet drivers, PHH Arval has launched a new mobile application.

Qualcomm and Topcon Tierra announce alliance

10 Aug 2009

Topcon will acquire some of Qualcomm's customer contracts for the GlobalTRACS® Suite for fleet management. Presenting a further progress toward Qualcomm's planned transition out of a direct sales model for the construction equipment market, as previously announced in June 2008, Qualcomm will continue to provide managed network services through Topcon Tierra for these customers and Topcon Tierra will assume responsibility for sales, customer service and other direct support.

GENIVI Alliance expands with support from silicon & software industries

05 Jun 2009

The GENIVI Alliance has announced an expansion with significant new members from the silicon and software industries contributing to the infotainment ecosystem: Freescale Semiconductor, Texas Instruments (TI) and MontaVista Software have joined the Alliance, demonstrating their support for an open source In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) platform and their commitment to expand the ecosystem for infotainment in the car.

Garmin on-board nav debuts in Nigeria

27 May 2009

Garmin has started the distribution of its on-board navigation software in Nigeria, locally called Garmap for Mobile. Garmin's exclusive distributor in Africa. Garmap, has strong ambition for the Nigerian market. Selling for NGN 10,000 ($68) on a 2GB SD card, the package is compatible with a range of Symbian and Windows Mobile phones with built-in GPS.

NAVTEQ supplies map data to Samsung

04 May 2009

NAVTEQ and Samsung Electronics have concluded an agreement concercing map data and content for 76 countries.

Telenor Connexion deploys eSIM

27 Apr 2009

Telenor Connexion has started the rollout of the Gemalto M2M SIM, also known as eSIM, that improves product quality, reliability and cuts costs.

Cost of mobile roaming charges reduced

23 Apr 2009

THE COST of using mobile phones abroad will be significantly cut under regulations approved by the European Parliament yesterday...More transparency for customers is also being introduced by legislation as operators will be obliged to send customers a text when roaming with the prices and the EU 112 emergency number.

Linux Foundation to host Moblin project

07 Apr 2009

The non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, the Linux Foundation (LF) announced it will support the 2007-created Moblin project primed to be the most advanced and open mobile Linux platform.

2009 is the year of the mobile, says VeriSign

06 Apr 2009

Predicting increasing use of mobile LBS and social networking, VeriSign's Messaging & Mobile Media division assigns growth opportunities for carriers and social networking destination, and mobile LBS will grow to 20% adoption in 2011.

WHERE launches location-enabled WAP services for Sprint customers

01 Apr 2009

Powering a location-enabled WAP service on data-enabled Sprint phones, uLocate's WHERE provides search results even on non GPS-enabled devices using the access to network-based location on the Sprint network, without requiring users to report their location.

Sprint announces next US markets to get Sprint 4G

31 Mar 2009

With the roll-out of 4G to another batch of US markets, Sprint is able to offer mobile broadband three to five times faster than any carrier's 3G service.

A1 Austria gives away GPS locator with 2yrs plan

27 Mar 2009

Wireless operator A1 Austria has started offering a small real-time GPS tracking device, "GPS-reporter", for free to subscribers taking a 2 years plan at €9 per month. Compared to most similar services available across Europe which hardware sells for a minimum of €120 and plan starts at €10, it is a very affordable solution.

SiRF and CSR announce merger

10 Feb 2009

The GPS semiconductor specialist SiRF Technology Holdings and leader in Bluetooth chipset CSR plc have announced a definitive agreement to merge in a stock-for-stock transaction to create a global leader in connectivity and location platforms, unanimously approve by the Boards of Directors of both companies. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2009.

Google launches friend finder app Google Latitude

04 Feb 2009

Google Latitude is Google's new friend finder application in its maps for mobile available immediately in 27 countries and 42 languages across a wide range of mobile platforms.

Microsoft Virtual Earth and WaveMarket announce multi-year collaboration

03 Feb 2009

In order to enhance the WaveMarket Veriplace platform with Microsoft Virtual Earth technology WaveMarket has announced a multi-year collaboration.

mxData acquires m-spatial

30 Jan 2009

With the acquisition of mobile local search specialist m-spatial, mobile data applications and services company mxData now boasts more than 100,000 subscribers, specialising in the delivery of travel and related information to mobile phone users, including its traffictv service.

Nokia acquires bit-side

29 Jan 2009

Nokia has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of German professional services and software company, bit-side to strengthen and accelerate Nokia's mobile development for Nokia Maps.

Sprint launches open location platform with WaveMarket and WHERE

09 Jan 2009

To help developers create new location-based services for Sprint customers, the company is partnering with location aggregation platforms VeriplaceTM by WaveMarket and WHERETM by uLocate.

Mobile Internet 2010

02 Jan 2009

Published in December 2008, Mobile Internet 2010 is Berg Insight's new report discussing the expected developments in mobile Internet usage and applications in the coming years.

Vodafone to acquire Wayfinder for $29.4m

10 Dec 2008

Vodafone announced the intention to takeover Sweden-based supplier of Navigation and LBS solutions, Wayfinder System, with a bid of $29.4 million. The public offer was recommended by Wayfinder Systems' board of directors.

NIM integrates Inrix’s Total Fusion Traffic into mobile nav appsNIM integrates Inrix’s Total Fusion Traffic into mobile nav apps

02 Dec 2008

To enhance its AtlasBook Navigator application for mobile devices, Networks In Motion (NIM) has announced a premium partnership with Inrix.

Qualcomm enables Skyhook’s WPS on gpsOne Platform

21 Nov 2008

Skyhook Wireless has licensed Qualcomm to distribute its Wi-Fi Positioning (WPS) and incorporate the technology into its gpsOne® positioning technology platforms.

DB Systel collaborates on development of optiSMS

27 Oct 2008

DB Systel's ICT Innovation & Evaluation Centre, Switzerland's Fela Management and France's Saphymo have collaborated to launch the Open Telematics Interface (opti) project in 2007.

Software Technology Can Hold Drivers' Cell Phone Calls Automatically

14 Oct 2008

Story Highlights:

New software can detect whether a cell phone is moving at car speeds. The software then tells the cellular network to hold calls and texts until the drive is over. Callers can still leave an emergency voice mail, which is put through immediately. Software can be managed remotely on the Web, allowing parents to monitor kids, plus an auto insurance discount will be offered.

Former Rally champion supports eCall

05 Oct 2008

Krysztof Holowczyk, the former rally champion who turned MEP, strongly supports 'eCall' and the 'intelligent car'.

Altea unveils its OTP secrets

24 Sep 2008

Telematics pioneer Altea has launched its new multi-protocol open telematic platform (OTP). With the ability to work with more than thirty different protocols, the system has been designed as the operational basis for the company's multifaceted business model eCall+TM.

Orange's Mobile Fleet

15 Aug 2008

Mobile Fleet is Orange Business Services' new solution designed to help SMEs to increase the productivity and availability of their vehicle fleets and mobile workers. It includes customisable Orange Mobile Forms, 4MB of data allowance and access to real-time traffic updates from the RAC and Trafficmaster.

Vodafone UK Find & Go: web maps, local search, mobile satnav

22 Jul 2008

Vodafone UK and Telmap have been partners with Multimap, the UK's specialist online mapping service owned by Microsoft, to introduce Find & Go. The new service links a web mapping portal with local search and navigation on mobile phones.

Skyhook Wireless launches in Europe

15 Jul 2008

Skyhook Wireless enters Europe with its Wi-Fi positioning system and XPS 2.0 hybrid positioning system.

Appello partners with T-Mobile Austria

08 Jul 2008

Swedish off-board navigation provider, Appello Systems, has announced an agreement to offer its navigation solution Wisepilot to customers of T-Mobile Austria.

Mobile Operators to enable BONDI

07 Jul 2008

A bunch of mobile operators started a new initiative called BONDI to create a blueprint and roadmap for opening up mobile functionality to encourage the development of exciting mobile applications without compromising customer security.

Microsoft launches Windows Embedded NavReady for PNDs

01 Jul 2008

Microsoft's recently released, Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 is the first embedded operating system designed specifically for OEMs building handheld PNDs.

Verizon to confirm Alltel acquisition

09 Jun 2008

Verizon Wireless becomes the biggest mobile phone provider in the US. The company has entered into an agreement to acquire Alltel Corporation for $5.9 billion plus Alltel's projected net debt at closing, putting the total value of the transaction at $28.1 billion.

TomTom dropped by its South African distributor

06 Jun 2008

The exclusive South African distributor, Core Group, has ended its relationship with TomTom. After being partners for approximately eighteen months, Core decided to drop TomTom because of its "failure to honour its contractual obligations".

Tata Indicom to deploy first A-GPS LBS in India

05 Jun 2008

A new location-based service deployed by Tata Teleservices will be the first to use Qualcomm's A-GPS technology in the Indian market.

Nokia nav service to profit from Ordnance Survey data

28 May 2008

To reach the next level of digital mapping and navigation, Nokia intended by releasing Nokia Maps 2.0 with improved optional car navigation, enhanced pedestrian navigation, added multimedia city guides, and now satellite images and a redesigned user interface.

Pelago raises $15M for international expansion

27 May 2008

LBS company Pelago has raised $15 million in a second round of funding to raise the activities in Europe and Asia. The two new investors well-positioned to help with that international move are the Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit and the Reliance Technology Ventures of India, a subsidiary of the Indian conglomerate Reliance ADA Group.

Europe: Nav N Go iGO 8 available for Windows smartphones

23 May 2008

After launching its software package for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices in Hungary last month, Nav N Go started this month its distribution throughout Europe. The agreement was signed in France with the wholesaler of mobile solutions for the B2B and B2C market Bluetrade, specializing in the distribution of Smartphones and accessories for mobile devices.

Skyhook Wireless powers location-aware Internet

14 May 2008

A series of new partners, representing a broad range of content and services, are leveraging Skyhook's Loki Javascript API in order to deliver hyper-local content and services.

Nokia to ship 35M GPS phones

12 May 2008

At the annual shareholders' meeting Nokia's CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said he expects to sell 35 million GPS-enabled phones this year.

New Sony Ericsson to provide Wayfinder

25 Apr 2008

The new Sony Ericsson clamshell mobile phone Z780 features an integrated aGPS. The off-board navigation system from Wayfinder is pre-installed for a 3 months trial offering maps for over 150 countries a voice guided turn by turn navigation for over 50 countries in 20 languages.

Nokia to reenter Korean market

24 Apr 2008

World's leading mobile phone producer Nokia returns to the Korean market.

ECI Telecom to provide End-to-End Managed Service Solution for Schipol Telematics

16 Apr 2008

Schipol Telematics (ST), the service operator at Schipol Airport in the Netherlands, has selected ECI Telecom to be the next managed service provider.

Growth Rate of Global GSM Subscribers to slow in 2008

15 Apr 2008

The increased migration of GSM subscribers to UMTS 3G technologies leads to a slower growth rate in 2008. Compared to 2006/7 rates are expected to depreciate about 8% to the benefit of UMTS technologies, recorded a nearly 83% year-on-year growth rate in 2006/7.

Mobile LBS to be worth $13,3 Billion worldwide by 2013

10 Apr 2008

Due to WCDMA and GSM handsets joining the many CDMA-based devices with GPS capabilities and an increasing interest in personal navigation functionality mobile Location Based Services (LBS) are gaining traction among wireless subscribers. By 2013 LBS revenue is forcast to reach $13.3 Billion.

Researchers to prevent GPS dropouts

03 Mar 2008

Researchers at Australia's University of New South Wales are working on a solution for GPS dropouts.

Facebook to receive first Traffic Map Application

03 Mar 2008

US - TrafficGauge has created an application, which provides traffic information for any one with a Facebook profile.

Alltel Wireless to offer LBS Nationwide Roaming

03 Mar 2008

US - Alltel Wireless provides a network enhancement that gives costumers a nationwide access to GPS applications.