Following my column last week about technology changing the future of automobile travel, resulting in safer travel, I received an e-mail from a software safety engineer. I’m sure some of you, or maybe many, share his view. Pardon my cynicism, Erik: But as a software safety engineer and one who has experienced the “tunnel vision” that arises when driving a... read more
The location industry is evolving. In the near future we won’t be discussing navigation and mapping as a way of finding the nearest Starbucks. Contextual location driven advertising will start delivering solid revenues, as soon as the market becomes better organized. The value of location information will be magnified as it shifts to the cloud. Vehicle manufacturers will be creating their own rich contextual location information. Near field communication, NFC, with its seat between consumers and cash registers, will provide some of the most valuable location data. These are points all made at last week’s LocNav conference by The Where Business. read more
The first pair of satellites for Europe's Galileo global navigation satellite system has been lofted into orbit by the first Russian Soyuz vehicle ever launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana in a milestone mission, reports the European Space Agency. The Soyuz VS01 flight, operated by Arianespace, started with liftoff from the new launch complex in French Guiana at 10:30 GMT on October 21. All of the Soyuz stages performed as expected and the Fregat-MT upper stage released the Galileo satellites into their target orbit at 23,222 km altitude, 3 hours 49 minutes after liftoff. read more
LightSquared’s been in the news quite a bit since my last Survey Scene newsletter a month ago, but very little of it has actual consequence. A lot of the “news” is just noise. LightSquared pumped up its propaganda campaign nationwide to try to build a consensus in their favor and put pressure on the FCC, and is threatening a lawsuit if the FCC doesn’t do what LightSquared wants. No surprises there. However, other things have happened that I think you might be interested in hearing about. read more
A problem with the ground-support fueling system for the rocket carrying two Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) satellites has delayed their launch either until Friday, October 21, or perhaps indefinitely. read more
During various presentations over the years, I’ve mentioned how precision GPS is going to change the future of automobile transportation and that collisions will eventually be a something of the past. The ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) World Congress, held in Orlando, Florida, October 16-20, gives one a glimpse of the future. BMW, Toyota, Honda on one side; Garmin and TomTom... read more
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