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India Launched a navigation satellite this week! (ISRO).
Top News:
🏛 More Than 25 GM OnStar Data Collection Class Action Lawsuits Have Been Filed So Far. “GM GM 1.37%↑ is facing more than 25 lawsuits over the issue. Per CarComplaints, the class action lawsuits have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation titled, IN RE: Consumer Vehicle Driving Data Tracking Litigation, and alleges that plaintiffs were not properly informed how using OnStar and the Smart Driver program could impact their car insurance.”
📌 GPS III SV-07 Receives Operational Acceptance. “The U.S. Space Force transferred Satellite Control Authority of the GPS III Space Vehicle 07 to the 2nd Navigation Warfare Squadron on Jan. 8. Nicknamed “Sally Ride” on the production line, SV-07 is set healthy and available to global users on Jan. 22, bringing the GPS constellation to 31 active vehicles.”
⚡ U.S. Manufacturers to Benefit from CRPAs Removed from ITAR List. “U.S. GNSS manufacturers will benefit from removal of anti-jam Controlled Reception Pattern Antennas (CRPA) from International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
🛰 GMV to Advance the Galileo High Accuracy Service with New Data Generator. The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has chosen GMV to develop a new iteration of the High Accuracy Data Generator (HADG) as part of Phase 2 of the Galileo High Accuracy Service. The service provides free real-time positioning corrections to all users. Under the terms of the contract, which has a budget of up to 12 million euros, GMV will handle the design, development, deployment, commissioning support, and optional maintenance of the enhanced HADG.”
Expert nationwide installation services for fleet technologies.
🤦♂️ Garmin Users Say Their Watches Are Bricked with a Blue Triangle of Death. “It’s not just you. Several users are reporting their watches are crashing while displaying the ‘blue triangle of death.’”
😮 Calif.-Founded EV Maker Canoo, Once Worth $2.4 Billion, Goes Belly-up After Moving to Texas. “Canoo and its subsidiaries filed for liquidation bankruptcy on Jan. 17, marking the end of the road for a company that couldn’t justify its glut of early funding. In its four-year span as a public company, Canoo battled investor lawsuits, Securities and Exchange Commission charges, executive departures and a mixed reception of its cars.”
🌨 The Aerospace Corporation and Google Public Sector Join Forces to Revolutionize Space Weather Forecasting with AI. “By bolstering the resilience of satellite communications, it safeguards global connectivity and data transmission for countless applications. It ensures accurate GPS navigation, vital for transportation, logistics, emergency services, and more.”
😉 Just How Many Robots Can One Person Control at Once? A DARPA Project Overturns Longstanding Assumptions. “In a study funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), experts show that humans can single-handedly and effectively manage a heterogenous swarm of more than 100 autonomous ground and aerial vehicles, while feeling overwhelmed only for brief periods of time during an overall small portion of the mission.”
Maps:
🤷♂️ Google Maps to Rename ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘Gulf of America’ for Us Users. “-Google Maps will change the name of ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘Gulf of America’ once it is officially updated in the U.S. Geographic Names System, Google GOOG 1.71%↑ said. The change will be visible in the U.S., but the name will remain ‘Gulf of Mexico’ in Mexico. Outside of the two countries, users will see both names on Google Maps. Google Maps will make a similar change with Mount McKinley.
👉 Overture Maps Data in ArcGIS. “Since joining Overture, Esri has been contributing data to different data themes, most notably buildings and divisions.”
👍 MapmyIndia Acquires 9.37% Stake in AI Startup SimDaaS Autonomy. “Digital mapping and geospatial services company MapmyIndia has acquired a 9.37 percent equity stake in Kanpur, India-based startup SimDaaS Autonomy, according to reports.”
🙁 Google Just Made an Irksome Change to Maps on Android Auto. “It seems the tech giant didn’t account for using Maps with navigation disabled. When navigation isn’t on, the app will instead display a box with a search field and common destinations below it.”
🗺 Mapbox Data Products Deliver Research Insights for Development Data Partners in 2024. “Researchers at the World Bank and OECD apply Mapbox Traffic and Movement data, as well as the Mapbox Isochrone API, to inform transportation infrastructure planning and service availability around the world.”
Connected and Autonomous Vehicle News:
👌 Kodiak Has Made Its First Driverless Truck Deliveries to Customer Atlas Energy. “Kodiak Robotics has officially handed off two autonomous trucks to customer Atlas Energy Solutions, marking the startup’s first commercial launch. Atlas, a provider of (sand) and oilfield logistics, received its first Kodiak-equipped trucks in December and began driverless operations in an off-road environment in West Texas’s remote Permian Basin shortly after.”
💲 Waymo Lobbyist Activity in SF Skyrocketed in 2024. “A recent review of lobbyist disclosure data by the San Francisco Examiner revealed Waymo paid lobbyists to meet with San Francisco government officials 348 times last year, more than double the 137 times it reported in 2023.”
🤞 Waymo Begins Testing Robotaxis on LA Freeways…and Alphabet’s Waymo to Test its Autonomous Driving Technology in Over 10 New Cities.
😏 Elon Musk: Tesla Will Launch Unsupervised Full Self-Driving in Austin as Paid Service in June. “During the earnings call following the release of Tesla’s Q4 2024 results, CEO Elon Musk said: Tesla will launch unsupervised full self-driving as a paid service in Austin in June.”
😕 Tesla Refuses to Do the Right Thing About ‘Full Self-Driving’ Transfers. “Tesla is now using both nodes on the HW3 computer – meaning that it doesn’t even have any compute redundancy, which is required for level 4-5 autonomy.”
🗾 Nexar and Japan Post Join Forces. “Using images and location data from Nexar‘s dashcams in Japan Post Transport Co.’s vehicles, the partnership will monitor highway road construction and damage, helping to develop a system that improves and maintains roads across the country.”
💲 GM Expects to Save up to $1 Billion on Cruise Costs. “General Motors GM 1.37%↑ expects to save up to $1 billion annually by ending its Cruise robotaxi development program, CEO and Chair Mary Barra said Tuesday during the company’s earnings call.”
😧 Did Elon Musk’s ‘Salute’ Cripple the Tesla Robotaxi? “If Tesla, fairly or unfairly, gets a Nazi taint among that population, that creates a big barrier in competing with other services unless it’s vastly superior in service or price.”
🙂 Mobileye and Innoviz Move Up on the Autonomy Scale.
🚘 Rivian Takes Its First Steps Toward Autonomous Driving With a Hands-Free Driving Feature. “The system is classified as a Level 2 autonomous driving feature. The technology will be similar to existing systems like Ford‘s F 0.89%↑ BlueCruise and General Motor‘s GM 1.37%↑ Super Cruise.
🏎 Can an Autonomous Racing Car Beat an F1 Driver? A2RL Aims to Find Out. “What if an autonomous vehicle could drive a racing car faster than a human around a track? That’s the question the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) is trying to answer.”
Fleet Telematics:
🚛 Telematics Player Amber Connect to Hire 1,000 People in Coimbatore. “Amber Connect, a telematics company, plans to hire 1,000 people in its Coimbatore, India, facility, over the next 2 years.”
🚍 Transporeon Launches Integrated App Program to Enhance Accessibility and Use for Carriers. “Transporeon, a Trimble TRMB -0.34%↓ company, announced today the launch of the Transporeon Integrated App Program. TIAP is an application integration framework that ensures interoperability between Transporeon’s transportation management platform and transport management systems.”
🚚 Wialon Reveals 2024 Top Telematics Partners and Fleet Management Growth Trends. “The platform, which hit the landmark of four million connected vehicles in July 2024, continues to see steady growth across all regions but has reported a rapid increase in new vehicle connections in the Middle East, Africa and North America, each seeing a 14 percent rise over the past year.”
👉 Verizon Connect Debuts New Technology Solutions for Fleet Safety and Compliance.
Financial:
✔ Lockheed Martin Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results.
💰 Bonsai Robotics Secures $15 Million in Series A Funding. “Bonsai Robotics, which develops AI products for agriculture applications, raised $15 million in Series A funding. With its flagship product, Visionsteer, Bonsai provides technology to include data insights, crop analysis, notifications, job planning, and autonomous vehicle control.”
✔ Spirent Trading Update – Strong Close to the Year. “Spirent Communications is in the process of being acquired by Keysight Technologies KEYS 4.83%↑, with the transaction expected to close before the end of April 2025. Keysight offered about $1.5 billion for Spirent, outbidding fellow T&M company Viavi Solutions.”
📊 1,664,189 Shares in Powerfleet Purchased by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK.
The D-Day Visitor’s Handbook: Your Guide to the Normandy Battlefields and WWII Paris by Kevin Dennehy and Steve Powers. The guidebook uses location technology from what3words to locate monuments, museums and other attractions. Get your guidebook today.
