Korea will establish a global navigational data center. The center will be linked to a global system of satellite tracking stations called IGS. The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute has said it has won a bid to establish the data center in Daejeon, southwest of Seoul. The center will collect data from more than 350 navigational satellite observatories worldwide and relay it to users. Korea hopes the new center will become a satellite navigation hub for Asia.
http://english.chosun.com

The fi rst public service based on Ordnance Survey’s national network of GPS base stations has been announced. Great Britain’s mapping agency has developed the network to support its own fi eld staff. Now Leica Geosystems is the fi rst organisation to announce a publicly available GPS correction service derived from it. The commercialisation of the network refl ects growing demand for a wider choice of positioning applications among high-accuracy GPS users such as surveyors, engineers and utility companies.
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/gps

Navitech Sdn Bhd has been restructured to promote and market Car Navigation product in Malaysia and Singapore as it core business. Navitech has signed a Collaboration Agreement with Guidetek of Taiwan and MappointAsia Malaysia to package application software, map data and hardware for the in-car and after-market Car Navigation business. Guidetek, a subsidiary of Holux Technology Inc of Taiwan, supplies state of the art hardware to Navitech. This includes dedicated portable unit, portable PDA unit, in-car unit as well as other stand along GPS units. MappointAsia Malaysia supplies comprehensive and updated map data. Initially, the map data covers the Major Road Net Work of west Malaysia and street level road network of Klang Valley that includes Wilayah Persekutuan, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Klang, Cyberjaya, Purtrajaya and KLIA.
www.navitech.com.my

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited in India has launched the fi rst mapbased location services, ‘Maps and Directions’, on its GPRS network.
It offers location search, maps and directions to MTNL’s GPRS users. The service has a nation-wide coverage, connecting more than 160 cities and six metros extensively. ‘Maps and Direction’ service has been offered in association with MapMyIndia. With a powerful array of features like eCity, eTrips and eLocator, users can quickly search and reach their destination with exhaustive database of over a million of points of interest and full colour interactive maps. eCity offers extensive entertainment options and emergency services whereas eLocation displays corresponding location map, customised directions and other contact information. Etrips allows its users to fi nd directions, distances and road maps between all major cities of India. It also provides map and information about tourist destinations in the country. As of now the user has to select his current location through a guided search and specify his points of interest, but in the near future, MTNL plans to enhance the service to save customers from the hassle of selecting steps and location. Future offerings with MapMyIndia include a real-time online tracking system that would track registered mobile numbers on both GPRS mobile phones and internet.
http://www.efytimes.com

The Mumbai police force will soon be equipped with the GIS and GPS. A Rs 6-crore proposal to this effect was cleared by the Home Ministry. Soon, police control rooms will be fitted with GIS and 300 police vehicles with GPS equipment. Once the control room gets a call, in a matter of three to fi ve seconds, they can trace the call to a specifi c location. They will know the location of the nearest patrolling vehicle and get information like traffic congestion on the street. It will help the force in rescuing people and in nabbing getaway vehicles. While the main police control room will be equipped with 25 computer terminals with GIS, the four regional control rooms and the traffic control room will have fi ve such terminals. In the first phase, they will equip 300 vehicles with GPS. In the second phase, 150 more vehicles will have the feature. http://cities.expressindia.com

GPS will be installed in 59 vehicles of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation in India. It will ensure that the drivers do not cheat by skipping routes. All tankers, tippers, dumper plates in the vehicle depots will be equipped with GPS shortly. GPS provides specially coded satellite signals that can be processed in a receiver. Sitting in the VMC offi ce, one can monitor the movement of the vehicle, the routes and the distance covered. GIS will record all the routes covered by the vehicles, the distance they cover and the time.
http://www.newindpress.com