Ordnance Survey is offering Licensed Partners and other interested parties the chance to develop positioning services based on a revolutionary national framework for correcting signals from orbiting satellites. OS Net is a network of more than 80 GPS base stations designed to enable different levels of improved real-time accuracy from the Global Positioning System (GPS) anywhere in Great Britain. OS Net is already delivering efficiencies for Ordnance Survey field staff where it is enabling centimetre-level positioning for their data-collection operations. Now, Ordnance Survey is planning to make the service publicly available through a tier of partner organisations. www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business/technical/osnet.html

Railway Board has reviewed the progress of 14 on-going projects initiated by the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of the Ministry of Railways under the ‘Technology Mission on Railway Safety and Re-designing of Wagons’. The Board has expressed satisfaction with the progress. These projects have been initiated to develop cost effective technological solutions indigenously for Indian Railways to bring about improvement in safety standard and increase in productivity. Most of these projects under the Technology Mission on Railway Safety have been taken on by RDSO in coordination with IIT, Kanpur

The Raytheon Missile Systems-Bofors’ Excalibur team fired a global positioning system (GPS)-guided 155mm artillery projectile, successfully engaging a representative target with devastating effects. “The end-to-end test of the Excalibur system demonstrates that we have a weapon system ready for fielding,” said Raytheon’s Excalibur program director John Halvey. “The Excalibur team has made a tremendous step forward toward meeting the objective of fielding by March 2006,” said Lt. Col. Bill Cole, the U.S. Army’s product manager for Excalibur at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. “Excalibur has proven at the system level that it can meet its precision and lethality objectives.” The program is a cooperative effort between the United States and Sweden.
www.spacewar.com

2-Track Global has announced that it had commenced the commercial launch of its Condor 505 Personal GPS Tracker. This product has been specifically designed for the safety and security of People in the hazardous areas, elders as well as children. It is a portable GPS tracking device that allows the user to be monitored from a control centre. The product incorporates the latest technology of GPS, GSM and GPRS as means of communication. The operation of the product is simple and provides for three sets of telephone numbers to be pre-configured into the device for fast dialling and to restrict and limit phone bills that could otherwise be incurred by children. The product is also compatible with normal SMS text messaging and enables parties to receive and read any SMS messages from anybody throughout the world.
www.spacedaily.com

Garmin International announced that it is now serving as a tier-one automotive OEM supplier with its newly-developed modular GPS navigation system on the 2006 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle. Tier-one suppliers provide parts and systems directly to vehicle manufacturers and must meet the demanding performance specifications and quality requirements provided by the manufacturer. Known as the Honda Satellite Linked Navigation System, it provides complete North American mapping with nearly six million points of interest -- places like hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, and Honda Motorcycle dealerships and service centers -- displayed on a large seven-inch integrated display. www.spacedaily.com

The city government of Shanghai, the largest economic hub of eastern China, has recently required all vehicles transporting dangerous and toxic materials to be equipped with GPS devices, in its latest bid to intensify control over such chemicals. Official statistics show that there are now in Shanghai more than 6,000 businesses handling dangerous chemicals. Over 43 million tons of dangerous chemicals in 3,000-odd varieties enter and depart Shanghai annually. http://news.xinhuanet.com

Mt Everest is 3.7 metres shorter than in 1975 when it was measured last according to a recent announcement by the Chinese government. The elevation of Mt Everest’s summit rock is 8844.43 metres, with a precision of 10.21 metres as announced by the Director General of the Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping. The elevation data of Mt Qomolangma (Chinese name for Mt Everest) published in 1975 will cease to be used within China. Chinese surveyors, armed with latest GPS and radar measuring equipment, spent 40 minutes at the summit to take the measurements. The Chinese surveyors found that the thickness of the ice and snow layer covering the summit rock is 3.5 metres now, using ice and snow detector. This latest figure was much higher than that of 1975 when surveyors estimated the figure at 0.90 metres by thrusting a steel rod into the ice to calculate its depth. http://in.rediff.com