Top Stories
New Brunswick Power Selects ESRI Technology
The New Brunswick Power Corporation (NB Power) selected ESRI's geographic information systems (GIS) technology as part of their replacement program for their existing outage management system. NB Power's GIS will be used as the primary engineering database holding
all infrastructure/network data including distribution substations, distribution transformers, poles, and lines. The data will then be used to build a network model to be used by the outage management system (OMS), PragmaLine from M3I System Inc. NB Power is implementing ESRI's ArcGIS 8.1 including ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo, ArcSDE for MS SQL Server, ArcIMS, ArcFM Energy (Miner & Miner), and Netgraph (NG Spatial). The GIS and the new OMS work together to link customer information to control rooms, to assist in the deployment of crews and resources. This new technology will provide greater access to shared information within the utility and improve technological and restoration processes. The GIS will overtime become the "engineering database of record" for the customer services business unit and the database for all other commercial/business related GIS applications.
Visit:
www.esricanada.com
GDT Data Powers FedEx Delivery Operations
Geographic Data Technology, Inc., a developer of premier map databases, today announced a new three-year contract with FedEx Corporation for the incorporation of GDT data into the routing and dispatch operations for FedEx Express and FedEx Home Delivery services. The agreement, which is a renewal of a longstanding relationship between the two companies, also includes geocoding service work to ensure the highest possible address location capabilities for FedEx. FedEx uses GDT's Dynamap®/Transportation, Dynamap®/ZIP+4 Centroids, and Dynamap®/5-Digit ZIP Code Boundaries to locate addresses and generate routing itineraries for its fleet of more than 54,000 vehicles. Compiled from a vast network of sources, Dynamap/Transportation provides street and address coverage, highly accurate one-way and restricted turn information, accurate representation of limited access highways, preferred routing names, and exit point layers. GDT's ZIP Code products provide the latest information available from the United States Postal Service to ensure address accuracy and enable location determination. GDT also supports its products with custom geocoding service work to ensure that FedEx has the highest possible geocoding match rates to help it locate addresses for the more than 4.8 million packages it delivers every business day.
Visit:
http://www.geographic.com/news/gdtnews.cfm?newsid=36
Webraska provides location aware upgrade for Orange UK
Webraska, the worldwide provider of location-based services and telematic software solutions, today announced that it is to supply Orange UK, the UK's most popular mobile phone service, with upgrades to its existing multi-media location-based services. The enhanced services are available to Orange UK's WAP subscribers from 6 December 2001. The upgraded service offered by Orange UK now allows the user to be automatically located by the network rather than typing in the address themselves. It uses the latest features from the Webraska SmartZone™ Application Platform, such as Location Refinement (Patent Pending). When a user asks the network to locate him, the service can match pre-defined locations, e.g. home, office, train stations and so on, to particular cellular base stations, giving the most relevant destination relative to the user's geographic position. In addition, the enhanced service can highlight which main streets are near to the user or provide a full list of all the streets so the user can easily pick the exact street he or she is on. In September 2001, AirFlash Inc. and Webraska Mobile Technologies merged. The combined company, called Webraska, will also provide a set of custom WAP LBS applications to Orange UK in the United Kingdom based on the Webraska SmartZone Application Platform over the next few weeks.
Visit:
www.webraska.com
Ericsson & Autodesk Location Services to offer wireless operators location-enabled SMS services
Autodesk Location Services, a division of Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), and Ericsson Telecomunicazioni, S.p.A., the leading network solutions provider in Italy, today announced a joint effort to bring an integrated location-enabled SMS (Short Messaging Service) platform solution to wireless operators. The solution integrates the Ericsson SMS Gateway and Autodesk® LocationLogic, a middleware deployment platform for the delivery of location-based services to mobile devices, in a single environment that links to the Ericsson MPS (Mobile Positioning System) installed in the operator's network. The integrated, location-based services platform is immediately available and will be marketed and sold to operators jointly by Ericsson and Autodesk within the Ericsson Mobility World partnership program.
Visit:
http://www.autodesk.com/locationservices
Paradigm Advanced Technologies chosen to provide GPS-based Tracking Services to Louisiana State Police
The PowerLOC Division of Paradigm Advanced Technologies, Inc. has confirmed that it has been chosen by the State of Louisiana to supply GPS capabilities for the State Police Vehicles for incident reporting. Phase I of this project involves outfitting some 550 State Police Vehicles to ensure real-time tracking using each individual vehicles' Mobile Data Computer (MDC) to display latitude, longitude, date and time. In addition, Powerloc's Destinator(TM) navigation software has been designed for this project to provide an interface with the Louisiana State Police's existing Aether reporting software to provide GPS coordinate information. Phase II of the project will involve the utilization of a new VLD design capable of interfacing with DSP's existing Motorola infrastructure to provide Automatic Vehicle Location for all State Police Vehicles. The Louisiana State Police currently has approximately 550 MDCs installed in vehicles statewide and expects to increase this number over the next few years. These terminals utilize the 800 MHZ infrastructure for remote connectivity to the RNC server located at the Data Processing Center.
Visit:
http://www.powerloc.com/
Laser-Scan technology underpins world's first navigation service to a mobile phone
Mobile navigation specialist YEOMAN has launched its eagerly awaited personal navigation service for use throughout Great Britain. YEOMAN VoxNav is the first service in the world that enables drivers to access route planning, traffic information and 'turn-by-turn' directions delivered by voice through conventional mobile phones. YEOMAN relies on its subsidiary Laser-Scan to provide the underlying technology, which supports its groundbreaking service. YEOMAN VoxNav utilises Laser-Scan's powerful object-oriented solution to deliver meaningful instructions that reflect the real world; rather than describing a journey in terms of distances and road numbers alone, the driver is given intuitive instructions akin to those given by a fellow passenger, such as "turn left after the Red Lion pub". YEOMAN also today announced the initial availability of the first of a series of accessories that integrates GPS (Global Positioning System)
location information with the VoxNav service. The first accessory is a GPS receiver that interfaces with a hands-free car kit for Nokia phones. This makes a Nokia phone into a location enabled phone, enabling VoxNav to know the exact location of the driver and deliver directions and route information as and when they're needed. Using GPS, VoxNav will also be able to spot when the driver has taken a wrong turn, allowing them to be alerted and re-routed if required, providing more benefits than expensive in-car satellite navigation systems.
Visit:
www.laser-scan.com &
www.yeomannavigation.com
10 Nigerian Universities Get Geographic Information Equipment
Educational and capacity building packages code-named Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been donated to ten Nigerian universities. The donation worth N10 million was made last week by the chief executive of Joint Computer Company Ltd, Chief Olatunji Odegbami on behalf of Environmental Systems Research Institute of Redland, California, USA. The benefiting universities are University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Port Harcourt and Federal University of Technology, Bauchi. Others are University of Jos, University of Lagos, University of Ilorin, Bayero University Kano, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Education, Professor Babalola Borishade commended the company's initiative and emphasised the need for corporate organistions and individuals to contribute to the development of education. He called on university authorities to create the enabling environment to attract greater assistance from the private sector instead of depending solely on government. A statement from the ministry of education signed by Mr. O.E. Bassey, its chief press secretary, said the objective of the donation is to promote the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Nigerian universities. Such systems, it stated, have been applied to make informed decisions in diverse sectors such as environment, telecommunications, Ind-ustry, power, oil, administration, agriculture and military.
Visit:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200112030064.html
CARIS Announces 2002 Alliance VIPs
Geomatics software developer, CARIS, has announced the winners of its 2002 CARIS Authorized Strategic Alliance Program VIP Awards. Issued annually, the Awards recognize the support and sale of CARIS brand software and services of the top three Program Members for the previous year. Earning Gold status is Maicons Technology Sdn. Bhd in Selangor, Malaysia.
Silver is awarded to ARCHI Information Technology Co. Ltd. from Pusan, Korea, followed by Laurel Industrial Company, Inc. of San Jose, California earning Bronze. The annual selection of CARIS' Strategic Alliance VIPs is quantitative. As the more than forty international Strategic Alliance Program members work throughout the year in support of CARIS, they earn points for their efforts. Points are accumulated and totaled at the end of the year to reveal the top members. Founded in 1991, CARIS' Strategic Alliance Program provides a framework and support system whereby third party organizations can work cooperatively with CARIS in the sale or integration of its geospatial data management and presentation software internationally.
Visit:
www.caris.com/alliances
Intermap Announces New Design to Corporate Web Site
Intermap Technologies has announced the release of its newly-designed corporate Web site at
www.intermaptechnologies.com Adding a new look and array of features to the site will support the Company's goal of improved customer service and in providing Intermap stakeholders and the GIS/mapping industry with a comprehensive information tool. The site features a new investor relations area, an extensive resource library complete with the latest industry papers,
sample imagery, movies, and multi-lingual product collateral. Intermap's proprietary STAR-3i(r) InterFerometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR) system is attributable to much of the Company's success, with its ability to collect large areas of high-resolution and high-accuracy elevation data quickly and cost effectively. STAR-3i specifications, advantages and usage are described in detail in the Products section of the Web site.
Visit:
www.intermaptechnologies.com
Asia News
Japan to push for nation's first commercial satellite launch
The government plans to provide financial backing for the launch of Japan's first commercial satellite, aiming to make the nation's mark in the highly competitive space industry, officials said Monday.
Galaxy Express, a Japanese consortium led by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. and Mitsubishi Corp., plans to complete the development of a small rocket, the GX, by 2002 which would launch the nation's first commercial satellite in 2006. The consortium is asking the government, which has so far launched all Japanese satellites, to pay two thirds of the development costs estimated at 50 billion yen (404 million dollars, 452 million euros). The GX rocket, 43 meters (142 feet) long and 3.3 meters in diameter, can launch a three-tonne satellite into orbit at an altitude of 200 kilometers.
Read complete article at:
http://spacedaily.com/news/011203075709.8t09fxe9.html
Cloudy forecast for fuel-short Himawari weather satellite
Clouds of necessity are gathering for the Japan Meteorological Agency, which might need to use a spare U.S. satellite to help track weather patterns because of setbacks in launching replacement domestic observation equipment.
The agency's own GMS No. 5, the geostationary meteorological satellite known as Himawari (sunflower), was intended to operate only until March 2000. It is now down to its last few kilograms of fuel, which means it will not be able to correct its stationary orbit as it is pulled by gravity of the sun and moon.
A new weather eye, the multi-functional transport satellite (MTSAT), is scheduled to succeed the Himawari in the summer of 2003. Meanwhile, though, Japanese meteorologists may find it even harder to get an accurate fix on their short-range forecasts without help from another satellite.
Himawari was lofted into orbit in March 1995 by a domestic H-2 rocket. At that time, it held 48 kilograms of fuel. The supply is now down to 6 kilograms. Most of the fuel consumption comes when it is shifted north or south from its position. Each correctional maneuver burns about 2 kilograms of fuel.
Since late October, there have been no adjustments in the orbital track because of the fuel limit. Himawari is expected to gradually drift off its orbital course over the equator so that it would be about 2 degrees off the equator by the summer of 2003.
In the worst case, satellite images could degrade, meaning that the images received by 59 commercial weather forecasting services in Japan and abroad could be marked by white lines representing missing data.
The MTSAT launch was thrown off schedule by the explosion of Japan's eighth H-2 rocket soon after launch in November 1999.
Read complete story at:
http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2001120700399.html
