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KVH industries to supply TACNAV systems for New Zealand armed forces

KVH Industries announced that it has received a $1.5 million contract to supply KVH's TACNAV(TM) tactical navigation system to General Motors (GM) Defense for use aboard the New Zealand Army's new fleet of Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs). KVH TACNAV systems offers every vehicle and every force commander - whether in a command, support, or combat vehicle - 100% availability of position and other tactical data, even if the signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites are disrupted or jammed. In addition to interfacing with the onboard GPS, TACNAV consolidates vehicle location and azimuth, turret angle, and far target location into a single-point interface that can be transmitted via digital Battlefield Management Systems to the force commander and the other units in the field.

Visit : http://www.kvh.com

Landsat wins three-month reprieve

NASA's Landsat 5 Earth observing satellite won a stay of execution as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Space Imaging reached an accord that will keep the aging spacecraft operating for another three months. Landsat 5 had been scheduled for decommissioning June 30, but under the agreement, Space Imaging will be paid roughly $750,000 to continue operating the spacecraft through September, according to Ray Byrnes, USGS liaison for satellite programs. The USGS manages Landsat operations for the U.S. government. Imagery collected by Landsat 5 will be downloaded directly to the USGS Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., Byrnes said. The centre will store and distribute the data to U.S. government agencies, he said.

InterTrak, Televoke and Aeris.net to demonstrate innovative "LifeTrak" telematics safety service

InterTrak Tracking Services, L.L.C., an emergent telematics equipment and service provider today announced it would demonstrate its innovative "LifeTrak" telematics safety service before members of the U.S. Congress. "LifeTrak" is one of the select wireless safety technologies that will be featured at the ComCARE Alliance Technology Demonstration in Washington DC on July 19, 2001. InterTrak Tracking Services has partnered with Televoke, Inc. and Aeris.net's MicroBurst® cellular network to deliver the "LifeTrak" system which provides unprecedented safety at an affordable price by using wireless data technology to automatically notify call centers and family members in the event of a traffic accident.

Visit : www.trackmenow.com and www.televoke.com

Lava crawls towards Etna village

Thick rivers of lava crawled down the sides of Mount Etna towards a village as Europe's most active volcano rumbled for a third straight day. Five fissures have now opened up in the mountain on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and flowing lava has reached to within five km (three miles) of Nicolosi, Reuters news agency reported. The lava has moved more than one km in the past three days but on Saturday had slowed to about five metres (yards) an hour from more than twenty on Thursday and Friday. Security forces were preparing mud barricades to try to divert the magma flow around an empty tourist hostel above the village of Nicolosi and evacuate residents from the village on the mountain's southern slopes if necessary. Hundreds of people have travelled to Etna to watch the eruption but officials have urged them to stay away from the lava.

Asia News

Autodesk offers software on rent

WHEN profitability is under pressure and capital investments are postponed, the cost of purchasing proprietary software can seem disproportionately high. But designing new machinery or new products can’t be postponed in a competitive environment, and several designers resort to buying illegal copies only because they are cheaper.

Autodesk has now come out with a win-win solution. As a pilot project, it will offer Autocad 2000i on rent, for varying periods of one, two and three months.

The rental for one month will work out to 10 per cent of the total cost. With Autocad retailing at Rs 89,900 for a perpetual license, the one month rental works out to Rs 9,000. For two months, the rental is 18 per cent of the retail price and for three months it works out to 26 per cent of the cost of purchase.

``Customers face spikes of demand,” explains Tom Joseph, marketing manager, Saarc region, Autodesk India. The option to rent rather than buy the product also helps those developers who need to track and bill their design costs to a specific product or client. “The rental cost can be included in the price of development and it becomes part of the running expenses, not a capital expense,” says Joseph.

The rental option also helps the small-time developer who resorts to using pirated software because he cannot afford to buy the legal stuff. Autodesk intends to extend this offer on other products depending upon the success of this scheme. India is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region to extend this offer to developers.

Each Autodesk rental product is a full functioning version of the standard, commercial product. It has the same features, compatibility, extensibility and performance as the permanently licensed version of the software. Furthermore, Autodesk rental products can be purchased, delivered and installed in exactly the same way as standard Autodesk products.

Source: The Economic times, Jul 23 2001

e-tracking en route

Tracking vehicles has become a crucial factor for providing effective transport service. Large fleet-owners have developed some systems to monitor vehicles, but which are not operationally very effective. Thanks to modern communication technology, new systems are being developed to effectively monitor movement of vehicles.

Mr V. Sanjeevi, a Chennai-based logistic expert, says that trucks can be effectively monitored by using the GSM network. His company, e-Logistics Ltd, has developed a device to track down vehicles by using this network.

According to him, en-route delay is considered to be a major factor that affects the vehicle's productivity. There are about 25 lakhs trucks that are engaged in the movement of goods in India -- from manufacturing locations to consumption points. Normally, trucks in India cover only 250-300 km per day (as against 800 km in developed countries). This could be improved significantly, if proper monitoring of vehicles is done using modern technology, says Mr Sanjeevi.

The more accurate system is based on Geographical Positioning System (GPS), wherein vehicles could be tracked accurately. However, this is very expensive. The total cost of such systems per vehicle is estimated to be over 50,000 per vehicle in addition to recurring cost. There are also options in other countries where people use dual mode wireless vehicle systems. This wireless system is useful for smaller areas like within a city but not for long distances.

The device developed by e-Logistics Ltd could be used as an instrument, by which SOS calls could be made in case of accidents, and so on. Connectivity could be used for re-routing information and providing vital information for repairing the truck, says Mr. Sanjeevi. Effective tracking not only leads to higher productivity per vehicle but also ensures timely delivery of cargo -- a factor that is crucial for long-term survival in transport business.

Source: Business Line, 23 July 2001

Chinese Tech Park Gains Green Passport

Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park has vowed to meet the highest standards for its environment management system so it can gain more fame among global traders and keep it on track for sustainable development, according to China Daily.

Officials pledged yesterday to win the key ISO14001 certificate, which is the standard bearer for quality within the industry.

"Now that the world has turned its eyes to China, we should be well prepared to take this chance," said Beijing Vice-Mayor Liu Zhihua who is in special charge of the development of the area. "And a high-quality environment will be indispensable for us to become one of the world's best high-tech parks."

After 11 years' development, the per hectare output of Shangdi's occupants was valued at 340 million yuan (US$40.96 million), a very high figure for such a development in the world.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

InsideKorea solution converts Web-based contents for use in wireless phones

Many Korean companies have computerized their business operations by using groupware or intranet programs, which enable office workers to share data, send and receive email or get approval from the boss.

Moreover, employees can now take care of the same business outside the office using wireless phones, as a Korean company has developed a solution that allows Web-based contents to be viewed on mobile phones.

After developing a wireless Internet conversion solution called iWAP Conversion Gateway last year, InsideKorea (www.insidekorea.net) has become one of the domestic leaders in this field, said Lee Chul-kyu, president of InsideKorea, in an interview.

Thanks to the iWAP Conversion Gateway, contents providers no longer have to make a wireless Internet version of their contents, as this solution will automatically convert the Internet language to one appropriate for cellular phones or PDAs (personal data assistants).

Source: www.koreaherald.com