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Blog: Chris Harlow on ITSearch The Harlow Report Archives
Every nation strives to protect and secure its citizens, natural resources, assets, and way of life. With increasing threats, public safety organizations are experiencing a new level of pressure to sustain critical public services. Many public safety organizations have as their mission to enhance the quality of life, safety and security of the communities they serve. These professionals strive to earn the trust, confidence and respect of their community. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has been helping public safety personnel worldwide to make more informed decisions in carrying out their missions.
Geographic information provides an intuitive and complete view of data for all public safety organizations including law enforcement, emergency medical services, fire services and disaster management. continued…
first published week of: 10/03/2016
This market analysis recognizes vendors such as Globalstar, Inmarsat, Iridium Communications, Singtel, and Telstra as the key players in the global mobile satellite services market. This report also presents segmentations based on platforms (aviation, land, maritime, and others), services (data and voice), application (M2M, broadband, handheld, and narrowband), and geography (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA).
Market research analysts at Technavio predict that the global mobile satellite services market will grow steadily and post a CAGR of almost 8% by 2020. The increasing demand for satellite communication during emergency situations will be one of the primary factors contributing to the growth of the market. NGOs and humanitarian organizations across the globe depend on mobile satellite services (MSS) for its robustness and expansive coverage as this technology facilitates a timely and efficient response. Furthermore, since these terminals can be effortlessly deployed anywhere, it will provide global coverage and an active communication channel to end-users to help in relief operations during natural disasters and emergency situations. As a result, many vendors have started collaborating with each other to deliver preferential airtime rates and technical training support to enhance satellite service.
During 2015, the Americas dominated the market by accounting for approximately 40% of the total market share. Increasing awareness and the growing preference for satellite technologies across the government and aeronautical sectors will result in the strong growth of the market in the Americas. Additionally, the ability of satellite communication to help in storm and hurricane disaster management, volcano monitoring, vegetation identification, and historical monument inspection will also lead to its increased demand during the estimated period. Furthermore, the participation of Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela, in the development in satellite technologies will also help in the evolution of the market.
The level of competition in the market is moderate due to the high initial cost of investment. Players in the market compete on the basis of innovation, performance, product features, quality, and technology to gain market shares. Additionally, many vendors across the world deploy their solution independently or with the help of channel partners to consolidate their market position. To survive in this market, businesses have to follow emerging technologies that could have an impact on their product lines.
The leading vendors in the market are -
Other prominent vendors in the market are Comtech Telecommunications, EchoStar, Harris CapRock Communications, Hughes Network Systems, Intelsat General, Kongsberg, Ligado Networks, Mitsubishi Electric, Raytheon, SpaceQuest, Terrestar Network, Thrane and Thrane, Thuraya, TrustComm, ViaSat, and VT iDirect. continued…
first published week of: 10/10/2016
Urban Engines explained that accurately gathering city-wide location and time data in a single-moment snapshot is incredibly hard and requires a significant amount of computing power, which is why the startup had to build specialized algorithms for dealing with the information while also relying on cloud computing. The key mission of the company is to combines big data and spatial analytics to improve urban mobility and help companies, and individuals make better decisions about transportation. The Urban Engines startup will now be rolled out to team up with the Google Maps squad.
The most interesting thing about Urban Engines is that it has been working with local governments, including Mayoral Offices and Ministries in "smart cities", in order to help them "improve the commuting experiences of millions of people each day and make urban infrastructure more efficient". It was first launched in the most important North American cities like Washington D.C, Boston, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and NY. continued…
first published week of: 09/19/2016
Google Maps is adding a very useful feature to iOS today: the ability to add multiple stops to a single trip. Rather than only directing you from point A to point B, Maps can now bring you from point B to point C, D, E, and so on, making it much easier to plan a trip if you intend to bounce around and make occasional pitstops.
This feature has been available on the web for a while now, and it launched on Android a month ago today. Bringing the feature to mobile makes it all around more useful, as it'll make it easier to use Maps as a GPS replacement while in the car. Google also rolled out a design update to Maps this week. continued…
first published week of: 08/01/2016
Internet based phones, in particular, depend on secondary systems and even third parties to locate where calls originate.
Heather Gustafson knew exactly what to do after her father slumped into his chair and began turning blue while the family opened presents on Christmas Day 2012: Call 911.
The veteran St. Paul police officer made the call then handed off the phone to start CPR. Her parents' New Brighton home was only a few blocks from the police station, so help should have been just a couple minutes away.
Critical minutes passed. Gustafson kept up CPR. But her mother, Barbara, said it took 10 minutes before a squad with oxygen and a defibrillator showed up. They found out later responders had been sent to a house on Third Avenue, not Third Street.
It's not clear why Mike Gustafson's heart stopped beating that day. He survived and has mostly recovered. His daughter, however, remains bothered by what happened and is pushing to fix the small — but potentially deadly glitch — in the 911 system tied to the increasing use of internet-based phone service. continued…
first published week of: 08/15/2016
HERE to provide map data and location services for Hexagon Smart M.App developers
Hexagon Geospatial and HERE have signed an agreement that will enable Hexagon Smart M.App developers and end-users to access and benefit from a variety of map data and location platform services from HERE. Through this partnership, developers will be able to utilize HERE services to use with their Hexagon Smart M.Apps.
HERE, the Open Location Platform company, collects highly accurate road, building, park, and other location information in multiple countries. The quality of HERE’s data provides an ideal basemap for the Hexagon Smart M.App developers. Subscribers to the Hexagon Geospatial Developers’ Network will be able to access basemap data, as well as other HERE services such as geocoding, routing and transit information.
“The innovators creating Hexagon Smart M.Apps are changing the way we experience location information,” said Mladen Stojic, President of Hexagon Geospatial. “Our new partnership with HERE provides developers with a fast and easy way to connect their Smart M.App to HERE basemap data and platform services, wherever they are in the world.”
This partnership equips developers with a variety of the latest HERE services to plug into their Smart M.App. In addition to the basemap and imagery, they will be able to access geocoding, vehicle and pedestrian routing, traffic information, and basic transit search and coverage
first published week of: 11/21/2016