14 DAY TRIAL // During the SIMposium in Berlin, Blue Sky Positioning has introduced a whole new approach to embedding a GSP system into a mobile phone.
The approach incorporates a highly accurate GPS receiver and proprietary antenna into a SIM card, providing the opportunity to deploy precise, legally-mandated positioning capability, in a quick and cost-effective way, across all mobile handsets.
After the publication of a significantly strengthened EU directive, member countries have about 18 months at their disposal to implement a law that requires operators to identify the precise location of the callers to the E-112 emergency service.
At the moment, most emergency calls are made from mobile phones and the technology included in the handsets does not provide the degree of accuracy required.
Blue Sky Positioning has developed patent-pending technology and processes to embed A-GPS capability ub tge SIM card in a handset, having minimal impact on signal strength or battery life. Operators will only have to replace the SIM cards, so their customers won't need to change their phones.
Risto Savolainen, BlueSky Positioning CEO, said "The LBS market has promised much and delivered little. This strengthened EU legislation to enhance public safety services will also catalyse the LBS market by putting the means of access into the hands of every user. Working with SIM card manufacturers, BlueSky Positioning enables mobile operators to embed the service in every consumer's SIM and USIM card, without compromising the existing levels of card security and privacy protection. A new handset costs anywhere between ?100 and ?500 plus. A replacement (U)SIM is a tiny fraction of the cost. It's a much smaller price to pay for better safety and the opportunity for a whole new range of applications."