The GPS is the abbreviation for the Global Positioning System and it is undoubtedly one of the world’s leading navigation systems.
With the help of satellite-based technology, users are given hints about their exact location and now, India is doing whatever it takes to try and move ahead with the launch of its own navigation system called NavIC.
But this is definitely some alarming news for leading tech giants in the industry today. Apple is one of the leaders in this regard and you can imagine why it’s feeling threatened.
A recent report by Reuters spoke about how the country is on a mission to put less reliance on other countries for things like GPS and instead, focus on bettering and building its own system.
One of these forms of technology is NavIC which functions in a manner that’s similar to GPS but is actually better or more reliable in terms of domestic navigation. And while the project did receive approval in the year 2006, it went into complete operations in the year 2018. And with the help of just 8 satellites, it managed to cover the whole territory of the nation, including some locations seen around the region.
India has even mentioned future plans to expand its GPS system to other countries around the world. Similarly, it’s working hard to try and get more tech firms to produce products that are compatible with this new standard. As you can imagine, plenty of vendors are not happy with the way these developments are taking place.
Reps arising from firms like Samsung and Apple have held private meetings where they discussed the matter and how creating such devices that were compatible with the Indian system would simply add more costs to their devices. Similarly, implementing such new technology would require more testing phases and clearances, and it’s just not possible for anything to come forward in the next year or so.
One executive hailing from Samsung India revealed to officials that providing support for such a system needs an array of various chipsets and major amendments in hardware. Moreover, firms have products up and ready to go as far ahead as 2024. So if we do see this new system come into being, well, it won’t be before the year 2025.
In the same way, another huge concern is linked to tech firms and the frequency with which this new system will operate. For the time being, we know India puts emphasis on its L5 Satellite system in terms of frequency. And that’s so rarely seen with smart devices today.
Remember, Apple provides support for L5 in its latest launch of iPhone 14 and its new Ultra Watch. These firms are doing their best to try and convince the nation to switch to L1 frequency as its equivalent to GPS frequency.
So as you can see, despite India’s push, the adoption of NavIC would take a few more years before it comes into being. But remember, India does have the right to claim that it’s not the only country with its own GPS system.
We’ve seen other nations like Russia, Japan, China, and the EU move ahead with their own too. Yes, they were launched a while back and it did take tech giants like Apple time to get them onto their devices.
India’s leadership is famous for adding high amounts of taxes on its goods and services that aren’t produced in the nation. And that’s one major reason why Apple has started to assemble its iPhones in the country. For now, it’s not clear if the government is going to use a similar strategy as before to enforce the adoption of the new GPS system on new devices.
Read next: What Country Creates the Most Space Debris?
With the help of satellite-based technology, users are given hints about their exact location and now, India is doing whatever it takes to try and move ahead with the launch of its own navigation system called NavIC.
But this is definitely some alarming news for leading tech giants in the industry today. Apple is one of the leaders in this regard and you can imagine why it’s feeling threatened.
A recent report by Reuters spoke about how the country is on a mission to put less reliance on other countries for things like GPS and instead, focus on bettering and building its own system.
One of these forms of technology is NavIC which functions in a manner that’s similar to GPS but is actually better or more reliable in terms of domestic navigation. And while the project did receive approval in the year 2006, it went into complete operations in the year 2018. And with the help of just 8 satellites, it managed to cover the whole territory of the nation, including some locations seen around the region.
India has even mentioned future plans to expand its GPS system to other countries around the world. Similarly, it’s working hard to try and get more tech firms to produce products that are compatible with this new standard. As you can imagine, plenty of vendors are not happy with the way these developments are taking place.
Reps arising from firms like Samsung and Apple have held private meetings where they discussed the matter and how creating such devices that were compatible with the Indian system would simply add more costs to their devices. Similarly, implementing such new technology would require more testing phases and clearances, and it’s just not possible for anything to come forward in the next year or so.
One executive hailing from Samsung India revealed to officials that providing support for such a system needs an array of various chipsets and major amendments in hardware. Moreover, firms have products up and ready to go as far ahead as 2024. So if we do see this new system come into being, well, it won’t be before the year 2025.
In the same way, another huge concern is linked to tech firms and the frequency with which this new system will operate. For the time being, we know India puts emphasis on its L5 Satellite system in terms of frequency. And that’s so rarely seen with smart devices today.
Remember, Apple provides support for L5 in its latest launch of iPhone 14 and its new Ultra Watch. These firms are doing their best to try and convince the nation to switch to L1 frequency as its equivalent to GPS frequency.
So as you can see, despite India’s push, the adoption of NavIC would take a few more years before it comes into being. But remember, India does have the right to claim that it’s not the only country with its own GPS system.
We’ve seen other nations like Russia, Japan, China, and the EU move ahead with their own too. Yes, they were launched a while back and it did take tech giants like Apple time to get them onto their devices.
India’s leadership is famous for adding high amounts of taxes on its goods and services that aren’t produced in the nation. And that’s one major reason why Apple has started to assemble its iPhones in the country. For now, it’s not clear if the government is going to use a similar strategy as before to enforce the adoption of the new GPS system on new devices.
Read next: What Country Creates the Most Space Debris?
