Chip Provides Instant/Continuous Location In Portables

Consuming 1% of the power required by existing GPS devices, the Airwave-1 chip for portable products continuously tracks user location and can provide instant location updates. Allegedly the only technology capable of delivering instant and continuous positioning information to battery-powered products, the chip consumes 1 mA while tracking. Target applications include enabling cameras to automatically geographically tag images and mobile handsets to run unique autonomous-location-sensitive applications. It also promises to allow mobile handset designers to specify instant location functionality without significant impact on power budgets. Samples of Airwave-1 will be available in the summer of this year. AIR SEMICONDUCTOR INC., Swindon, UK. +44 1793 435360.