Why STMicroelectronics bought projector start-up BTendo

We've written a number of times about an R&D collaboration between STMicroelectronics and an Israeli company called BTendo that's developed leading technology for scanning laser projection. Their collaboration, combining BTendo's projection technology with STMicroelectronics MEMS expertise, has developed a pico-projector component designed for phones and other electronic devices.

Earlier this month the news broke that STMicroelectronics has acquired BTendo.

We wrote about their projection component back in March, reporting on the new trend in cellphone projectors at MWC. Their prototype showed the projector in action as a distinct device, but their target is to have the component embedded into cellphones and other devices.

Their specs are similar to those of the Samsung's Galaxy Beam. They're targeting 12-15 Lumens, and resolution anywhere from SVGA up to WXG. This component could be the way that other cellphone makers will catch up to Samsung in equipping phones with projectors.

Grizzly Analytics has long felt that cellphones with embedded projectors would have a huge potential in the consumer content-consumption area. Projectors have usually been discussed for business users, but I think that the new generation of mobile movie-watchers and movie-sharers will enjoying having a projector in their pockets.

The biggest question is why ST chose to acquire BTendo now. Is the tipping point coming for cellphone projectors? Does ST have deals in the works for embedding their projector technology into new cellphones?

As even more far-out speculation, we've long suspected that the upcoming iPhone 5 will have something really new. Apple has a way of getting analysts and pundits to think about the incremental improvements, and then throw out a radically new thing. Will September's news about the iPhone 5 include a projector? Will it be based on technology from ST? Only time will tell..... But if it's not Apple, it going to be someone else who brings this great new pico-projector component to market.

Sensor-fusion indoor location system in over 30 malls in Singapore

SingTel just deployed indoor mapping and navigation from Swedish start-up SenionLab in over 30 shopping malls in Singapore, with 20 more in planning, in the biggest single deployment we've seen yet of customized indoor location technology. The most significant aspect of this deployment is that this is one of the first commercial deployments of indoor location technology that uses a new technology approach called "sensor fusion," which uses sensors in smartphones (gyroscope, compass, accelerometer, ...) to track location by sensing the phone's movements. Most indoor location systems determine location by measuring the signals of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots or cellular antennas, but this risks looking choppy as the phone waits for the radio signals to change to detect the next place it is. Sensing motion using phone sensors makes the system work more smoothly, regardless of radio signal details. (The SenionLab solution does use Wi-Fi signals as well, to compe...

See great indoor location tech from the 2017 testbed

The videos from the Indoor Location Testbed at GeoIoT World 2017 are now released! Here is your chance to see how these solutions performed in our real-world evaluation, in the videos below. The testbed evaluated each solution by walking around a real-world venue, the GeoIoT World 2017 conference, measuring performance at 10 pre-selected points. Click here for the testbed report, which analyzes each solution's performance in a wide variety of metrics, including real-time accuracy, accuracy stabilization, consistency, latency, floor change, first fix, setup time & more. Let's start with BlooLoc's tag-based solution, which achieved accuracy under 2m in real-time and under 1.5m after stabilization: Then let's look at the infrastructure-free solution from GipsTech , which achieved accuracy under 2m without using any beacons or radio signals: Next is GipsTech's solution with BLE added: Next is BlooLoc's phone-based solution: Fin...

Nokia indoor location positioning research shown at MWC 2012

Grizzly Analytics has been looking closely at indoor location technology, both technology research at major companies and technology solutions available to store-owners and other site managers . At MWC we expected that indoor location would be prominent, and we weren't disappointed! We had the pleasure of seeing a large number of demonstrations of indoor positioning in action. This is the first of several blog posts looking at these demonstrations, starting with Nokia. First I'll give some explanation, then below is a video showing Nokia's demo in action and hearing comments from their researchers. Nokia has been researching indoor location technology for years, and the technology has advanced each year but not yet reached market. Their demo is, in a word, breathtaking, in the speed and precision at which it tracks people walking around the room. People are seen on a computer screen or phone screen, in real-time, moving as they walk around the demo room flo...

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