China implements Beidou navigation satellite system; World's top 4 navigation systems: GPS, GLONASS & Galileo

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China implements Beidou navigation satellite system

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China is implementing the second generation of its navigational satellite system, known as Beidou. The State Council Information Office held a press conference Tuesday to announce its Initial Operational Capability.

Ran Chengqi, the Director of the China Satellite Navigation Office introduced China’s global navigation satellite system. Beidou is independently established and operated by China. It can provide accurate, reliable all-time, all-weather positioning, navigation and timing services.


The State Council Information Office held a press conference Tuesday to announce its
Initial Operational Capability.

Ran says there are three steps in Beidou’s development. Ran Chengqi, director of China Navigation Satellite Office, said, "The first step was achieved in 2000 when the Beidou satellite demonstration system was established. It made China the third in the world to possess its own independent navigation satellite system. The second step is that the system will be able to provide services to the Asia-Pacific region by 2012. The third step is that by the year 2020, the system will be completed with global coverage."

China is implementing the second generation of its navigational satellite system, known as Beidou.

So far, ten satellites have been launched, forming the basic system. Ran Chengqi announced that from now on, Beidou will officially provide Initial Operational Service to China and its surrounding areas. Services include continuous positioning, navigation and timing.

Beidou is one of the four satellite navigation systems in the world. The other three are America’s GPS. Russia’s GLONASS, and Europe’s Galileo.

World's top 4 navigation systems

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Besides China's Beidou, there are three similar services around the world: the GPS of the US, the Russian Glonass and the EU’s Galileo.

The Global Positioning System, or GPS, was developed by the US in the 1970s and completed in 1994. It is the most widely used navigation system now. GPS provides location and time information in any weather, anywhere on or near Earth. GPS was originally run with 24 satellites, and four backup satellites have since been added. The system provides two types of signals, one for military use and the other, civil.

Russia’s GLONASS - or Global Navigation Satellite System developed since 1976, had achieved full coverage of Russian territory by 2010. Now the total number of satellites in orbit is 28, among them, 23 are in operation, 3 are under maintenance, and 2 are being tested. Though its precision is a little less than GPS, it is a strong performer with few operational interruption.

The European Union’s satellite navigation system is known as Galileo. It is the first navigation system to focus on civilian use, and aims to provide high-precision positioning services for European nations. Galileo is formed of 32 satellites and two ground operations centres. Compared with GPS, its precision level is ten times higher.

China has now developed the Beidou Satellite Navigation System, which can operate unmanned. It includes five static and 30 non-static satellites, and its locating precision reaches ten metres. It not only provides navigation, location and timing services, but also a communication service. Compared with the other systems, Beidou has a much stronger location performance.

As the Beidou Satellite Navigation System is further developed, China is now applying the system to more areas, such as the transportation of dangerous items, postal services and even car rental.

Navigation systems: GPS, GLONASS & Galileo

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Besides Beidou, there are three other satellite navigation systems in the world. They are the GPS of the United States, GLONASS of Russia, and GALILEO of the European Union.

GPS, or the Global Positioning System, was developed by the US in 1970s. It provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth.

GPS was originally run with 24 satellites, and four backup satellites have been added. GPS provides two types of signals, one for military use and the other civil.

GLONASS, the Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system developed by Russia starting from 1976. By 2010, GLONASS had achieved 100 percent coverage of Russia's territory. In October 2011, the full orbital constellation of 24 satellites was restored, enabling full global coverage. It displays high-level performance in avoiding interruptions.

Galileo is a satellite navigation system developed by the Europeans. It is the first civil use oriented navigation system and aims to provide a high-precision positioning service for European nations. Galileo is formed of 32 satellites and two ground operations centers. Compared with GPS, its precision level is ten times higher.

Financial Advisors Get Social

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 Raymond James Financial Advisors Get Social

Tom Groenfeldt, Forbes Contributor

Financial advisors at Raymond James are now able to use social media tools including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter through the Actiance compliance tool, Socialite. Advisors also have optional access to a library or pre-approved content and tools to measure engagement.

Mike White, marketing director at the Florida-based financial services firm, said the Actiance alliance fulfills a commitment made early in the year to provide social media tools for advisors.

Financial firms have been slow to adopt social media, he said, and they have watched to see how regulators would interpret social media communications.

“In addition to incorporating the technology and archiving platform with Actiance, we have developed guidelines, training sessions and marketing and communications support to help advisors leverage social media in their client engagement and new prospecting activities,”  added White.

In the two months since the Actiance rollout, 1,200 of the firm’s 5,000 advisors have signed up. The company offers interactive video training to show advisors how social media can be used properly.

“We know there have been a lot to mis-steps [with social media] by public figures and we want out advisors and our brand to be protected in the process.”



Early adopters at Raymond James spread across all ages; the fastest to move to social media are the advisors who are most marketing oriented, White said. As the technology becomes easier to use, the age skew is not as pronounced as it once was, he added. Grandparents are among the most active users of Raymond James online services.

White thinks advisors will use social media both to stay in communication with existing clients and to prospect for new ones.

Raymond James has several people in its 200-strong compliance group who review all social media content before it goes out, with the result that approvals can usually be done the same day content is submitted. Tweets and posts go through a workflow process to provide the firm compliance oversight while allowing advisors to offer a personal touch.

“Our understanding [of the regulations] is that we do not have to review communications ahead of time, but we are being conservative.”

White said that in addition to approved canned content the company offers Tweets and posts from its economist or stock strategist.

“One great thing about Actiance is they were relatively early to the game of social media so they understand the importance of providing flexibility and insight to the communications.” The company also reviews blogs by its advisors before they are posted, a process which White said is now at the point social media was a few years ago.

“We treat blogs as ads that have to be pre-approved.”

The Aite Group, a financial research firm, entitled a recent report on social media for financial advisors “The Bloom is off the Rose.” Roughly 7 in 10 financial advisors use social media for personal purposes and half use it for business, figures which have increased since 2009, said Ron Shevlin, senior analyst with Aite Group and co-author of this report.

Use of LinkedIn has increased for business purposes and the time spent on Facebook, Twitter and blogs has declined among financial advisors. Advisors don’t spend much time on leading social media finance sites such as Stockpickr or Wikinvest; only a third of the advisors surveyed were even familiar with them.

Advisors are seeing diminishing returns from social media, according to Aite. Reaching new prospects was cited by only 19 percent, half the percentage in 2009 while increasing revenue or fees linked to social media declined from 16 percent to 6 percent.

Just six percent of advisors who don’t already use social media plan to do so over the next year. Thirty-eight percent said it wasn’t worth their time and 34 percent just don’t like to communicate with customers that way. Nearly three-quarters said their firms have policies that limit or ban the use of social media.

Vendors had some suggestions for the best ways to use social media. Actiance told Aite Group that responding to clients’ postings, such as a new child or a new job, with an appropriate messages is effective.  Echoing what White said about early adopters eMoney Advisor noted that advisors who are good at marketing are good at using social media. Financial Social Media’s recommendations suggest why some advisors are losing interest — they recommended Tweeting three to five times per day and updating LinkedIn and Facebook at least twice a day. That suggests a substantial time commitment. Other vendors of social media tools including SocialVolt, Socialware, SocMediaFin, SunGard, ThomsonReuters and Wired Advisor had a variety of suggestions about defining an approach to marketing, listening to the market and building out social networks.

Aite concluded that many financial advisors have decided that social media is not living up to its hype.

“The absence of tangible benefits from social media is muting advisors’ perception of its potential importance,” said Shevlin. Financial firms should expand their focus beyond compliance to look at effectiveness, added Aite, offering several specific suggestions for defining messages, choosing the proper platform and improving marketing skills.

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Apple dominates Google's Zeitgeist 2011

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by Eric Mack

 

Apple dominates Google's list of "Fastest Rising Technology" searches of 2011 from the United States. 
(Credit: Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET)

 

Google's annual Zeitgeist roundup of the hottest trends in search from 2011 is out, and when it comes to tech, Apple dominates the list.

In Google's top 10 list of fastest-rising technology searches for the United States, the top six are all Apple-related, led by "iCloud," "Osx Lion" and "Ipad 2." "Steve Jobs" also makes the list at No. 8.

Google fared a little better on its own overall global top 10 list, with "Google+" snagging the No. 2 spot. In a major milestone in the history of collective global humiliation, the top search slot for 2011 goes to "Rebecca Black." Apple also occupies three places on the overall list, with "iPhone 5" at No. 6; "Steve Jobs" at No. 9; and "iPad 2" at No. 10.



Google's list of fastest-rising gadgets for the year is a little more representative of the overall market, with Kindle Fire grabbing the search gold in that category. The iPhone 4S was the second-fastest-rising term, and the iPad 2 fills the seventh place. "Sidekick 4g," "HP Touchpad," "HTC Inspire," "Palm Pre 3," and the "HTC Thunderbolt" are some of the other devices that people spent plenty of time coveting via Google in 2011.

It's important to note that these "fastest rising" terms are based on comparing year-over-year data and seeing which terms increased their buzz the most from 2010. So since the Kindle Fire didn't exist in 2010, it had a bit of an advantage over terms like "iPad 2," which was already in the lexicon even before the Fire came onto the scene.

Finally, in Google's top 10 list of cell phone searches--overall, not using the fastest-rising methodology--the query "iPhone" sits on a pretty tall throne above all others. But it isn't completely an Apple world. Serving as a reminder that we can't all afford a top-of-the-line smartphone is the No. 5 entry on the list--prepaid budget carrier "Tracfone."

Eric Mack

Crave freelancer Eric Mack is a writer and radio producer based high in the Rocky Mountains in a "one bar" service area (for both drinks and 3G). He's published e-books on Android and Alaska, and is a contributing editor for Crowdsourcing.org and A New Domain. He also contributes to NPR, Gizmag, and Edmunds Inside Line. Eric is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. E-mail Eric.

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