TCS buys Loctronix to provide inertial-navigation-based solutions to locate 911 callers, first responders

That’s an important metric, because battery life is a significant challenge for many other navigation solutions, Vuyyuru said.

“If you look at a typical navigation session today on an iPhone 6 using Google Maps, it’s going to last you an hour, if you’re lucky, without any battery,” he said. “If you shrink that to IoT devices and wearables, a typical navigation session is going to be a few minutes these days—and there needs to be a solution for that marketplace.”

The five former Loctronix employees have been moved into TCS offices in downtown Seattle, Vuyyuru said. TCS plans to begin offering demonstration products that integrate the Loctronix technology by October, after which TCS will determine its go-to-market strategy for the technology, he said.

“This is purely a demonstration product t RF-less, network-less location that will come out in Q3,” Vuyyuru said. “There are a lot more moving pieces that need to be put in place.

“The way we view positioning, navigation and location is basically that we don’t think there is a panacea technology that allows you to seamlessly address indoors, outdoors, automotive, IoT—all those spaces—together. This is yet another arrow in our quiver, in terms of bringing together multiple technologies—whether they be Wi-Fi-based positioning, LID-based, GPS-based, sensor-based or a few other things we’re working on—and amalgamating them using the systems knowledge and intelligence we have into an accurate location engine.”

Jay Whitehurst, TCS senior vice president and president of the commercial software group, echoed this sentiment. “Purchasing LBS technology and intellectual property from Loctronix not only adds to our already vast set of intellectual property rights for LBS, more importantly it underpins our continued commitment to further building out our advanced location product portfolio,” Whitehurst said in a prepared statement. “In addition to expanding the breadth of our current location product offering, the Loctronix assets will provide clear differentiators in device location, and increase our market and revenue opportunities—both for commercial and public safety applications.”