…In Germany, Switzerland and East Europe
German, Swiss and East European Markets Highly Promising For Small Footprint, Low Power Drain OEM GPS Receivers; Several Positioning Applications In Need Of Fastrax Technology
Helsinki, Finland – June 29, 2004 – Fastrax Ltd., a developer of industry-leading OEM GPS receivers for optimal utilization of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), today announced a new distribution agreement with Eurodis Electron PLC, third-largest electronic components distributor in Europe.
Eurodis Electron PLC will represent Fastrax’s product family of iTrax02 and iTrax03 series 12-channel OEM GPS receivers in Germany, Switzerland and East Europe. Eurodis Electron PLC’s offering includes a wide range of supporting products and components, with an extra emphasis on wireless products such as GSM/GPRS, Bluetooth, ISM and RFID. Eurodis Electron PLC has a strong existing presence in the European market with several high-volume GPS customers.
Fastrax iTrax02 & iTrax03 OEM GPS receivers are the lowest power consuming 12-channel GPS receivers on the market. The low power drain extends the operating time of battery-operated devices, a crucial factor in both business and recreational products. The receiver enables continuous tracking down to very low signal levels, with support for assisted GPS (A-GPS) for urban tracking.
The versatile iSuiteTM Software Development Kits for both iTrax02 and iTrax03 generations of receivers allow GPS and application customization and miniature designs with reduced BoM (Bill of Material). Lower cost and smaller size are crucial factors in a wide variety of applications. Designed for demanding conditions, Fastrax GPS technology offers industry-leading performance and reliability along with fast time to first fix (TTFF).
"The co-operation with Fastrax provides Eurodis with the exciting opportunity to offer one of the most attractive and competitive portfolios for GPS technology," said Albert van der Wijk, Vice President of Marketing at Eurodis Electron. "The strong fit with the capabilities of our Center for Advanced Wireless Technology enables us to provide a total solution, reducing engineering effort and time to market at our customers. We are delighted that with Fastrax we can further intensify our efforts in one of our technological core competences in the European market."
“The European market is extremely interesting for Fastrax and we believe there is a great opportunity for our company to become more known as there is an obvious need for the latest available GPS technology. Small OEM GPS receivers with low power consumption open up a variety of opportunities for designing and building new kinds of products and devices that bring significant new value to their users. We are glad to work with an established player such as Eurodis Electronics PLC and look forward to strengthening Fastrax’s position in Europe,” said Fredrik Borgström, Sales Manager Europe, Fastrax Ltd.
The iTrax02 and iTrax03 modules are ideally suited for both asset tracking systems and small battery-operated products such as mobile phones, handheld computers and sports accessories. In addition to OEM GPS receivers, Fastrax offers Engineering Services to enable faster time to market for specific custom applications. This includes customized designs for both hardware and software needs.
More information on Fastrax distributors is available at http://www.fastrax.fi
Fastrax contact:
Mr. Fredrik Borgström
Sales Manager, Europe
Tel. +358 (0) 424 733 211
fredrik.borgstrom@fastrax.fi
Eurodis contact:
Mr. Albert van der Wijk
VP Group Marketing
Tel. + 44 1737 227 570
albert.van.der.wijk@eurodis.com
Fastrax agency contact:
Netprofile Finland
Mr. Juha Rantanen
Tel. +358 9 6812 080
juha@netprofile.fi
About Fastrax Ltd
Fastrax develops industry-leading products for optimal utilization of GNSS location services (Global Navigation Satellite Systems). The most well known of these services is GPS (Global Positioning System). Fastrax transforms GPS technologies into highly scalable solutions with open interfaces, combined with ultra low power consumption and miniature hardware design. With industry-leading performance, Fastrax GPS receivers navigate continuously even in extreme conditions. Receivers are ideally suited to both industrial location applications and high-volume consumer products such as cell phones and sports accessories. Headquartered in Finland and founded in 1999, the company is privately owned and backed by leading venture capital investors CapMan, Eqvitec, Startupfactory and Innocap, with a strategic investment by Suunto Corporation, a subsidiary of Amer Group, a leading global supplier of sporting goods equipment. More information: www.fastrax.fi.
About Eurodis Electron PLC.
Eurodis Electron PLC (FTSE:ELH), headquartered in Surrey, UK is Europe’s third largest distributor of electronic components, employing approximately 780 staff in 19 countries through 40 offices and regularly servicing over 25,000 customers. Eurodis provides design solutions and support across Europe through their Advanced Technology Centres for Displays, Wireless Communication and Embedded Solutions. This considerably improves customer’s time-to-market. Eurodis is the winner of the European Supply Chain Excellence Award 2003. More information: www.eurodis.com
Global Positioning System (GPS) is a worldwide satellite navigation infrastructure funded and controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense, originally developed for U.S. military purposes. GPS provides satellite signals that enable GPS receivers to calculate their exact position and velocity. The GPS infrastructure has three segments. The space segment consists of 24 satellites that orbit the earth every 12 hours. The control segment consists of tracking stations located around the world, with the master control station located at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado. The user segment consists of GPS receivers and users utilizing the information provided by the system. GPS is widely used in applications such as marine navigation.