ISRO’s NAVigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is coming soon to Android phones in India. Hyped as an alternative to Global Positioning System ( GPS), the NavIC satellite technology is designed to deliver accurate position information service to Indian and neighboring countries users as well. The technology is all set for a commercial application in future Android smartphones in mid-range and budget phones as the chipset giant Qualcomm has announced new processors with the ISRO technology. Qualcomm launched Snapdragon 720G, Snapdragon 662 and Snapdragon 460 processors that will power future budget and mid-range smartphones.
The chipset company said it had introduced support up to seven satellite constellations simultaneously, including the use of all of NavIC’s operating satellites, in its Qualcomm Location suite.
Additional big drive to ISRO’s GPS technology is coming from Xiaomi and Realme, which rules the sub Rs 20,000 smartphone segment in the Indian market. Both these companies have confirmed the usage of Snapdragon 720G processor for their upcoming phones. ISRO’s NavIC adoption will minimize the dependence on American GPS technology for navigation. We can expect apps like Uber and Google Maps to influence the technology to deliver further more accurate location information service.
