As reported by Reuters (via Tecnoblog), the Indian government wants to reduce its dependence on foreign systems like GPS (which is owned by the US) by creating its own technologies. One of these technologies is NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), which works pretty much the same way as GPS but is focused on providing “more accurate domestic navigation” for Indian consumers. NavIC was approved in 2006, but it only went into full operations in 2018 with eight satellites covering the entire territory of India, plus some other regions around the continent. Although the Indian government has plans to expand NavIC coverage to other places on the planet, India wants tech companies to make their devices compatible with the new standard before then. However, some of the major smartphone vendors don’t seem to be happy with the news. Representatives from Apple, Xiaomi, and Samsung reportedly said in private meetings that making their devices compatible with NavIC would increase production costs significantly. The companies also claim that implementing such technology would require “more testing clearances,” which seems unfeasible for a 2023 adoption.
