Putin: Koni, Koni! Here Koni! Put on this GPS Collar!
Vladimir Putin is challenging the West in as many spheres as he can. And one beneficiary will be his adventurous dog, Koni.This black labrador apparently has a habit of loping away a bit too far for the Russian president's comfort. So Putin has asked his deputy prime minister, Sergei Ivanov, to make sure he gets a special collar fitted with a satellite tracker, Ivanov told a reporter today.
Russia is putting up more satellites to compete with America's Global Positioning System and Europe's Galileo. It's called the Global Navigation System, or GLONASS, and it traces back to the 1980s. It went moribund in the post-Soviet collapse, but the country is firing up three satellites today using a Proton-K rocket -- bringing the total to 18 -- and by 2009 plans to have 24 in place.
``When can I buy the necessary equipment for my dog, Koni, so that she won't run away too far?'' Putin asked Ivanov. Ivanov replied that such collars will be available for sale by July, Bloomberg reports, quoting Russia's First Channel.
Ivanov said the commercialization will not be biased. Cat collars will be available, too.
Labels: baikonur, Caspian, dog collar, gps, nasa, oil, proton, Putin, Russia, satellite
4 Comments:
Steve:
The Russians are late to the party. GPS provides 90% of what an average user needs in terms of reliability and accuracy.
The GLONASS receiver is ancient compared to the GPS devices you can buy at any store. It "weighs about one pound and sells for $1,000, display screen not included. To operate, a user must unfurl a cable linking the set to an external antenna mounted on a spiked stick, intended to be jabbed into a field."
Outside the Russian military, GLONASS faces an uncertain future. GPS already provides a cheap, global coverage. Then you have emerging competitors: Europe's Galileo and China's own GPS-like system.
My bet: Koni will be wearing COMPASS, courtesy of Chinese engineers.
The New York Times had a good article on GLONASS earlier this year: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/
business/worldbusiness/04gps.html
This technology is quite fascinating and the hope is that more businesses can be created with a better GPS system in the former Soviet republics (like location based services, car GPS systems, etc.). We'll see how it goes.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Peace on Earth to all.
-Elijah
The Russian government cares more about their "national pride" than being pragmatic: GPS use had been illegal in Russia until Dec. 16, 2006. Of course, for "security reasons." Now they will force the Russians to use those brick-sized GLONASS receivers instead of going with the GPS devices. (For comparison, the latter have gotten so small that they can be built into wristwatches). Stupid.
Let's see what they put on the market in July. If it's the bricks, what will happen to Koni? Chinese, as Mark suggests?
Happy holidays and best to all, Steve
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