Press Releases
Nov 07, 2019

Altair Semiconductor’s Cellular IoT Chipset Powers PassTime’s Revolutionary Automotive Tracking Device

Multiyear Battery Life, Connectivity, and Compact Size Helps Automotive Dealers and Financiers Overcome Barriers in High-Risk Car Financing

HOD HASHARON, Israel – November 7, 2019 – Altair Semiconductor, a leading provider of cellular IoT chipsets, is providing the cellular IoT technology that powers the new PassTime Encore automotive tracking device. The device uses Altair’s cellular IoT chipset, the ALT1250.

The Altair chipset’s ultra-low power consumption enables the Encore unit to maintain functionality for several years with only a small internal battery. The small battery gives Encore its groundbreaking and industry leading small size, allowing dealers to unobtrusively place the device almost anywhere inside a car. The multiyear battery life allows dealerships and automotive lenders to track a vehicle throughout the life of the loan.

The wire-free, self-powered unit doesn’t require the services of a professional installation technician and can be placed in the vehicle in just minutes. This significantly reduces the logistical challenges and overall costs in vehicle tracking.

“Encore is a revolutionary product for auto dealers, auto finance companies, and car fleets,” said Todd Goodnight, EVP of Product Management at PassTime. “It was enabled by Altair, the only vendor capable of delivering a cellular IoT chipset with the multiyear battery life in the chassis size our solution required.”

“The Encore is a really innovative application of our chipset,” said Dima Feldman, Head of Product Marketing at Altair Semiconductors. “It utilizes the ultra-low-power consumption and compact size of the ALT1250 to facilitate vehicle tracking, and opens new opportunities in the vehicle telematics market”

Altair’s optimized cellular IoT chipsets are the industry’s most advanced, providing the market’s lowest power consumption and enabling the longest battery life for IoT. Commercially available, they feature a hardware-based security framework and a rich set of host, peripheral and sensor interfaces, ideal for integration in a range of industrial and consumer IoT applications.

About Altair Semiconductor

Altair Semiconductor, a Sony Group Company, is a leading provider of Cellular IoT chipsets. The company’s flagship ALT1250 is the smallest and most highly integrated LTE CAT-M and NB-IoT chipset, featuring ultra-low power consumption, hardware-based security, and a carrier-grade integrated SIM (iUICC), all 5G ready.

Altair partners with leading global vendors, including G+D (Giesecke+Devrient), HERE Technologies, Murata, Sierra Wireless and WNC, to provide low-power and cost-efficient modules for a range of industrial and consumer IoT applications such as trackers, smart meters, wearables, and vehicle telematics. Altair’s chipsets have been commercially deployed on the world’s most advanced LTE networks, including AT&T, China Mobile, KDDI, SoftBank Corp., Verizon, and Vodafone.

For more information, visit www.altair-semi.com. Follow Altair on Twitter: @AltairSemi and LinkedIn: Altair Semiconductor.

About PassTime

PassTime is a leading provider of GPS Solutions and has been in business for more than 25 years. PassTime’s GPS telematics products help connect vehicles and protect assets for multiple sectors of the automotive and powersports industries including auto dealers, auto finance companies, fleet transportation providers and consumers. The company prides itself on high-quality, reliable products and unmatched customer support.

For more information on PassTime, visit passtimegps.com or email info@passtimegps.com