It was a busy week in the Embedded M2M Solutions sector. Here are some of the major stories from TMCnet.

Securus has released SpotLite 2.0 advanced GPS pet locator. It lets pet owners keep pets safe and secure, even in wet environments. An earlier version of SpotLite enabled pet owners to monitor the whereabouts of pets continuously online or via their Apple-, BlackBerry- or Android (News - Alert)-operated smartphone or tablet device. They can also send a text message, and view turn-by-turn GPS directions to recover lost pets. Version 2.0 of SpotLite is waterproof and will be especially useful in Securus’s new coverage areas of Alaska and Hawaii.

In another article, it was reported that there were many machine-to-machine solutions on display at the recent Battle of the Platforms event at M2M Evolution, but the solutions demonstrated by the overall winner of the event, Omnilink, were the most impressive given the results. The company’s platform was developed to track parolees and offenders sentenced to home arrest. Omnilink branched out into other areas, working with the Alzheimer’s Association and the AmberWatch Foundation, expanding across a variety of use cases and monitoring and tracking the assets that matter most. Recently, Omnilink used its infrastructure, support and business-to-business portal to help it transition into the trailer management space.

TMCnet reported too that Jasper Wireless has been named as the Best Cloud Based Technology for Mobiles by the 2013 Global Mobile Awards judging panel. Jasper Wireless (News - Alert) offers platform, applications, and design services for machine-to-machine (M2M) and embedded devices markets.

In addition, commercial telematics technologies are being increasingly implemented in public transportation markets. ABI Research predicts that commercial telematics subscriptions for the bus and coach segment will nearly triple to 0.61 million by 2018.

And TMCnet’s Steve Anderson reports that there's a lot of difference between Ford and GM. One needs to look no further than the Mobile World Congress 2013 to see how they approach the concept of wireless. Ford focuses on a rapid development approach by turning over most of the online processing and the like to iPhones. This has allowed Ford to bring out several new products and services, like Spotify (News - Alert) for cars, as well as a steady expansion of the Ford SYNC program.

 Better yet, since Ford released the API, it has brought in plenty of interested developers, and around 2,500 of them so far have agreed to work with Ford on developing apps for cars. GM, meanwhile, has instead been focusing on making the car itself more of a mobile device, partnering with AT&T (News - Alert) to bring wireless connectivity to GM cars next year. GM’s connectivity won't depend on having a smartphone. Additionally, there are a lot of possibilities that GM can undertake, like security features and in-car diagnostics.