Mio Moov M300 and M400 – Black Friday specials?
UPDATE: Okay commenters, you’re right, it’s not the iGO interface, but it does appear to be the Navman interface, and not the Spirit. I stand by my Black Friday prediction though!
Mio just can’t seem to make up their mind. When we last heard from them they were touting the Spirit interface on their S-series units. [...]
Mio says they’re still here
A few days ago I posted about the GPS Business News report that Mio was leaving the U.S. market. Now, this backdated news release has shown up on their website:
“In response to the article published in GPS Business News entitled “Mio closing business in the US” on April 3, 2009, Mio announced that the [...]
Mio reportedly leaving U.S. market
GPS Business News is reporting that Mio is leaving the U.S. market. If true it is undoubtedly related to parent company MiTAC’s acquisition of Magellan, though it does contradict an earlier announcement that the Mio and Magellan brands would co-exist here.
MiTAC completes purchase of Magellan
MiTAC has announced the completion of their purchase of Magellan’s consumer products division, and revealed some insights into their strategy and future plans:
The Mio and Magellan product lines will coexist in the U.S., though they will share technological expertise
Mio will add new “GPS-based lifestyle products” to their line, so maybe we’ll soon see their Mobile Internet [...]
CES – Conversations with Mio
Mio was showing off their new Moov S-series with the Spirit interface at CES. There really isn’t a lot more to add about that, though I am looking forward to reviewing them. I’m thrilled to see Mio include 12 million POIs, even on entry level models.
Mio Moov S series
Mio will be announcing several new models at CES a little later today. As we predicted last week, these units will incorporate the Spirit interface with what they are now calling "slide screen" technology. Here are details on the new models, all slated to be available in the first half of 2009:
Mio Moov S300 – [...]
Mio to debut Spirit series at CES? NavReady not ready?
Mio’s new corporate blog has dropped a hint that they’ll be debuting the Spirit interface on some new North American models next week at CES. Previously available in Europe under the Navman label, the Spirit interface offers “Glide Touch,” giving ‘tap and slide’ functionality.
GPS predictions for 2009
Disclaimer: These are predictions and nothing more, so keep your sense of humor and please don’t sue me.
Auto GPS predictions
A nuvi 8×5 series will bring lane assist and voice recognition together in one unit
Garmin discontinues the nuvi 200 series; all Garmin nuvi models will now have text-to-speech
Crowdsourced HD traffic comes to the US with the stateside introduction [...]
Magellan to sell consumer GPS division to MiTAC
UPDATE: I've posted some additional info and a bit of speculation, um, analysis.
Magellan Navigation announced this morning that it is selling its consumer products division to MiTAC International, which also owns Mio. The transaction is expected to close in January. The Magellan consumer products division created the Magellan RoadMate, Maestro and Triton product lines.
A GPS company without direction
DigiTimes is often cryptic, but I'm not sure what to make of this line in today's report on Mio's parent company entitled "Mitac falling short of 2008 GPS PND shipments target; to enter netbook OEM business:"
While acknowledging the shrinking auto markets in the US and Europe, Mitac said it will continue to promote sales of [...]
