Mio Technology and ATX partner to bring real-time info to PNDs
Mio Technology, a leading worldwide supplier of personal GPS navigation devices, announced a services and development agreement with ATX Group, the world’s largest independent telematics service provider to the automotive industry. Using ATX’s content delivery infrastructure, Mio Technology will create a pipeline of real-time content and services for its next generation of personal navigation devices, demonstrated as prototypes at CTIA in Las Vegasnearly this monty.
By adding connected content and services to the navigation experience, users can search and navigate more effectively in an ever-changing landscape. Mio Technology’s ATX-powered connected devices will be available in the second half of 2008.
“Content is king in the future of PNDs----we believe the ability to deliver timely information about the user’s surroundings is a huge differentiator, creating a richer navigation experience,” said Kiyoshi Hamai, senior director of Sales and Marketing, Mio Technology Ltd. “By combining Mio Technology’s legacy of innovative portable devices with ATX’s information delivery capabilities, we’re laying the groundwork for a new era of modern exploration.”
Mio Technology’s prototype connected device, first unveiled in January at CES 2008, boasts a sleek form-factor with a look-and-feel that current Mio customers will find familiar.
But when turned on, the device goes a step beyond simple navigation, presenting a line-up of personalized real-time information to enhance the user experience. Mio Technology announced intentions to deliver the following capabilities to market in 2008: Weather information and forecasting for your current and future surroundings; traffic updates that provide current information about conditions on the road, and local information to explore your surroundings, including up-to-date address and phone listings for local businesses, and more.
“With a decade of actual market experience in serving nearly a million subscribers in both North America and Europe through in-vehicle telematics programs, ATX has gained tremendous insight into the types of content users want when navigating the roads and how to present that information in a clear, intuitive way,” said Shiva Kalisetty, vice president for Business Development, ATX Group. “Mobile Internet services extend the power and reach of personal navigation devices and makes points of interest even more interesting.”
Later this year Mio Technology will announce pricing and availability as well as additional product capabilities and services.
Mio Technology develops and markets products that enable users to take advantage of the latest developments in mobile services. The company was established in May 2002 and now has operations in Taiwan, mainland China, Europe, North America, Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Mio Technology has more than 1,200 employees worldwide and sells and markets its products in over 47 countries and territories. The company offers a wide array of mobile navigation products, which today includes car navigation systems, handheld navigation systems, GPS PDA phones and GPS PDAs, all designed to enable people to explore and discover the world around them. Mio Technology is among the world’s top three vendors of mobile devices with integrated GPS. The company is online at www.mio.com.
Based in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Dusseldorf, Germany, ATX Group is the world’s largest provider of personalized telematics services to the automotive industry, serving both North America and Europe. ATX telematics services are designed to provide enhanced safety, security and driving convenience to vehicle owners.
These services include location-specific emergency and roadside assistance, automatic collision notification, stolen vehicle recovery, remote diagnostics and real-time traffic and navigation assistance.
ATX also customizes telematics services to help automobile manufacturers and their affiliated dealerships to use telematics data to reduce costs, enhance vehicle servicing, and more closely manage customer relationships. ATX services are provided to vehicle owners through the brand names of its customers----Mercedes-Benz, BMW, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. For more information, visit www.atxg.com.
Telit Wireless and Xirgo develop car tracking & diagnostics device
Telit Wireless Solutions, the US-based M2M mobile technology arm of Telit Communications, and Xirgo Technologies, LLC, a global wireless solution provider, have announced the development of an innovative wireless car tracking device. Telit’s products are sold and deployed worldwide through offices in China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the USA. For more information about the company, visit www.telit.com.
The XT-2000 IntelliPort is a pioneering M2M application that enables users to record and transmit driving and diagnostic data via the Telit GE864 QUAD module and a GSM cellular network carrier.
Such information delivered live and instantaneously is extremely valuable to companies with a vested interest in short or long-term car maintenance, fleet management, or consumer pay-as-you-drive applications.
The small tracking device, measuring 1.8 x 1.5 x 1 inches and weighing less than 2 ounces, fits effortlessly in the OBD-II port located directly under the car dashboard.
The OBD-II port is standard in vehicles built for North America since 1996. Integrating cellular and optional GPS antenna, the IntelliPort also supports the five most widely used OBD-II protocols. Upon placing the device in the car, IntelliPort drivers, fleet owners, finance companies and insurance providers can easily monitor location, status and diagnostic codes available through the OBD port of their vehicles.
“Available with or without integrated GPS functionality, IntelliPort is by far the most technologically advanced OBD-II port compatible remote diagnostic device on the market today,” said Shawn Aleman, vice president of Business Development for Xirgo. “We needed a small, rugged and reliable wireless communications module to build a logging and reporting diagnostic device that did not require any more effort than pushing a button. Telit’s module provided the best functionality, compact design and power efficiency making it a perfect fit for IntelliPort.”
Xirgo developed the IntelliPort device to after-market automotive specifications, and selected Telit’s GE864 QUAD wireless communications module because its extremely small, compact and rugged design makes it ideal for use in this type of high-vibration and wide-temperature-range application.
With its dimensions of 30mm x 30mm x 2.8mm and a weight of seven grams, the GE864 QUAD is the world’s smallest complete platform for cellular communications with the ball grid array (BGA) assembly concept.
The GE864 QUAD’s BGA installation concept ensures low production costs and size compliance with a standard automotive OBD-II port. Telit’s BGA product design uses tiny solder balls placed on the underside of a module which allow for direct mounting to the application circuit board, without the need for plugs, cables or connectors. Together, the compact shape and easy installation reduce costs and are critical features for use in applications for the consumer market.
“The IntelliPort’s ability to track real-time driving and car diagnostic data could dramatically change auto leasing or rental financial models, not to mention drastically reduce vehicle recalls for auto manufacturers. Overall, we expect this device to make a huge impact in North America and abroad,” said Roger Dewey, president & CEO of Telit Wireless Solutions, Inc. “Our ongoing collaboration with Xirgo will undoubtedly produce applications that will change the way many industries conduct business.”
Xirgo Technologies, a global wireless solution provider at the forefront of wireless data transmission technology, has successfully designed.
For more information, contact saleman@xirgotech.com.
