CES 2008 Mio shows dual sided GPS phone and eats Navman

Man, it took some serious map consulting to find Mio’s booth buried at the back of the south hall, level 2. Surrounded by fake iPods, cell phone holsters etc. one has to wonder, just how late did they make their CES reservations; or did they have something to hide?

One thing they were not hiding (just not giving any details out on) is this beauty: a dual sided GPS phone. Most likely to arrive in Europe later this year, Mio believes this phone is a good extension of their core capabilities and will bring more consumers into the the loyal Mio following. A Mio spokesperson declined to take it out of the case to let me fingerprint it up. Rats. Another image is below.

After relating my frustration with satellite acquisition times in other GPS phones, I was treated to the new Mio SiRFInstantFixII. This technology uses a combination of assisted GPS and a marker of last fix to narrow position down so you can begin navigating quickly, not waiting for fix to begin. This is an area that can set Mio apart from the sizable crowd at the GPS party.

This new tech allows a fix in as little as 5 seconds and will make its way to Europe first, then to North America in new Mio products.

Also announced at this year’s big show, Mio will merge the Navman and Mio brands together and begin anew under the Mio banner. Despite the fact the Navman brand will continue in some select markets like the UK and GPS-hungry New Zealand, merging the brands allows them to bring the collective experience under one name.

“With the merger of the Mio and Navman brands, two complementary organizations have been brought together with a shared passion for delivering consumers the best navigation experience,” said Samuel Wang, president, Mio Technology Corporation. “Mio Technology brings core competencies in hardware to the table, while Navman brings expertise in software and content, creating a new brand that is better able to create unique, innovative products and services.”

Company site [Mio]