Mio’s high sales and shiny new products

After years of major growth, the PDA industry has started to even out, with some of the biggest names even shipping less products than this time last year. Mio, on the other hand has shown an increase in the number of units shipped compared to the same time in 2005. Despite being a relatively “new” brand, Mio claims a 10% share of the GPS industry, and with so many new products being launched in both Europe and the US in the next few months - there’s no doubt they will continue to grow.

Their latest products, the C210 and the P350 are a dedicated in car GPS system, and a PDA with GPS functions respectively. Now on sale in the UK market I’ve had a look at them and can tell you what the score is…

The C210 is not the prettiest of GPS systems, and it doesn’t have the biggest of screens, but it has a lot of features to counter that. In terms of GPS technology, the C210 is extremely high spec, with a 20 channel receiver and SiRFStart III chipset it boasts as good reception here in the centre of Glasgow as it would in the middle of a forest. While it has only Major Roads of Europe maps (although this apparently covers an impressive 24 countries), upgrades are available and the Full UK maps are detailed and easy to search.

What’s probably going to be one of the most popular aspects of this new device is something as simple as a pre-installed speed camera database. While a lot of companies are offering this software free of charge, the Mio database will be upgradable on-line (free for a year), so you will never be caught out by a new camera.

The P350 is a GPS system that doesn’t compromise on its PDA functionality. Running Windows Mobile, it has all the Office Software that you would expect, allowing you to edit word documents, spreadsheets and presentations. While the PDA functions are nothing to sing and dance about, they are exactly what the average user needs, and on top of that it has a high quality screen, expandable memory and a big 400 mHz processor.

The P350’s GPS system matches the C210, with 20 channels andSiRFStart III, but with one catch - no GPS Software is included. Their selling point is that this leaves you to choose the software that suits you…but to be honest I would have been happy if MioMap was included as it would probably have been my choice for this device anyway!

Overall, they are two good high spec GPS devices, and a welcome addition to Mio’s fast growing range.

For more information on the Mio click here.