Mio’s latest GPS system wins beauty pageant

Mio Technology’s latest portable GPS system has been awarded an International Design prize by the iF Design Committee, China. It received merit for both industrial and functional design, but since it is also available in a floral pattern, i guess they had consumers in mind as well. While at first glance it bears a distinct resemblance to a particular MP3 playing system which we shall not name (cough iPod cough), it has interchangable covers to “reflect the owner’s outfit or mood” according to the press release.

So is this just another GPS system or is it as different as it looks? For a start it has full European maps (MioMap v3) by Teleatlas, speed camera warnings, alongside the usual array of GPS features. It is a full multimedia device though, with a photo viewer, games, an MP3 player (cough) and even a video player. To make all of this workable, it has a 1GB user available internal memory, up to 17hours of music playback from a single battery charge and expandable memory via an SD card.

In a nutshell then, it is different. Let’s face it, most of the Multimedia GPS systems have features you can’t use in a car, but are too bulky or ugly to be carried around with you. The H610 seems to have hit the sweet spot between funcitonality and looks, but only time will tell.

So what do you think? Just a looker or a fresh addition to the huge market of GPS systems?