Mio unveils GPS smartphone

GPS. It's cool, useful and as close as your ever likely to get to having a FPS style objective compass in real life. GPS is great, so it's understandable that Orange wants to get into the market (as reported below). Those who want an alternative should check out Mio's new toys: new versions of the dedicated GPS handset 268 and 269 series, a new PDA with GPS functionality dubbed the A201 and a new smartphone with integrated GPS, the A701.

The A701 looks to be a combination of PDA, smartphone and GPS navigator, with a windows smartphone as its starting point. It runs using the Magneto (snigger, insert X-men reference) operating system from Microsoft, has a 2.7 inch TFT touchscreen, as well as a 520 MHz processor and 192MB of internal memory, in addition to bluetooth and a 1.3 MP camera.

The new versions of the 268 and 269 (dubbed the 'plus' series) will come with faster processors, better GPS linkp, door-to-door directions as well as compatiblity with the Traffic Message Channel service. The 269 plus comes with maps for 27 European countries pre-installed, and both the 268 and 269 come with inbuilt MP3 players. The 269 will also come with a photo viewer.

The A201 PDA version comes with a rotating antenna, letting you use the device in both landscape and portrait mode. The A201 comes with all the standard current generation PDA features, as well as bluetooth, and also runs with the Magneto operating system from Microsoft.

Phew. The 268, 269 and A201 will be available in from September in Europe. The A701 is expected to arrive towards the end of the year.