Online GPS confirmed for Australia

Mio has confirmed plans in Australia for in-car GPS units with online access to online weather forecasts, search engine and other data via GPRS mobile.

The Mio C-series in-car units will get built-in GPRS connectivity, marketing manager Daniel Antonello told PCA. Initially users will be required to connect via separate Bluetooth equipped mobile phone, but units with built-in Net access will follow.

“We are developing an in-car device that has direct connectivity to receive the data. I believe this will be via a direct connection to GPRS. The earliest we could see that here is Q4 08,” he said.

The “off-board” services will be released under the MioMore name. “The content available will be through a local search engine so that customers can do a quick search for a local business or even the weather using their Mio GPS device,” Antonello said.

The GPS market is set for an exciting year, with real time traffic updates available in Melbourne and planned for other cities. Magellan and Garmin have launched GPS devices overseas with Internet access to Google and Microsoft search. Users can search for movie times, local businesses and weather info.