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Mio unveils new GPS-enabled PDA phone

Ruby Huang and Shawn Chen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES Asia

Mio Technology, a subsidiary of Mitac International, on November 29 unveiled its new GPS-enabled PDA phone, the A700, which will be available worldwide in mid-December at prices ranging between US$597-746.

The A700 will specifically target users in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan as the model features built-in Chinese-version maps of cities in China and Taiwan, according to company president Samuel Wang.

The A700 will also be the company’s first PDA phone to tap the China market since its affiliated company, Mitac Computer (Kunshan), secured a license in September to sell its own-brand handsets in China, Wang added.

Mio expects combined sales of the A700 in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan will total 200,000 in 2006, Wang predicted, adding that Mio also plans to introduce sub-US$300 GPS-enabled PDA phones to the China market in the first quarter of 2006.

Overall, Mitac shipments of smart handheld devices, including smartphones, PDA phones, and GPS-enabled devices, will total about three million units in 2005, up from the 950,000 units it shipped in 2004, Wang stated.

Mio A700 PDA phone specifications

Item

Details

OS

Windows Mobile 5.0

CPU

Intel XScale PXA270 520MHz

Network

GSM tri-band/ GPRS

Display

2.7” 262K-color TFT (240×320 pixels)

Memory

128MB ROM, 64MB SDRAM

Memory expansion slot

SD/MMC card slot

Built-in camera

1.3-megapixel camera

Built-in GPS

SiRF III GPS chip

Wireless connection

Bluetooth v1.2

Battery

1300 mAh Li-ion battery

Dimension

107×57×18.8 mm

Weight

148g

Photo

Source: Company, compiled by DigiTimes, November 2005

Mio’s A700 GPS-enabled PDA phone
Photo: Andrea Liu, DigiTimes, November 2005