Mio Technology Corporation, a leading maker of mobile GPS devices, announces today that it has formed a partnership with Qualcomm Incorporated to develop connected personal navigation devices. These new connected PNDs will leverage Qualcomm’s technology with the QST1100™ chipset to deliver industry-leading GPS performance and cellular connectivity for real-time traffic updates, voice call capabilities and more.

“Qualcomm’s legacy of wireless communications brings new possibilities to consumer devices, and we are very excited about our relationship with Mio that will bring cellular connectivity, GPS and application processing in a single chip to PNDs,” said Luis Pineda, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.  “Our technology, coupled with Mio’s extensive device design expertise, will usher in a new generation of connected consumer devices that evolve the industry to the next level of functionality.”

“Personal navigation devices have been growing dramatically in popularity, and Mio is proud to be one of the first companies to offer the connectivity of cellular networks to PND users, making information access seamless and reliable,” said Samuel Wang, president of Mio Technology Corporation.  “We are happy to be working with Qualcomm to introduce a new family of PND devices that will allow people to explore more.”

With this new strategic partnership, Mio looks to offer consumers a next generation GPS device that goes beyond traditional A to B navigation.  With real-time content, search capabilities and more, Mio’s connected PNDs will provide a uniquely dynamic navigation experience that can be customized for any lifestyle.  Whether for leisure travel, business travel or the daily commute, Mio’s cutting-edge connected PNDs will allow people to explore more.  

Mio’s new connected PNDs will be based on the QST1100™ chipset from Qualcomm, the first solution to integrate application processing, GPS and cellular connectivity into a single chip for ubiquitous connectivity and sleeker form-factors.  The QST1100 chipset leverages Qualcomm’s gpsOne® technology for unsurpassed GPS performance.  The fully integrated gpsOne solution supports numerous modes of operation – including Assisted-GPS and Standalone-GPS as well as gpsOneXTRA™ Assistance technology for enhanced Standalone-GPS performance – and is the most widely deployed position-location solution in the world.  Currently, more than 300 million devices around the world leverage gpsOne technology for accurate, ubiquitous positioning capabilities.