Puts Real World GPS Access Within the Reach of Consumers
WELLINGBOROUGH, England — New "In-View" Pocket PC N-911 set to shake-up market for GPS consumer products
Sarantel, a leading innovator in the design and manufacture of miniature antenna for portable and mobile wireless devices, has been selected to supply its global positioning system (GPS) antenna to d-Media Systems Company Ltd. d-Media Systems, a leading consumer products firm in Taiwan, will integrate Sarantel’s GeoHelix GPS antenna into the new version of its "In-View" Pocket PC N-911 product.
Sarantel’s GPS antenna will enable the "In-View" Pocket PC N-911 product to offer GPS functionality for the first time by offering accurate positioning in a range of difficult and hostile environments, helping users to plot routes and locate services quickly and easily. The new PDA has a 260K color LTPS LCD and SD I/O slot for Internet access, and is also equipped with an array of GPS features, including detailed maps, points of information and directional information. Targeting the consumer and automotive market, the new PDA will be launched in August for distribution in US and Europe.
d-Media Systems opted for the GeoHelix antenna because of its small size, high sensitivity and consistent performance. Daniel Shih, d-Media’s Executive Vice President said, "Consumers are increasingly aware of the benefits of GPS, and GPS navigation is an important new feature for our PDA. With the Sarantel antenna, we can provide reliable GPS access in a lightweight, easy to use portable device. The size and consistent performance of the GeoHelix antenna make it possible for our product to be both a mounted in-vehicle device and hand-held PC."
"This is the first time Sarantel’s GPS antenna is being used in a multifunctional consumer PDA," said David Wither, Sarantel’s CEO. "Based on this and more PDA design wins on the way, we’re totally confident our GeoHelix antenna is quickly becoming a standard antenna for hand-held consumer products offering GPS capability."
Joe Murray, Sarantel’s President Asia/Pacific remarked: "We’re delighted to partner with d-Media. Applying the GeoHelix antenna to this PDA will shake things up in the GPS consumer products world. Because Sarantel’s antenna is small & streamlined, it compliments the look and feel of d-Media’s slick, easy to use PDA. Our success with d-Media shows how Sarantel can help PDA and hand-set makers combine attractive, user-friendly product design with superior GPS performance."
Sarantel’s success with this d-Media win was supported by SPK Electronics Co., Ltd., which was appointed by Sarantel last November to accelerate its rapidly expanding business in Taiwan. The "In-View" Pocket PC N-911 will be launched in August for distribution in America and Europe.
About d-Media
Established in Taipei, Taiwan in 1996, d-Media Systems is a leading ODM in the design and development of hand-held mobile platforms and digital electronic devices. The company also specializes in perfecting Data Streaming Technology. D-Media launched the first 260K colors LTPS Pocket PC in late 2003. This new version of its Pocket PC not only expands its core business in mobile devices (PDA, Smart Phone), but also shows the company’s strength in mobile device system integration and GPS solutions.
About Sarantel
Sarantel Limited is a dynamic, young company that develops and manufactures a new generation of miniature ceramic antennas for wireless communications. The antennas benefit mobile wireless products in the GPS, Wireless LAN, Satellite and voice telecommunications markets. Based on 20+ years of research and development, the company has over 200 worldwide patents and manufactures this enabling antenna technology for all facets of the rapidly growing global telecommunications markets. The parent company, Sarantel Ltd, is based in Wellingborough, England, with subsidiaries in Washington state, USA (Sarantel Inc) and in Singapore (Sarantel Asia Pacific).
The company has a strong engineering team and has leading edge laser and robotic manufacturing facilities in the UK. It sells products both directly and via distribution channels in over 150 countries and is implementing a high volume manufacturing facility in China via partner relationships. Please visit http://www.sarantel.com for further information.