Routeplanners: SatNav & GPS News

The new Mio H610 is due out in October 2006 in Europe. Beyond the GPS functionality the H610 is also a 3D gaming-capable Portable Media Player (PMP).

Design
The Mio H610 attracts the attention. It�€™s cute, smart and charges with a standard mini-USB connector. The faceplate is customisable, a must-have for �€œcool�€� personal devices.

Highlights

Fast
After playing with it for two weeks, �€œfast�€� is how I define the Mio H610. It�€™s much more reactive than other GPS units like the Pharos 525.

Fast graphics
Navigation being a real-time application, it�€™s normal that users expect the device to react quickly. They will love the H610: it has a fast scrolling, zooming and panning.

Better destination selection
Mio did a really good job with their new destination selection interface. There is a list of �€œrecently selected cities�€�, that is so useful! Most GPS system don�€™t have it and it�€™s *very frustrating* to enter the same city name each time. The software is also quicker to propose street names than other navigators.

Smooth graphics
The Mio is the first GPS (that I know of) that uses �€œanti-aliasing�€�, a technique that smoothes the image.

3D gaming capable
Not only the Mio H610 has integrated games, but one of them is a 3D game. It�€™s a futuristic racing game like �€œWipe Out�€� called Flux. Gaming performance is better than any other GPS that I know of, but it�€™s still a long shot from a PSP.

Road Test
So how is it to use the Mio H610 on the road? Installation is easy �€“ it uses the same mounting system than the Mio C310/C710. Once turned on, the time to first GPS fix (cold start) is 2 or 3 minutes, which is longer than expected.

The maps are very good looking: sharp & crisp. Although the display has a standard 240×320 resolution many people thought that it was 640×480, thanks to the use of anti-aliasing. The colour scheme is also very nice and there�€™s a night-time colour scheme too.

While cruising on the road some users may fin the map difficult to read because of the screen size (2.7�€�). On a technical note TomTom are will be launching a new range based on 2.8″ screens

If you miss a turn, the GPS will recompute a new road. It stalls for a couple of seconds while doing this �€“ nothing out of the ordinary.

Entertainment
With a fast CPU (400Mhz), the Mio H610 is certainly capable of playing music and video clips. However, it�€™s not the media capabilities that are interesting �€“ a lot of devices can do it. It�€™s the combo size/power/design that makes it different and useful. It is small enough to be a personal device and fast enough to handle multimedia tasks.

We tested the device with MP3 and video files and both were working very well. For the video, I recommend avoiding anything beyond 300Kbps to keep the frame rate stable.

Provided that you have enough storage for your needs, the Mio H610 will be a good PMP.

Almost perfect
The Mio H610 is extremely cool, but it is not yet perfect. The software is new and needs a few consistency improvements. I think that there are too many icons on the main display, making it hard to click while driving. The number of icons also leads to smaller icons making each (again) are hard to click on.

The display is very reflective and can be hard to read in bright conditions, especially when something bright is reflected. I recommend rotating the display slightly (towards the passenger�€™s seat) to avoid having the reflection of your hands in the screen.

Conclusion
The Mio H610 is the coolest GPS that we�€™ve played with so far. If you have a good vision it will be a great companion in the car and elsewhere. If not, you can still use it in �€œpedestrian mode�€�. Its navigational skills would almost make us forget that it is also a good flash-based Portable Media Player. What is certain is that the Mio H610 is a desirable gadget: virtually every person who touched it said: �€œI want one!�€�.

Specs

SiRFstar III GPS chipset
64MB RAM
2.7�€� colour display
SD/MMC memory slot
1300 mAh Li-ion
3.88oz (110g)
2.32�€� x 3.35�€� x 0.74�€�
In the box
Remote control earphones
In-car charger
AC charger
Device holder
Car mount
USB cable
Application CD + maps on a DVD
Wrist strap with stylus
Neck Strap

Source: UberGizmo