Mio Technology Ltd. has introduced to the North American market its GPS pocket PC, the Mio168RS. The new handheld device is a fully functional Pocket PC featuring their newest mapping system that is fully interoperable with the built-in GPS antenna and navigation system.

The Mio 168RS is a small and light (112.8 mm x 69.6 mm x 16.3 ~ 24.15mm, weighing 147g) Pocket PC based on an Intel Xscale 300 MHz processor and Microsoft Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition. The bundled software includes Microsoft's Pocket Outlook, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Media Player and Pocket Internet Explorer programs.

The new Pocket PC comes with 32MB Flash ROM and 64MB SDRAM. The display is a 3.5" color Transflective LCD with LED Backlighting, 240 x 320 pixels capable of showing 65K colors. The device also comes with a SD/MMC card slot, compatible with the SDIO standard. Infrared supports IrDA (SIR) and Consumer IR (CIR, 4 meters).

Ready to go from the box and instantly on with the touch of a button, the Mio168RS provides on the spot GPS satellite access, easy navigation with millions of points-of-interest (POI). The antenna can be closed behind the device and kept in place while the GPS is not in use. Point-to-point driving directions are given verbally and visually in real time as users are in route to their destination with turn-by-turn directions.

Designed as an independent GPS navigation system, the Mio168RS requires no monthly subscription fees, installation or setup fees and is ready to use as a GPS navigation system the moment it arrives. The suggested price at launch for the standard Mio168RS is US$599.