Uniden Enters GPS Space

location based services

Portable Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have gained considerable popularity as accuracy has increased while pricing for quality devices has come down enough to appeal to a broader market. A well-known name is making its debut in this market in the fall of 2006.
Uniden America, a manufacturer of wireless consumer electronics, has announced its entrance into this arena and plans to launch a new line of GPS products, Uniden MapTrax.Larry Jones, senior director of marketing for Uniden, commented that with more than 40 years of experience in the consumer electronics industry and a solid understanding of consumers’ needs, Uniden’s debut into the GPS arena is a natural next step for Uniden, as a growing company, as well as its brand.Characterizing Uniden’s new GPS series will be compact designs, large displays and cutting-edge technology. Uniden will also offer new innovative features such as Bluetooth capabilities, text-to-speech navigation and pin point positioning accuracy down to three meters.All Uniden models will be powered by NAVTEQ and will feature TFT digital color LCD screens that automatically adjust between night and daylight viewable settings in accordance with the time of day.Uniden is positioning the product as having excellent picture quality in addition to the intuitive user-interfaces with EZ touch screens, a pre-loaded map of North America, two gigabytes of map memory, a windshield mount for easy use in the car, voice prompt and the fastest available processors for real-time accuracy.Uniden’s offering could possibly be the most comprehensive product as it provides access to up to 14 million points-of-interest in its new models. Uniden also leads the industry in offering navigational information for a wide-range of locations.Uniden’s portable GPS series is a full-featured product line that provides the largest GPS LCD screen in the industry at seven inches. Several of the series’ models will also feature user-friendly designs that provide an accurate navigation experience, such as external turn signals, text-to-speech navigation and WAAS mapping accuracy.Rich Tosi, president of Uniden America noted that his company is proud to honor its commitment in the consumer electronics industry with the introduction of this revolutionary new line of portable GPS navigation systems. Uniden’s rich history and extensive brand recognition in this industry has given the company the insight and the opportunity to expand into this new, growing category.Beyond the 2006 products, Uniden intends to introduce at least two additional new models to the GPS series in 2007.Uniden will certainly be able to capitalize on its proven name and experience in the wireless and consumer electronics industries to gain market share in the GPS space. Competitors will be watching and most likely, ready to highlight weaknesses in the products. While competing products may try to upstage the Uniden offerings, the company’s plans to consider exploring innovative offerings for future releases will enable it to acquire and maintain a strong position.-------Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.