Mio to bring Spirit-based GPS units to CES

Mio will bring the Spirit interface from its recent Navman units to US shores next week, the company says on its corporate blog. The company provides few details itself but has revealed the OS in the past to support touchscreen features that are normally unavailable on other navigators, such as dragging interface elements on the screen, displaying geotagged photos, and 3D representations of not just landmarks but also complex junctions.

The hardware itself isn't detailed but is said to be a "next generation" of Mio devices rather than a single model, suggesting that it will include more than just a conversion of the Navman S100. The device may nonetheless provide a clue as to the direction of American Mio devices and has a flush, 4.3-inch touchscreen as well as MP3 playback and voiced street names. Details should be available with the formal start of CES on January 8th. [via GPS Tracklog]

Navman S100