You might have seen a few tasty rumours doing the rounds this week online, alleging that Mio is to start pumping out an Android satnav, the MiBuddy. While we’ve got high hopes for the Google platform on the road, we have some bad news too: the reports are false. Read on for the full breakdown of what’s going on.
Reports across the web claim that Mio will release a new version of its current MiBuddy satnav, packing Android instead of Windows CE. That’s all good and well, but what’s a MiBuddy? It’s not something Mio has ever released.
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We put the claims to Mio UK, which flatly denied and denounced them with a statement from Mio’s parent company, MiTAC International Corp. The MiBuddy is a real product, but not an existing line, and you won’t be seeing it under the banner of Mio, or its sub-brand, Navman, any time soon:
“This is a formal announcement made by MiTAC International Corp. to clarify that all information connecting MiBuddy to the Mio brand is incorrect; MiBuddy has no connection whatsoever to the Mio brand. MiBuddy is a WiMAX specific project named “Explore Taiwan”, sponsored by the M-Taiwan program office of the MoEA (Ministry of Economic Affairs) and developed by MiTAC Inc.”
So there you have it: if you were hoping for a WiMAX powered Android satnav over here in the UK, your best bet is to start petitioning the Taiwanese government to fund it for you. Good luck with that, but we’ll let you know if any Mio or Navman devices adopt Android any time soon independently of this: Google has clearly shown it’s the perfect platform for PNDs, so you never know.
Out TBC | £TBC | Mio
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