Consumer Electronics Daily News

EA Launches Foto Face: The Face Stealer Strikes Allowing Players To Get Their Game Face On – Literally!

Players Become the In-Game Hero in Adventure to Save Stolen Identity

 

 Electronic Arts, Inc. today announced the launch of Foto FaceTM: The Face Stealer Strikes, a new Nintendo DSiWare™ title that gives players the ability to put themselves into the game and sends them on a wild, adventurous quest to reclaim their own stolen identity. Leveraging the unique features of the Nintendo DSi™ system, players use the camera and microphone to capture their face and voice to become an in-game character. Foto Face: The Face Stealer Strikes will be available on the DSiWare store in North America from today, November 30th, and in the rest of the world from Friday, December 4th.

“Foto Face: The Face Stealer Strikes is a great example of how EA is pushing the boundaries of innovative and creative gameplay,” said Harvey Elliott, Vice President and General Manager Casual, EA Play Label. “By using Nintendo DSi features such as the camera, we’ve significantly deepened the experience by allowing players to personalize the adventure in fun and quirky ways that will deliver hours of entertainment.”

 

After capturing their picture and recording their voice, players can choose to switch between the eight hero costumes throughout the game, from a muscle-bound barbarian to a slick spy or a sneaky ninja. The adventure unfolds as players discover that their identity has been stolen by the arch villain, The Professor. They will need to track him down across 15 action-packed levels, each loaded with memorable characters-- both friend and foe. Players will face many challenges along the way as they try to clear their name including battling baddies across the Haunted Hills, collecting stars throughout the Frantic Frontier and solving platforming puzzles in the Mystic East.

Adding to the fun is the ability to capture the expressions and voices of more than 20 friends, family, pets or literally anything – players will be limited only by their imagination – all of which become part of the in-game world. Players can also share their Foto Face antics by uploading in-game snapshots directly onto Facebook® from the Nintendo DSi Camera.

“Foto Face: The Face Stealer Strikes is not a traditional gaming experience,” continued Elliott. “We believe there are two key viral components, firstly the enormous fun that people will have putting their friends’ faces into the game, and secondly going to Facebook to check out all what other people have done with the character creation tool.”

Foto Face: The Face Stealer Strikes was developed by EA Bright Light, the same studio responsible for the creation of EA’s blockbuster Harry Potter™ videogame series. It will be available for download on the Nintendo DSi Shop for 800 Nintendo DSi Points from November 30th in North America and December 4th in the rest of the world.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA Mobile™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies.

For more information, visit Electronic Arts.

Silex Provides Atheros AR6002 802.11a/b/g Wireless SDIO Modules For Low-Power, Ultra-Compact Embedded Solutions

New Modules Provide a Near-Zero Power Utilization Solution for Wireless and Mobile Devices

 

 Silex Technology America, Inc., a global leader in product networking solutions, today announced two products that support 802.11a/b/g wireless technology. The products are the SX-SDPAG, a surface mount module, and the SX-SDCAG, a SDIO card module.

These products are among the first Atheros AR6002-based wireless-SDIO solutions to be delivered to the market. They are designed for OEMs who need a highly compact wireless radio/baseband solution with low power consumption.

As an Atheros Authorized Design Center (AADC), Silex can provide turnkey integration services for these products, ranging from hardware design and manufacturing to driver and supplicant development support.

The core wireless solutions are based on an Atheros AR6002 single-chip design. Silex solutions include all major components necessary to implement 802.11a/b/g wireless connectivity including a radio, baseband processor, power amplifier, low pass filter, band pass filter, crystal and a built-in EEPROM. The AR6002’s power-efficient chip design draws very low standby power and has nominal impact on battery life even in active mode.

The SX-SDPAG is designed to be directly mounted to an OEM’s printed circuit board, while SX-SDCAG comes in an SD card form factor. Both solutions are desirable for adding cost-effective wireless connectivity in low power, battery operated, mobile devices such as medical devices and mobile printers.

According to a recent report by ABI Research, the global market for Wi-Fi-enabled healthcare products will grow by 70 percent over the next five years, to an estimated $4.9 billion in 2014. The ongoing initiative for healthcare reform from the U.S. government is expected to further accelerate adoption of wireless technologies in various healthcare mobile applications.

"These two new products further enhance our ability to support the growing demand for wireless and mobile devices in various arenas including the medical industry,” said David Smith, president of Silex Technology America. "Our customers are typically OEMs who service markets that leverage the wireless technology found in PCs, PDAs and mobile phones with much lower annual volumes. Our role is to ensure that such niche segments are adequately offered the latest Atheros technology together with our unique software options."

Eric Cheong, senior director of sales for Atheros, said, "Over the past five years, Silex has demonstrated valuable wireless software know-how by delivering a number of breakthrough solutions using Atheros products. Silex’s unique offering combined with flexible hardware supply capabilities will help us further expand our global customer base."

SX-SDPAG and SX-SDCAG are expected to be available for shipping in late December 2009. To find out more, please contact Silex Technology by calling 801-748-1199, or visiting: http://www.silexamerica.com.

About Silex Technology America

Silex Technology, Inc. is an embedded network technology company specializing in local area network and wireless technologies providing software, modules or turnkey products. As the world’s leading supplier of print servers, Silex Technology is leveraging its technology and know-how into new applications as well as developing new technologies to meet the expanding need for connectivity for consumers and business users. Silex Technology has regional offices for sales, marketing and development in Japan, U.S., Germany and China. Silex Technology is vertically integrated to support the customer from design to production maintaining the high quality standard. Silex Technology is listed on JASDAQ (6679). 

For more information, visit Silex Technology America.

OKI Group Becomes Industry’s First To Develop 1.1 Inch QVGA High Brightness LED Display

Featuring Clear Daylight Visibility, Fast Response, and Lower Power Consumption

 

 OKI Digital Imaging Corporation, a subsidiary of OKI Data Corporation, a subsidiary that develops, manufactures, and markets LEDs, today announced it has succeeded in developing a 1.1 inch QVGA (1) LED display while reducing power consumption to one-tenth that of conventional LCDs.

This achievement is the direct result of a new company technology that enhances luminance efficiency, based on refinements of its proprietary Epi Film Bonding technology (2) that permit two-dimensional deployment.

This new technology applies the company’s proprietary Epi Film Bonding technology to mount thin-film LEDs onto a metal board in a manner permitting high reflection and radiation.

Featuring the world’s first 65-micrometer pitch between LED chips, this LED display also realizes high density to deliver high-definition images while maintaining diminutive dimensions. Since it is self-illuminating, the new display features faster response, more compact dimensions, and lower power consumption than LCD displays that require a separate light source. It also features high contrast (over 5000:1) for high visibility even in bright daylight.

OKI Digital Imaging will manufacture the LED display at the newly-acquired LED manufacturing facility in Gunma prefecture, Japan. Shipments of samples are expected to begin by the end of fiscal year 2010.

“The new technology has made it possible for us to develop a groundbreaking LED display that provides high definition images while maintaining compact dimensions,” said Hiroshi Kikuchi, President of OKI Digital Imaging. “The development of the world’s first thin-film-bonding technology in 2006 marked a significant milestone for the OKI Group. As shown by today’s announcement, that technology laid the foundations for continuing developments in LEDs. The OKI Group plans to leverage the expertise and technical knowledge accumulated over 20 years of experience with LED printing to develop new technologies in other areas and to expand its LED-related businesses.”

[Glossary]

1. QVGA : Quarter Video Graphics Array
2. Epi Film Bonding Technology

Developed for LED printer printheads, this technology enables thin films to be released and bonded to dissimilar materials. The OKI Group is the world's first company to achieve high-volume production of LED printheads based on this technology, which enables higher density semiconductors and multi-layers, contributing to low power consumption devices. The OKI Group has long believed that this technology will open doors to the development of various innovative compound circuit ICs.

Names of companies and products are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.

About OKI Digital Imaging Co., Ltd.

Established in 1999, Oki Digital Imaging Co., Ltd. designs, develops manufactures and markets LED devices and LED array on board, and LED print heads, which are the key parts of printers, facsimiles, to the worldwide market. As a member of the OKI Group, Oki Digital Imaging Co., Ltd. plays a major role in the group. The company’s website is located at http://www.odij.co.jp/index_en.html.

About OKI Data Corporation:

OKI Data Corporation, which markets its products under the OKI Printing Solutions brand, specializes in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing business printing solutions which empower organizations to communicate more effectively. OKI Data Corporation has representation in 120 countries worldwide offering innovative and leading edge products and services. OKI Data Corporation is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based OKI Electric Industry Co. Ltd.

For more information, visit OKI Data Corporation.

GSI Technology, Inc. Introduces Revolutionary Next Generation SRAM Architecture

— New Products up to 50% Faster Than Nearest Competitors —

 

GSI Technology announces the availability of SigmaQuad-IIIe™ and SigmaDDR-IIIe™, two new SRAM products whose revolutionary architecture provides the ultimate in system performance, reliability, and flexibility for applications that require a high random address rate. They are specifically designed to meet the growing memory requirements of networking systems—the backbone of the Internet.

"To most of the world, 'fast memory' means high bandwidth data, while in SRAM circles it has typically meant low latency," said David Chapman, Vice President of Marketing and Applications Engineering for GSI Technology. "But today, networking system designers need something more. The IIIe family delivers more, including the first memory product ever that can sustain continuous fully random read and write transactions every single nanosecond.

"This sort of capability is terribly important to those wishing to measurably enhance the performance of networking systems," noted Chapman. "And because these parts allow designers to solve problems directly rather than through increasing architectural complexity, these SRAMs help cut development costs and improve our customer’s time-to-market. Although improvement in random address rate — the measure of how often a new fully random access can be executed in a memory device — is sure to be seen as the biggest contribution of this product family, the series also includes the highest bandwidth SRAMs available on the open market and the most complete set of signal integrity improvement tools SRAM users have ever had."

Performance

At 625 MHz, the new 72Mbit Type–IIIe products feature the market’s fastest available Burst of 4 operation, which is 14% faster than the nearest competitor, and the market's fastest Burst of 2 operation, which is 50% faster than the nearest competitor. Packaged in a 260 BGA with checkerboard power and ground pin out, these devices deliver both high transaction rate operations and very high data bandwidth with dramatically improved signal integrity to control system noise. Additionally, new features have been added to ease host memory controller design and reduce Soft Error Rate (SER).

GSI’s SigmaQuad/SigmaDDR-IIIe devices offer both obvious and subtle improvements over previous generations of Quad and DDR SRAM products. An improved input clocking scheme provides the ability to optimize input setup and hold times in a variety of board layout schemes and an improved output clocking scheme provides a more consistent and therefore a wider data output valid window. In addition, user-configurable output echo clocks can be centered or edge-aligned. There is also a selectable read pipeline length to maximize input clock frequency. Another feature is highly robust input termination available on all synchronous inputs to minimize signal reflections.

Availability

GSI Technology's 72Mbit SigmaQuad/SigmaDDR-IIIe products are sampling now. Multiple application notes and a white paper are available. For more information on GSI’s 72Mbit SigmaQuad/SigmaDDR-IIIe products go to http://www.gsitechnology.com/SigmaIIIe.htm or contact your local sales representative at http://www.gsitechnology.com/sales.htm.

About GSI Technology

Founded in 1995, GSI Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of high performance SRAMs primarily incorporated in networking and telecommunications equipment. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, GSI Technology is ISO 9001 certified and has world-wide factory and sales locations.

For more information, visit GSI Technology.

Wintegra Announces Sampling Of The WinPath3 Processor Family

WinPath3 devices support 10-Gigabit Ethernet, offer rich I/O connectivity at low power and leverage the large installed base of WinPath software

Strengthening their processor offering, Wintegra announced today that their third generation processor family, the WinPath3, is now sampling to selected customers around the world. This new processor significantly extends Wintegra’s reach in the access infrastructure. It offers performance 5 times that of the previous generation of Wintegra processors and provides the foundation for market leading products in Wireless Base Stations, Mobile Backhaul including IP and microwave, and broadband access. Wintegra also has the broadest set of production quality software and extensive collateral and design assistance enabling rapid time to market for WinPath based infrastructure solutions.

“Wintegra, a perennial leader in the access processor market, has significantly broadened its product offering with the WinPath3 family,” said Bob Wheeler, Senior Analyst at The Linley Group. “With its strong software offering, and now with a 5 times increase in performance over its previous generation devices, Wintegra has compelling and scalable solutions for Mobile Backhaul, LTE Base Stations, and Carrier Ethernet.”

For technical details on the WinPath3 see the following press releases:

Wintegra Launches New Wireless Processor and Wintegra Announces Next Generation Carrier Ethernet Processor.

“The availability of WinPath3 is a significant milestone for Wintegra," said Kobi Ben-Zvi, Founder and Wintegra CEO. “Our vision to become the market leader in access infrastructure processing plus our continuous investment in protocol processing software and high performance, low power family of processors has resulted in a wide range of system solutions unmatched in our marketplace.”

WinPath3 devices are sampling now to major Tier 1 customers, with production qualified devices to be available in 2Q 2010. WinPath3 based Development Systems are available as well.

About Wintegra

Wintegra is a leading provider of access processing semiconductors enabling the delivery of new services for the evolving communications network infrastructure. Wintegra-based solutions are used in a wide range of networking and communication platforms such as wire-line and wireless infrastructure, and access routers and are used by many of the leading equipment manufacturers worldwide.

For more information, visit Wintegra.

Sprint Nextel Receives All Regulatory Approvals For iPCS, Inc. Acquisition

 

Sprint Nextel Corp.  announced that it has received all regulatory approvals needed to complete the acquisition of iPCS, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPCS). On Nov. 24 the Federal Communications Commission approved the transfer of the spectrum license held by a subsidiary of iPCS. On Nov. 23 the Public Service Commission of West Virginia granted the joint petition of Sprint Nextel and iPCS for prior consent and approval of the acquisition and ownership of iPCS by Sprint Nextel. No other state public service commission approval is required to satisfy the conditions to the tender offer. In addition, on Nov. 10 the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period applicable to the transaction expired.

All other terms and conditions of the previously announced tender offer for all outstanding shares of the common stock of iPCS, which is being conducted through a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sprint named Ireland Acquisition Corporation, remain unchanged. The iPCS board has unanimously recommended that the iPCS stockholders accept the tender offer, tender their shares of iPCS common stock in the tender offer, and if necessary, adopt the merger agreement. The tender offer is scheduled to expire at midnight EST today, Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Upon the successful closing of the tender offer, stockholders of iPCS will receive $24.00 in cash for each share of iPCS common stock tendered in the tender offer, without interest and less any required withholding taxes. Following the completion of the tender offer and merger, iPCS will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sprint Nextel.

Sprint Nextel anticipates that the acquisition will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009.

ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 48 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2009 and the first and only 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company’s customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell securities. The tender offer is being made only pursuant to the offer to purchase, letter of transmittal and related material that Sprint Nextel and Ireland Acquisition Corporation filed with the SEC with the tender offer statement on Schedule TO and mailed to iPCS stockholders. In addition, iPCS has filed with the SEC and mailed to iPCS stockholders a solicitation/ recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the tender offer. These documents, and any amendments thereto, contain important information that should be read by iPCS stockholders. These materials may be obtained free of charge from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the information agent for the tender offer, at (800) 549-6746 (toll free) or (212) 269-5550 (collect). In addition, all of these materials (and all other tender offer documents filed or to be filed with the SEC) are available at no charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

For more information, visit Sprint.

Crave Entertainment Announces The Release Of Winter’s Tail For The Nintendo DS

Interactive Game is Based on The Scholastic Book By The #1 New York Times Best-Selling Team of Craig Hatkoff And His Daughters Juliana and Isabella

 

 Winter’s Tail Combines Entertainment with Education to Bring to Life the Inspiring True Story of How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again

 

 Crave Entertainment, the full-service publishing and distribution division of FillpointSVG, one of the videogame industries’ leading providers of online distribution, fulfillment, and e-commerce services for national retailers, today announced the release of Winter’s Tail for Nintendo® DS. Based on the Scholastic book of the same name, Winter’s Tail is “Rated E” and available at major retailers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

In Winter’s Tail, players follow the true story of Winter, the famous dolphin who injured her tail in a crab trap. Winter is rescued but she must learn to swim again without her tail. Thanks to the wonderful team at Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Hanger Prosthetics, Winter is now successfully swimming with a prosthetic tail. The game includes the true interactive storybook based on the latest Scholastic book authored by Craig Hatkoff and his daughters, Juliana and Isabella Hatkoff. Winter’s Tail also includes a collection of mini-games, all reinforcing themes that out of tragedy and trauma come stories of resiliency and hope. This Nintendo DS game includes special accessibility options to allow enjoyment by children with motor skill and other physical challenges. Winter’s Tail is an iParenting Media award recipient.

“By partnering with the authors of the Winter’s Tail book, as well as the team at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, we were able to craft a unique gameplay experience that is entertaining and presents kids with meaningful life lessons,” said Betsi Gijanto, executive vice president, Crave Entertainment. “Winter’s Tail is the perfect fit for parents looking for that feel-good purchase.”

“My daughters Juliana, Isabella, and I feel very strongly about the heroes we choose to highlight in our books,” said Craig Hatkoff, co-author of the Winter’s Tail book. “We are always thrilled when we are able to touch readers with these amazing true stories and open their eyes to the miraculous world around them. Seeing Winter and her story actually come to life on DS for the first time was an incredible feeling for each of us.”

For more information about the Winter’s Tail book and videogame, please visit http://www.winterstail.com/.

About Crave Entertainment

Based in Santa Ana, California, Crave Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of FillpointSVG, is a full-service video game publisher for Wii™, Nintendo DS™, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

About FillpointSVG

Headquartered in Malta, New York, FillpointSVG is a leading provider of direct-to-consumer fulfillment services, distributor and e-commerce solutions for videogame hardware, software, accessories and PC software for national retailers and software publishers.

For more information, visit Crave or FillpointSVG.

Pandemic Studios Announces ‘Mercs Inc’

All—New Entry in Popular ‘Mercenaries’ Franchise Begins Development at EALA

 

Pandemic™ Studios, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., announced that an all-new game in the studio’s popular Mercenaries™ franchise is in early stages of development at EALA. ‘Mercs Inc’ (working title) is the latest entry in the action series first made popular by Mercenaries in 2005 and most recently by Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™. Mercs Inc will be the first Pandemic game to be developed by the studio at its new home in Playa Vista. Mercs Inc will also be the first Pandemic game released after the launch this December 8th of the award-winning World War II action-sandbox game, The Saboteur™.

“We are very excited to announce a new instalment in the popular Mercenaries series because it demonstrates our continued commitment to Pandemic’s rich catalogue of intellectual properties,” said Nick Earl, Senior VP and Group General Manager at EA. “From the studio at EALA, a core creative team is forging new ground and conceptualizing new ideas for this exciting franchise.”

The most imminent release from Pandemic Studios is the action sandbox game, The Saboteur which ships on December 8, 2009. The Saboteur stars Sean Devlin; a street-tough Irish race car driver trapped behind enemy lines in 1940s Nazi-occupied France. Motivated by revenge, Sean fights, climbs, and races through open-world Paris, sneaking into the heart of the Nazi operations and sabotaging their every move. The Saboteur will be available for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox360® video game and entertainment system, and the PC. The Saboteur has been rated M by the ESRB with the following as descriptors: blood, intense violence, nudity, sexual themes, strong language. More information about The Saboteur, can be found at http://www.thesaboteurgame.com.

Platform(s) and ship date for Mercs Inc not announced. This game is not yet rated by the ESRB.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA™, EA SPORTS™, EA Mobile™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

For more information, visit EA.

1st National Processing Announces Mobile Merchant Pro for iPhone, iPod Touch, & BlackBerry

Launch Promotion Offers Free Credit Card Processing Applications for Mobile Phones

 

1st National Processing announces its Mobile Merchant Pro™ line of credit card processing applications for mobile phones. The Mobile Merchant Pro debut includes solutions for the iPhone™, and iPod® Touch in addition to a Free BlackBerry® mobile payment application.

Mobile Merchant Pro is a point of sale application that allows mobile merchants to process credit cards real-time on their mobile phones. With support for both Authorize.Net™ and PayPal™ Web Payments Pro, merchants have a choice by using their existing payment gateways, or use one provided by 1st National Processing.

1st National Processing, having supported the needs of Mobile Merchants for over 20 years, created the Mobile Merchant Pro line to expand a merchant’s ability to accept credit cards anywhere. These mobile solutions were created to address the credit card processing needs for consultants, contractors, photographers, plumbers, locksmiths, livery drivers, insurance agents, tradeshows, and the Arts & Crafts vendor communities.

The iPhone version of Mobile Merchant Pro is currently available for download via the iTunes™ application store at $19.99 or Free with a new Merchant Account through 1st National Processing.

Mobile Merchant Pro for the BlackBerry is a full feature FREE application currently available for download at www.mobilemerchantpro.com and coming soon to the BlackBerry Application store. Mobile merchants who currently process credit cards using a supported gateway can benefit immediately as nothing further is required.

“The iPhone and BlackBerry solutions are just the beginning for us and I’m excited about the value we’ll be passing on to the mobile merchant community,” said Michael Di Giovanni, President of 1st National Processing. “As for our Free BlackBerry solution, it’s a great way of supporting our existing customers and serves as a terrific introduction to those who aren’t yet familiar with 1st National Processing.”

More information regarding the iPhone, Blackberry, and pending Android™ and Palm® Pre™ versions can be found on the Mobile Merchant Pro site at www.mobilemerchantpro.com and the 1st National Processing site at www.1nbcard.com/mmp.

Mobile Merchant Pro features include:

• Simple, and elegant interface
• Free Application (iPhone version Free w/ Merchant Account)
• Authorize.Net® and PayPal® Web Payments Pro Gateway support
• Email receipts
• Add additional transaction notes including customer contact or invoice detail
• Comprehensive online reference guide
• Fraud Protection including Address Verification (AVS) and Card Security Codes (CVV2, CVC, CID)
• Immediate feedback on approved or declined charges
• Credit Card Numbers are not stored on the device keeping your customers card information secure.
• Customer information is encrypted and sent over a secure SSL connection.
• Complies with PCI DSS & PABP (Payment Application Best Practices)

For more information, visit 1st National Processing.

TomTom Unveils Two New GPS Devices For Black Friday

 

TomTom provided further details today on the full range of features available in two new TomTom devices highlighted in Walmart’s Black Friday specials. Both devices are designed for effortless navigation from A to B, guiding drivers door to door with spoken instructions, including “text to speech” for spoken street names.

The TomTom ONE 125 SE features:

• 3.5 inch touchscreen in a slim, lightweight device;
• Preloaded maps of the US;
• Spoken instructions, including “text to speech” for spoken street names;
• Preloaded Points of Interest: millions of points of interest enhance the travelling experience and help users easily find gas stations, hotels, restaurants and more;
• Award-winning Fold and Go EasyPort® Mount, that easily folds to fit in any bag or shirt pocket.

The TomTom XL 325 SE features:

• Extra wide 4.3 inch touchscreen;
• Preloaded maps of the US;
• Spoken instructions, including “text to speech” for spoken street names;
• Preloaded Points of Interest: millions of points of interest enhance the travelling experience and help users easily find gas stations, hotels, restaurants and more;
• Award-winning Fold and Go EasyPort® Mount, that easily folds to fit in any bag or shirt pocket;

Both products also feature:

• TomTom Map Share™ technology, which helps users instantly modify street names, street direction, points of interest and more on their devices and benefit from corrections made by others;
• 30 Day Latest Map Guarantee: if a new map is released within 30 days of purchase, users can download it for free at TomTom HOME;
• TomTom “Help Me!” menu and extensive safety features, giving users direct access to safety and emergency services information;
• Traffic ready (optional service): RDS-TMC traffic receiver accessory keeps drivers up-to-date on traffic events to minimize potential delays;
• Fuel Prices (optional service): helps users find the lowest priced gas along the way;
• TomTom HOME, a free desktop application keeps users’ devices up-to-date at all times. New maps or software versions can also be downloaded.

Both products are available exclusively at Walmart starting on Black Friday, which begins in Walmart stores at 5:00 AM Friday, November 27, 2009.*

About TomTom

TomTom NV (AEX: TOM2) is the world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps. TomTom NV has over 3,300 employees working in four business units – TomTom, Tele Atlas, Automotive and WORK.

TomTom's products are developed with an emphasis on innovation, quality, ease of use, safety and value. TomTom's products include all-in-one navigation devices which enable customers to navigate right out of the box; these are the award-winning TomTom GO family, the TomTom XL and TomTom ONE ranges and the TomTom RIDER. Additionally, independent research proves that TomTom products have a significant positive effect on driving and road safety.

Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power some of the world’s most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers digital map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The Automotive business unit develops and sells navigation systems and services to car manufacturers and OEMs. TomTom WORK combines industry leading communication and smart navigation technology with leading edge tracking and tracing expertise.

TomTom NV was founded in 1991 in Amsterdam and has offices in Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. TomTom is listed at Euronext Amsterdam in The Netherlands. 

For more information, visit TomTom.