Skypine and u-blox tighten relationship to offer best-in-class GPS navigation systems to major car audio brands

Thalwil, Switzerland – October 23, 2008 – u-blox today announced that Skypine, a leading Chinese Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) of car multimedia entertainment, has selected u-blox’ GPS solution u-blox 5 for its entire range of in-car GPS multimedia navigation systems. The two companies have worked together successfully since 2006 and as of today tighten their partnership to deliver fully integrated car navigation systems to manufacturers such as Clarion, JVC, Harman Kardon, and others. Skypine’s GPS navigation systems are sold to a wide variety of car models, enabling drivers across the world to navigate with ease.

Skypine’s compact in-car GPS navigation systems offer drivers a wide range of exciting navigation and entertainment features including LCD touch screen, DVD playback compatible with CD/MP3/WMA/JPEG, iPod-support and SD memory card. The navigation systems also offer Bluetooth for hands-free mobile phone operation, enabling safer driving while using the phone.

u-blox’ unique GPS receiver modules are integrated into Skypine’s car navigation systems and enable unmatched GPS performance, precision and accuracy. Within a few seconds, drivers can locate exactly where they are and which direction they need to take – across all environments, even in dense urban areas where it can be difficult to define the accurate position.

“The demand for high-performance and accurate GPS-enabled devices continues to rise throughout the automotive- and consumer-market,” says Alex Shi, CEO of Skypine. “We have been working closely together with u-blox since 2006 and have found their products to be clearly superior, both in quality and performance. The partnership we have with u-blox reinforces our ability to provide innovative navigation systems to the automotive market at record speed. Their strong product road map clearly was the success factor.”   

“We are extremely pleased that Skypine has recognized the benefits of our GPS solutions for their entire range of in-car navigation systems,” says Thomas Seiler, CEO of u-blox. “Bringing our extensive GPS knowledge into the automotive industry is part of our business strategy. Through the partnership we can drive our shared vision of offering drivers the best navigation experience available in the market and improving their individual driving experience.”