McMurdo selects u-blox’ GPS solution for Personal Location Beacon for emergency use

Thalwil, Switzerland – May 26, 2009 – u-blox, the leading provider of GPS and GSM technology, is pleased to announce that McMurdo, a leading provider of emergency location beacons, has chosen u-blox as its supplier of embedded GPS receivers for its newest “FAST FIND” personal location beacon.

The FAST FIND 210, based on u-blox’ LEA-5A GPS receiver module, is the most compact and versatile emergency location beacon available on the market today. The device benefits from u-blox’ built in 50-channel GPS positioning engine to transmit a highly accurate location via the global COSPAS SARSAT 406MHz search and rescue satellite communication system. This enables professional rescue services to greatly reduce their search time and users can set off in the most remote locations, on land, at sea or in the air, and be confident of being able to alert rescue services directly if encountering life threatening situations.

“We are extremely pleased with the quality and performance of u-blox’ LEA-5A GPS receiver module featuring SuperSense® which functions accurately and reliably in the most challenging environments. Our FAST FIND 210 ensures that users call for help are located with in a few minutes regardless of weather or geographical conditions,” said Jeremy Harrison, Sales & Marketing Director of McMurdo.

”The FAST FIND 210 together with u-blox’ leading GPS technology offers users the best possible security device, particularly if an emergency occurs in a remote location where there is no mobile phone coverage,” said Karsten Tietz, VP Sales EMEA. “We are proud that McMurdo has chosen u-blox for this revolutionary life saving product and look forward to working with them in the future.”

The potential life saver, weighing 150 g and with dimensions of 34 x 47 x 106 mm, was successfully launched in February 2009 and has already been approved for sales in Europe and the US by federal standards.