Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Fastrax GPS Technology Powers New Suunto X10

Fastrax, a provider of programmable GPS receivers and software solutions for original equipment manufacturers, brings GPS functionalities in the new wristop sports instrument by Suunto, the world leader in sports instruments. A successor of the popular Suunto X9i, Suunto X10 is one of the smallest and lightest wrist-mounted GPS devices in the market. It is a sporty wristop computer for active outdoor people, equipped with altimeter, barometer, digital compass, thermometer as well as GPS, to enable users to track their activity, route, distance and speed.

GPS functionalities in the Suunto X10 are based on Fastrax’s revolutionary, GPS antenna solution developed especially for very small devices and applications. The unconventional antenna solution enables receiving satellite signals in difficult conditions, such as heavy foliage, in shortest time with a high accuracy of position.

Fastrax used iSuite SDK GPS Software Development Kit for the Suunto design. Great part of the Suunto X10 functionality was implemented on the micro-controller of the GPS receiver. This ensures minimum power consumption and provides savings in the material costs. The result is a faster and more powerful device, with a battery life 33 % longer than in its predecessor.

"Building a GPS into such a small device is a task for true experts”, said Mr. Petteri Hernelahti, Outdoor Category Manager for Suunto. “High standards in quality and performance make us the leading manufacturer of sports instruments. To stay ahead in the game, we wanted to utilize Fastrax’s GPS expertise to develop an enhanced version of our flagship outdoor instrument”.

“The joint development effort clearly demonstrated how GPS can be utilised in consumer devices”, said Mr. Taneli Tuurnala, President and CEO, Fastrax. “The iSuite SDK is designed for high portability and easy application development, which resulted in short implementation time for X10. It has been an exciting journey to merge our leading-edge technology with Suunto’s sports and outdoor knowledge to produce this excellent device”.

iSuite 3 SDK is the only embedded GPS Software Development Kit available for multiple GPS chipset platforms. High portability and easy application development are enabled by the portable multitasking real-time operating system iSys OS, iSuite 3 SDK APIs, and the powerful and extensible iTalk communication protocol.

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