Traffic conditions, gas prices, local weather updates, movie times and more to be available on Garmin GPS devices.

Today at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft Corp.’s Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) Group announced the availability of MSN^® Direct navigation services and announced that Garmin International Inc. will be the first to offer the new MSN Direct service to Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. Customers will be able to receive dynamic local information, including weather condition and traffic updates, movies listings, and gas prices.

Microsoft SPOT also announced plans to work with future versions of Microsoft^® Streets & Trips and Pharos Science & Applications Inc. to offer MSN Direct Navigation Services to their devices. In addition, Microsoft SPOT is working with Centrality Communications Inc. to integrate MSN Direct with its GPS reference designs, one built around Centrality’s Atlas-III processor and a second one for the higher-end multimedia Titan processor.

The MSN Direct service is delivered through Microsoft’s DirectBand™ Network, a cost-effective and power-efficient system for wide-area wireless data delivery that covers more than 70 percent of the U.S. population.* The network transmits content every two minutes to enable consumers to receive current and relevant information while on the go.

“Our network is ideally suited for delivering a wide variety of personalized location-based services at a low cost to the mobile consumer. We are proud to be working with industry leaders to continue the evolution of the SPOT vision of making everyday objects smarter through technology,” said Eric Lang, general manager of the SPOT initiative at Microsoft. “We are showing new and exciting technologies and devices at CES this year, and are pleased to have greatly enhanced and expanded our suite of products.”

Microsoft Shows New Garmin Products, Reveals Plans to Work With Other GPS Device Leaders
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