Mio Launches Moov S556 PND

You may (or may not) remember Mio’s last big announcement: its Knight Rider GPS unit, which launched last year to minimal fanfare. Today the company announced the more feature-rich and relevant Moov S556 personal navigation device. The S556 offers a rather large 4.7-inch display and a brand new, “uncluttered” user interface that Mio claims will help its customers reach any of the 12 million points of interest quicker. The simplified menu offers eight initial home screen choices: Explore, Find, Go, Music, My Places, Petrol, Settings, and Traffic. The S556 also offers eight preloaded WCities, which offer information on local dining spots, accommodations, shopping locations, and city-specific entertainment spots. If you need to make a call on the road, you can do so using the device’s Bluetooth support for integration with your phone book. Mio intends to provide users with a few bells and whistles on the S556 that will actually help drivers, instead of unnecessary ones like a video viewer, that won’t actually assist anyone trying to get from point A to point B. While $299 is a bit steep, if the device is as simple to use as Mio claims, users will appreciate its features as much as they’ll appreciate the sleek design and large display. We’ll bring you our impressions after we get a full hands-on.