(Click here for a larger view of the Neo 5G)

The Neo 5D and Neo 5G come in 16mm x 12.2mm packages with 24 pins. They're said to use the same U-blox 5 positioning engine as U-blox's prior GPS products. However, where some of the company's earlier modules need to be used with an external flash EPROM, the Neo 5D and 5G incorporate their own onboard ROM, which reduces cost for high-volume consumer products, the company says.

The 5D and 5G offer U-blox's "AssistNow" technology, claimed to enhance the TTFF (time to first fix) to one second. The 5G adds "KickStart" technology that reportedly boosts acquisition of weak signals, plus an SPI interface. The modules both offer a UART, a USB interface, I2C, and claimed tracking sensitivity of 160 dBm.

Thomas Nigg, Vice President Product Marketing at u-blox, says, "With the rising consumer expectations for smaller and more feature-rich portable devices with longer battery lives, we wanted to develop a GPS module that consumes the lowest possible power. "While all alternative solutions operate at 3 Volts, our new modules support the commonly used 1.8 Volts in mobile devices. By doing so, the power consumption of the GPS module can be reduced by 40% or more."

Windows compatibility

Huaqiang's NAVO N2043 runs Windows CE and a U-blox GPS chipset (Click image for further information)

U-blox made no specific claims about Windows CE or Windows Mobile compatibility for the new Neo 5D and 5G. However, GPS receivers are generally cross-platform, interfacing with a host operating system via their serial interfaces. Additionally, U-blox technology has already been adopted in Windows CE devices, such as the Huaqiang NAVO N2023 PND (personal navigation device) released earlier this year.

Microsoft's MapPoint 2009 with GPS Locator
(Click to enlarge)
Last month, Microsoft released MapPoint 2009 with GPS Locator, a product bundling mapping software with a GPS-equipped USB stick (shown above). The device, designed to be plugged into computers running Windows Vista or Windows XP, uses the U-blox 5 engine, according to U-blox.

Further information

According to U-blox, the Neo 5D and 5G are sampling now in both 1.8 Volt and 3 Volt versions, though pricing was not released. Further information may be available from the company's website, here.

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