Unveiled at the London Boat Show, it is totally waterproof, drop resistant (to Mil Standard 850F compliance) and comes complete with a long life Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack and AC/DC charger. The unit incorporates a GPS and a full range of C-Map marine electronic charts is also available to plug directly into the unit's mini-SD slot. It can be used with an existing SIM card, so there's no need to purchase a new one, and will operate with Maptech charting or any other software designed for the Windows Mobile platform.

Maritime safety is at the heart of Airo's operation. The unit includes a distress button: this, when activated, sends a distress message with the last GPS position over the GSM network directly to a Digital Yacht call centre, which offers 24-hour monitoring. Messages can be sent in voice, text or email format to the user's specification. The operating system is based around the familiar Windows Mobile format and so incorporates all the normal functions, such as web browsing, email and cut-down versions of Microsoft Office products, including Word and Excel.

Digital Yacht will launch a series of push data services in 2008 including automatic delivery of weather and navigation information to Airo users, together with a polling function so that the unit can be tracked and the device's position displayed through a secure web interface. An optional onboard fitting kit is available together with external antenna and cradle. The Airo Pocket PC sells for £599 including VAT, and is available now.

Digital Yacht Ltd
T: 0870 121 3080.
E: sales@digitalyacht.co.uk
W: www.digitalyacht.co.uk