Garmin International, a Global Positioning System (GPS) vendor, has selected Motorola, Inc.'s second-generation DragonBall MXL applications processor for its upcoming GPS-enabled products, including those that will run the Palm OS 5 platform.

"We selected the DragonBall MXL chip because of its strong capability for real-time applications enabled by the ARM9 microprocessor core and the rich set of peripherals and features integrated by the Motorola design team," stated Cliff Pemble, director of engineering for Garmin International.

According to Motorola, the DragonBall MX family has already delivered to customers significant power management savings ranging from two to eight times better battery life compared with competing solutions. "Motorola brings high performance and low power to a less expensive and higher volume class of portable devices," commented Max Baron, principal analyst for In-Stat/MDR. "The MXL's pin and software compatibility with MX1 will present a strong argument in favor of scalability and future continuity for Motorola's DragonBall MX family of processors."

Motorola said the DragonBall MXL architecture integrates system components on a chip to achieve the lowest power consumption for consumer applications in a wireless environment. An additional feature of the DragonBall MXL processor is its LCD controller that the company claims lowers the overall system cost and the clock frequency, leading to longer battery life and improved display performance.

The DragonBall MXL device is expected to sell at a suggested price for low volumes of $10.30 each. The company excepts Application development boards from Metrowerks to be available by the end of the year, and full volume production is planned for the first quarter of next year.