Meade Launches Hand-Held, Interactive Multi-Media Guide to
the Night Sky
Point-and-Click Feature Lets Users Find and Identify Celestial
Objects With Ease
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 2, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Exploring the night sky and connecting with the stars will be made both easy and entertaining with Meade Instruments' (Nasdaq:MEAD) recently released handheld, interactive multi-media guide, mySKY(tm). This lightweight product lets users discover and learn about more than 30,000 celestial objects in its database. Users can simply point mySKY at an object in the night sky, click the trigger and experience the universe. Images, video and audio descriptions can be accessed through its LCD screen and ear buds, making mySKY unlike anything else on the market. With an introductory price of $399, mySKY will allow everyone to connect with the cosmos like never before.
"For children and adults, hikers and teachers, mySKY offers everyone a fun and portable way to interact with the night sky and discover the excitement of astronomy," said Steve Muellner, president and CEO of Meade Instruments. "Our telescopes help to bring the universe closer to people of all ages and backgrounds, and now with mySKY, every person can easily learn about what they are viewing."
mySKY works right out of the box by automatically calculating the user's time, date and location to accurately identify planets, stars, constellations, galaxies and more. Users can select objects they want to learn about or participate in a custom guided tour that takes them through a step-by-step voyage of the universe, directing them to celestial points of interest according to their time and location, and displaying the objects on an LCD screen.
For the astronomy enthusiast, mySKY is fully compatible with Meade's line of computerized telescopes, making it easy to control the movements of the telescope remotely with the handheld device. After an object is selected using mySKY, users can direct the connected Meade telescope to automatically center the object in the eyepiece for a close-up view.
mySKY also features colorful presentations highlighting stunning astrophotography, educational audio descriptions, videos, mythology, folklore, sky maps and fun facts. Sandy Wood, the familiar voice of StarDate -- a national astronomy radio program -- provides audio commentary as part of the product's multi-media database. To account for future astronomical discoveries, mySKY also has the capability to download updates from the Web.
Other noteworthy features of mySKY are its 12-channel GPS receiver, 480x234 pixel, full-color LCD display and a 256 megabyte SD storage card.
"mySKY is an excellent purchase because it combines the elements of entertainment, excitement and education," says Muellner. "Whether a gift idea or a personal treat, mySKY provides families with a great alternative to television and video games, and offers the chance to find answers to those inherent questions about the universe."
ABOUT MEADE INSTRUMENTS
Meade Instruments is a leading designer and manufacturer of optical products including telescopes and accessories for the beginning to serious amateur astronomer. Meade offers a complete line of binoculars that address the needs of everyone from the casual observer to the serious sporting or birding observer under the Meade(r), Bresser(r) and Simmons(r) brand names. Meade also offers a complete line of riflescopes under the Simmons(r), Weaver(r) and Redfield(r) brand names. The company distributes its products worldwide through a network of specialty retailers, mass merchandisers and domestic and foreign distributors. Additional information on Meade is available at www.meade.com.
The Meade Instruments logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4241
To preview the mySKY experience or for more information, visit www.meade.com/mysky.