Research programmes undertaken by Leica Geosystems and IBM have yielded two new high-performance marine devices. The first is the MX 421, which is powered by IBM's leading-edge silicon germanium (SiGe) integrated circuit technology and is the first new commercial GPS/DGPS receiver designed to provide optimum accuracy and reliability for demanding shipboard applications. The second device is the Leica MK40 GPS chart plotter that provides a combination of an advanced high-accuracy GPS receiver, built-in C-MAP NT vector cartography and a high-resolution direct sunlight-readable screen.