Garmin unveils Nuvifone

Garmin Nuvifone

(Credit: Gizmodo)

Garmin makes GPS devices. Garmin makes navigation software and accessories for cell phones and smartphones. Garmin makes cell phones...wait, what? Yep, you read right. Today, the GPS manufacturer took the wraps off its first smartphone at a press event in New York: the Garmin Nuvifhone. It's a GSM/HSDPA mobile that runs on Garmin's own operating system and focuses on, no surprise, navigation. The device will come preloaded with maps of North America (or Eastern or Western Europe for all our international readers) and points of interest. In addition, it offers turn-by-turn voice directions, Google Local Search integration, and Garmin's "Where I am?" safety feature, which displays your coordinates, closest address and intersection, and nearby emergency services.

The Garmin Nuvifone also features a 3.5-inch touch screen, a Web browser, and e-mail capabilities. It's multimedia-friendly with MP3/ACC/MPEG4 support and a built-in camera/camcorder. It also has access to Google's Panoramio picture sharing site, where can search through geo-located photos. The Nuvifone will be available some time in the third-quarter, but no specifics on dates or pricing. We're still getting details on this smartphone and will report them to you as they come in but any initial thoughts?

[seamonkey420]

curious to see what garmin has to offer..

a fresh face might be a good thing... i'm curious to see how their UI looks..

their ui's for their other gps devices seems rather intuitive so hopefully the phone will be the same.. plus, we konw for a fact that the GPS software in the phone will be the best thus far in a mobile.. (or it should be since it is garmin!)

send me a prototype and i'll let you know! :P

peace
seamonkey420

[kristimetz74]

Looks very promising

I can't wait to find out more. It sounds very promising. And, it is cute as a button!

[chris hallett]

Looks Nice!

[chris hallett]

Looks Nice!

As an owner of the Garmin Ique 3600 pda, I've always told people "If it had a phone, I'd marry it". Well...... sorry dear;-(

[haiku328]

Nuvi phone

The problem i have is that its all touch screen. I avoided the iphone for the very same reason after using the Motorola a1200 in asia. Having a qwerty keyboard is essential for business related tasks. That is why I love my Crackberry Curve even without all the bells and whistles

[daaboss]

Golf GPS with intelligence?

Garmin mentioned last year that they were going to offer a new device that will offer Golf Course navigation along with street navigation. So is this the new device they were alluding to? Now Garmin needs to input all of the lakes and obstacles into their golf course navigation software so an electric golf cart could follow you around without dumping into a lake or a sandtrap! (am I dreaming?)

[robertgknight]

A PDA that's not a clunker

I like the looks of this too, I've been looking for something like this that's thin with big screen. I hope it does other things well cause I don't really need mapping. :-)

[sniperkj]

If you don't need mapping then just don't buy it and move on.

[Gigagrunt]

HTC Touch Cruise

I am sure some of have heard of the HTC Touch Cruise. It already has GPS and Tom Tom software built in and Windows Mobile 6.

[abcyesn]

I doubt this phone could be an iphone killer at all, so it doesn't work $499 according to http://www.Garmin-Nuvifone.org, this phone might not survive with this price.

[eyepoker]

spam links

[Cube Over]

It must be really buggy and unstable since nobody gives it in to play with.