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After its introduction almost two years ago and after numerous delays, Garmin and AT&T announced on Tuesday the upcoming availability of the Garmin Nuvifone G60.

The Nuvifone G60 will be sold in stores and online starting October 4 for $299 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. For the price, you're getting a smartphone with full GPS capabilities, including preloaded maps of North America, millions of points of interest, and voice-guided directions.

Just like Garmin's standlone portable navigation devices, the G60 will also feature the company's "Where am I?" feature that shows you your coordinates and the nearest address, intersection, gas station, hospital, and so forth in case of an emergency. Customers will also be able to get Premium Connected Services, which include real-time traffic, fuel prices, weather, white pages, movie info, and local events for an additional $5.99 per month after a 30-day trial.

The smartphone also offers a full HTML browser and is 3G-capable. You can also get online with Wi-Fi and access AT&T's 20,000 hot spots around the country. There's also a 3-megapixel camera with geotagging capabilities and 2GB of user-available memory with a microSD expansion slot (up to 16GB). Physically, the Nuvifone G60 measures 4.4 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.57 inch thick and features a 3.5-inch WVGA resistive touch screen and 2.5mm headset jack.

As far as the smartphone part, the Linux-based G60 offers standard personal information management tools (Calendar, 5,000-entry address book, notes, alarm clock, etc.), document viewing, and support for Hotmail, Gmail, AOL mail, POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts. For the full list of features and specs, you can check out Garmin's Web site.

Now, that it's official and we have a launch date, what do you guys think? Anyone interested in getting one? Or would you rather stick with a standalone GPS or use a location-based service like TeleNav with a GPS-enabled smartphone or cell phone? Let us know!

Sprint defies the slow economy by buying prepaid giant Virgin Mobile for $483 million, and its exec admits that it needs to "let go." We then chat about Android, the Palm Pre vs. iTunes debacle, the Garmin Nuvifone going to Asia, our weekly reviews, and more. And, of course, we answer a few of your questions, too. Be sure to check out our live video stream every Wednesday at 2 p.m. PST on live.cnet.com!

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Though I know that the Garmin Nuvifone actually exists--I have held it in my hand--I'm beginning to think it's like the proverbial carrot held over a poor horse's head. Every time we think we're getting closer, the GPS phone magically recedes farther into the distance.

Twice Mobile reported last week that Garmin President and COO Cliff Pemble announced yet another delay for the handset. During a first-quarter earnings conference call, Pemble said the phone should now go on sale in the second half of this year, which would make it a year late. Pemble said that building the phone is proving to be difficult. "Smartphones are complicated and bringing one to market that's built totally from the ground up on a custom Linux platform is not an easy task," he said.

We first heard about the Nuvifone more than a year ago and we got our first glimpse of a prototype at the GSMA World Congress in February 2008. At the time, Garmin promised that the phone would be out at the end of last year, but last July the company delayed it until the first half of 2009. Then last February, we got our first hands-on with the Nuvifone after Garmin announced a partnership with Asus to produce a series of Nuvifone models.

As the first half of the year is ticking to a close, we were wondering if Garmin would make good on it's last word. Sadly, that's not the case, but we hope that it won't happen again.

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60, M20 hands-on photos

Editor's note: This blog initially misspelled the name of Garmin's president and COO. The actual spelling is Cliff Pemble.

(Credit: Garmin)

On Wednesday, Garmin and Asus announced a strategic alliance to develop and distribute co-branded GPS-enabled smartphones to be known as the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone series. This includes the original Garmin Nuvifone, which was introduced over a year ago, and will now be rebranded as the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60.

The partnership isn't a strange one, considering that Asus has been working on the original Nuvifone for over a year as the ODM (original device manufacturer). Both companies still plan to ship the Nuvifone G60 in the first half of 2009. In addition, Garmin-Asus said it will offer several Nuvifone models this year--all of which will continue to focus on GPS and navigation features, though it was not clear whether they would all run the Google Android operating system.

In fact, Garmin-Asus plans to introduce its next device at the Mobile World Congress, which runs February 16-19 in Barcelona. Both Kent German and I will be there, so we'll definitely keep you updated with the news, photos, and video. I'm also hoping to press the company for a more definite release date for the Nuvifone G60. I mean, come on already!

Official screenshot of Garmin Nuvifone's home screen.

(Credit: Garmin)

We are starting to see more and more signs that the Garmin Nuvifone is real and not just a figment of our imagination. Announced almost a year ago, the first smartphone for the GPS manufacturer just recently received FCC approval and now Garmin has released a media gallery of Nuvifone interface screenshots, including those for the navigation app, Google Local, the Web browser, calendar, and e-mail.

The user interface looks snazzy and pretty intuitive, but of course, it's hard to say without playing with the actual device. We're hoping that we'll get to see the Nuvifone in action at CES 2009 (and not under a glass case), but in the meantime, you can check out the full gallery of screen shots on Garmin's Web site.

The company also released a clarification in response to an article published by DigiTimes on December 22, which you can read more about in CNET News Managing Editor Jon Skillings's story. The DigiTimes report made reference to the Nuvifone and the fact that Garmin plans to release Google Android handsets, but to be clear, the Nuvifone will not run Google's Android operating system. Instead, the Nuvifone is based on a modified version of Linux.

However, a company spokesperson did confirm that Garmin, which joined the Open Handset Alliance in early December, is working on a Android device, stating, "We do have an Android-based phone under development; however, we are not releasing any additional information about that product at this time." The Garmin Nuvifone is slated to be released in the first half of 2009. Stay tuned for more.

(Source: GPS Tracklog via Boy Genius Report)

If you've been waiting for the Garmin Nuvifone, you're going to have to wait a while longer or perhaps start looking at some alternatives. Wednesday, the GPS manufacturer announced that its first smartphone will be delayed till the first half of 2009, though it was expected in Q4 2008. According to Garmin, the delay is because of "carrier specific requirements" that makes it necessary for the company to go back and make changes to the handset. An official carrier has not been named, but many believe that it will be AT&T.

Even with this delay, the Garmin Nuvifone faces an uphill battle as more and more smartphones come out with integrated GPS. AT&T, for example, already has six GPS-enabled smartphones on the market, including the AT&T Tilt, Samsung BlackJack II, and Apple iPhone 3G. The technology isn't unique anymore so it will really come down to the navigation software. Garmin's certainly has the experience having been in the GPS business since 1989, so let's hope the Garmin Nuvifone is worth the wait.

What would you pay for the Garmin Nuvifone?

(Credit: Engadget Mobile)

It's no secret that the Garmin Nuvifone is one of the most anticipated smartphones of this year--partly because of its killer feature set (GPS with full navigation, 3.5-inch touch screen, quad-band world roaming, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, 3-megapixel camera, and so on) and partly because everyone wants to see if Garmin can actually pull this off. However, what has remained a secret is the carrier and pricing, or at least, until now?

According to a story from Engadget Mobile, one of its readers received a customer survey from Garmin asking, "Now, how likely would you be to buy the Garmin Nuvifone (for yourself or as a gift) if offered by AT&T for $499.99 with a two year contract? You would be required to have both a data plan that would include unlimited Internet browsing and unlimited Navigation for $19.99 per month and one of the standard voice rate plans for a monthly fee." Zoiks! What? OK, it's not so much the carrier we're surprised about (AT&T is HSDPA ready, T-Mobile isn't--simple as that) but $500? Seriously? The AT&T Tilt offers pretty much the same features for $299.99.

Now, Garmin is probably just testing the waters and again, this all speculation at this point, but we're thinking it's going to get a lot of "no, thank yous" for that price. Which begs the question: What's a fair price? What would you be willing to pay for the Nuvifone?

I saw it. I saw the coveted Garmin Nuvifone--well, through a glass bubble anyway. Garmin made the trek to Barcelona to showcase its first smartphone at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2008. The Nuvifone, which was introduced at an event in New York a couple of weeks ago, already has people buzzing and drawing comparisons to the Apple iPhone. So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw it at the Mobile Focus event the other night. Unfortunately, the only working model was sealed under a clear bubble. I was able to get my hands on a nonworking model to get a feel for the design, while CNET TV's Ariel Nunez got some footage of the main screen.

Superficially speaking, the iPhone doesn't have to worry about much. The Nuvifone has a nice, solid construction with a soft-touch finish. However, it is thicker and, from what we could see, the touchscreen and user interface doesn't quite have the flash and appeal of the iPhone. But hey, beauty only gets you so far, right? We'll be anxious to see how it performs when the Garmin Nuvifone becomes available in third quarter on 2008. For now, you can check out the First Look video (right) to get a closer look at the 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?