Do you love Garmin this much?

[RickM]

Should be interesting....




"Garmin® nüvifone™ Takes Personal Navigation and Communication to the Next Level

New York/January 30, 2008/PR Newswire — Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) and the world’s leading GPS manufacturer, today announced its entrance into the mobile phone market with the nüvifone, an all-in-one, sleek and slim, touchscreen device that combines a premium phone, mobile web-browser, and cutting-edge personal navigator. The nüvifone is a work of art in features, design and functionality and is destined to transform how individuals connect, communicate and navigate their life.

“The nüvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all.”

The nüvifone is an innovative mobile phone that has a wide range of advanced yet easy-to-use features. The all touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. When powered on, the 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons — “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map” which allow the user to effortlessly master the nüvifone’s functions.

The nüvifone is the ultimate multi-tasker. Calls are easily initiated by tapping the “Call” button and selecting a name from the contact list or by using the on-screen keypad. When the user is trying to juggle talking on their phone while entering their vehicle to start a trip, the nüvifone makes the transition simple. When the nüvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.

Customers familiar with Garmin’s industry leading nüvi® product line will feel right at home using the nüvifone’s personal navigation features. It includes preloaded maps of North America, Eastern and Western Europe, or both, and allows drivers to quickly find a specific street address, establishment’s name or search for a destination by category using the nüvifone’s built-in database with millions of points of interest. Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide the user to their destination. If they miss a turn along the route, nüvifone automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track, speaking the names of the streets along the way.

The nüvifone is Garmin’s first device to include Google local search capability, which harnesses the vast point of interest information available from the world wide web. Nüvifone users can search for locations like “coffee shops” and Google will sort the results based on the user’s current location and relevance. Information provided by Google includes a web-based rating so that users can select the most appropriate destination and route directly to it. In addition, the nüvifone includes a web browser incorporating premium features and touchscreen operation for an optimum mobile browsing experience. The nüvifone also includes personal messaging functions, including email, text, and instant messaging.

For the ultimate in safety, the “Where am I?” feature lets users touch the screen at any time to display the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. The nüvifone also helps drivers find their car in an unfamiliar spot or crowded parking lot by automatically marking the position in which it was last removed from the vehicle mount.

In addition to navigation, the nüvifone includes access to Garmin Online™, an online service offering constantly-updating information such as real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

The nüvifone also includes numerous mobile entertainment applications. The built-in camera allows individuals to take a picture that will automatically be tagged with the exact latitude and longitude reference of where the image was taken. The user may then save the image so they can navigate back to the location, or email the image to a recipient who can navigate directly to the location. The nüvifone also provides direct access to millions of geo-located landmark and sightseeing photographs available through Google’s Panoramio picture sharing site. The Panoramio photo search feature enhances the enjoyment and adventure of sightseeing in an otherwise unfamiliar location. Other multimedia functions of the nüvifone include a built-in video camera, MP3 and MPEG4/AAC.

Garmin anticipates that the nüvifone will be available in the third quarter of 2008. Specific details about pricing and sales partners will be announced in the future. Additional information about nüvifone is available at www.garmin.com/nuvifone."

[k9handler]

wow, good to see more competition in this market.

[Joeaksa]

Looks very interesting...

[onewhippedpuppy]

Looks pretty cool. The one big feature that many smartphones lack is GPS.

[MRM]

Don't see how it's much different than my year old Palm Treo that has GPS built in. You just have to pay for the service.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Looks pretty cool. The one big feature that many smartphones lack is GPS.

By design.

Problem is not a tech one.

The carriers all have "location services" that they want to bang you $'s for. Usually $9.95 per month so they disable the feature.

My BB has GPS built in disabled by Verizon.

My Nokia E62 was firmware crippled by AT&T to make using things like gmaps and gmail so frustrating that you did not bother. All so they could hit you up for extra cash.

They claimed that unsigned apps represented too great a security risk. Yeah, like an app from Google is a risk, only to AT&T's profit.

[island911]

Nice.

There is a difference between GPS and "location services." --orbit vs land based locators. The land based (cellular) towers have issues with reflections and such. This means you only get a general position. --not very usable for say driving.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by island911

Nice.

There is a difference between GPS and "location services." --orbit vs land based locators. The land based (cellular) towers have issues with reflections and such. This means you only get a general position. --not very usable for say driving.

I used the generic location services term to cover both tower triangulation as well as native GPS.

Although tower triangulation recently became active via gmaps on both my phones.

Not sure how they got around it but that's fine with me.

Agreed that it does not replace a proper GPS unit but it helps in a pinch.

Got kind of lost a few days ago and used it to determine my "current" position.

It allowed me to visually figure out my general location and where I needed to be to get back on track.

[island911]

Yeah, it helps in urban areas (multi towers) but a pinch would be out lost snowmobiling. One tower in range (maybe a reflection off a valley face) gives you squat for location.