01/30/2008, 10:25pm, EST
Wednesday, January 30thGarmin hits iPhone directly with Nuvifone
Garmin Wednesday night surprised the cellphone industry by taking its own leap into smartphones. The Nuvifone aims both to compete with the iPhone as well as to bring Garmin's experience with GPS navigation to the forefront. Almost entirely controlled by a 3.5-inch touchscreen interface, the device centers around its native GPS unit: in addition to straightforward navigation, a host of Google apps allow it to search for local businesses, check traffic, and view nearby weather. Any photos or videos taken with the built-in camera are automatically geotagged for positioning in location-based services.
The GPS maker also seeks to improve on areas underserved by its current rival at Apple. In addition to Wi-Fi, the Nuvifone connects to the Internet through a 3G HSDPA connection with AT&T or other worldwide networks. This helps with multi-network instant messaging (including Google) and easy access to GMail, according to the company. It also supports MMS media messaging in addition to SMS texting.
Garmin will preload the Nuvifone with North American maps that store "millions" of points of interest and plans to ship the phone during the summer of this year. Neither a price nor carriers have been identified, though the phone's quad-band GSM and use of HSDPA point to an American release either paired with AT&T or as a separate, unlocked device for use with any provider.
Filed under: iPhone, gadgets
Other story tags: Google, GPS, Garmin, Nuviphone
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And with all the focus on the GPS-ness, makes you wonder how good a phone it is.
Doesn't have Google Maps or they would have mentioned it, so I have to think (until more info comes along) that this thing is aimed strictly at people who want to combine a GPS and a phone, nothing much more than that. Seems limited compared to the iPhone ... so far.
What version of the iPhone? Since there is no indication of when it will be released and what it's actual feature set is, how can it be said to be a iPhone competitor? At least it wasn't labeled a iPhone "killer." Yet.
There's not much info here, but I'm definitely interested.
Cool, but no media player? Photo geo-tagging can be done with my 1.5 year old iPAQ hw6945, what’s new? Some nice applications but lacks a lot others.
Ok, so I’ll put another grain to comparisons then. Stock went down 10% and someone went down over 30%. Some are getting new products out and others are losing to unblocked devices (remember it was a more expensive than the public cost device but subsidized by carrier, meaning hardware itself really loses money if not sold with a 2 year expensive contract).
So comparisons start to get boring!
I'd like to see if GoogleMaps on this unit could show your current position.