T-Mobile today quietly cut prices permanently on some of Samsung's Android devices unusually early. Its version of the Galaxy Tab is now the least expensive of any US carrier when attached to a contract, dropping $50 to $350. The Vibrant has itself dropped down to $150 on similar terms.
ASUS and Garmin today formally declared the end of their phone partnership but left room for collaboration and for expansion of Garmin's smartphone efforts to the iPhone and other platforms. Under the new deal, ASUS will make phones by itself in the future but will use Garmin GPS apps on its Android phones for "a couple of years," according to ASUS' mobile lead Benson Lin. Garmin will continue to sell and support devices like the Garminfone and nuvifone G60, but it won't launch new models.
T-Mobile contributed to concerns about ASUS and Garmin today by quietly dropping the price of the Garminfone from its original $200 to $130. The discount still needs a $50 rebate but appears to be permanent rather than a short-term sale. It follows just a month after the phone reached stores and is rare for any new device.
ASUS earlier today denied claims the Garminfone was selling poorly at T-Mobile. The Taiwan firm said shipments were as planned and that it had "positive demand," but didn't provide numbers. Morgan Keegan analyst Yair Reiner had estimated from visits to 50 T-Mobile stores that ASUS and Garmin shipped just 20,000 Garminfones since they went on sale in early June.
T-Mobile on Tuesday announced that it will offer a Father's Day promotion on Saturday, June 19 where all phones in its stores will be free. As long as customers sign up for a new family plan or add a line to an existing family plan on a two-year contract, they can get both regular and smartphones without any cost beyond the service. Handsets will be available only on a first-come, first-serve basis.
T-Mobile this afternoon locked in the launch details of the Garminfone. It should reach stores on June 9, a week later than some rumors had suggested. The Android mapping phone unveiled back in April will cost $200 when attached to a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate.
Garmin has finally disclosed launch details for its Garminfone handset, which will ship next month on T-Mobile for $199. The device is based on the company's nuvifone A50, however the nuvifone's feature phone OS has been placed with Android.
Garmin today unveiled its first true American smartphone today by launching the Garminfone with T-Mobile. The adaptation of the nuvifone A50 runs Android rather than the original nuvifone's feature phone OS and gives it the full Google OS while layering on Garmin's traditional GPS navigation interface. Like a nuvi, it provides full spoken turn-by-turn directions and comes with a dash mount.
