Garmin enters the cell phone market with the nüvifone, a combination phone, web-browser and GPS device with a 3.5 inch touchscreen.
Not many specifics are available for the nüvifone, but it does seem to out-iPhone the Apple iPhone in at least a couple of areas: 3.5G connectivity and GPS. Geo-tagged photos will be courtesy of the included GPS and Google local search integrates with the built-in maps.
Some, such as Daring Fireball, are geo-tagging the nüvifone as vaporware, because of Garmin’s use of mockups, lack of details such as what OS will be used, which carrier and how the user interface works, etc. D/F might well be right, but except for the stock price, Garmin is doing well, is looking to expand out of dedicated GPS devices, plus the nüvifone is somewhat reminiscent of the Nvidia Quark Touchscreen Phone platform, which Garmin might have been able to leverage so as to be faster to market.
Garmin® nüvifone™ Takes Personal Navigation and Communication to the Next Level – press release, Jan 30 2008
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How’s Garmin doing these days? It seems like a neat company, but I haven’t heard much about them lately.
Garmin seems to be doing well. They have a whole raft of neat GPS products out now.
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