Garmin-Asus, after what looked like an eternity to come up, has finally officially announced the Nuvifone in Asia. That’s right! The company revealed that the Nuvifone G60 and M20 phones will soon mark their presence in Asia. The phones will offer a perfect blend of navigation and location based services.
The Nuvifone series will suit the needs of users’ seeking an LBS-centric touchscreen phone packaged with a mobile web-browser and personal navigator. The touchscreen display includes three primary icons ‘Call’, ‘Search’ and ‘View Map’. By simply swiping the fingers across the display users can scroll through the icons. They can also view the screen in either Portrait or Landscape orientation with the integrated accelerometer.
“We can’t wait for our customers to start using a nüvifone.†mentioned Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “Our lives are all about location. The nuvifone is designed around that premise and that’s what differentiates it from the myriad of other phones on the market.â€
“Whether it’s talking and navigating simultaneously, geo-tagging a photograph or navigating to an address on the web, the nuvifone seamlessly links navigation with other commonly performed activities,†added Benson Lin, Asus Vice President and General Manager of Handheld Business Group.
Both the models comprise of a 3 megapixel camera with auto-focus and geo-tagging capabilities. The G60 functions on Linux OS and is 112 x 58.1 x 14.6 mm in size. Moreover, the M20 is functional with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS which is upgradeable to WM 6.5 and is 95.3 x 52.5 x 12.8 mm is size. In addition to A-GPS, the device is outfitted by a real GPS receiver with hotfix. This helps users to constantly get directions at their fingertips even when they are not in the network area.
The G60 and M20 feature a full HTML browser and Wi-Fi or 3G networks. Thus, users can easily surf the web with their handsets. They also include 3.5G data connectivity, SMS text messaging, email, and much more. Just like Garmin’s Nuvi product line, the phones also include millions of preloaded points of interest including hotels, restaurants and street addresses.
TheG60 is already available in Taiwan and will release in Singapore and Malaysia by the end of August, 2009. As for Europe and the US, the phone is expected to release in the second half of 2009. The M20 is slated to reach Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia in August and Europe in the second half of 2009. Details about pricing, availability and carriers will be announced in the coming months.
