Garmin Nuvi Phone
An even more elusive beast than Google Android, Garmin’s Nuvi Phone was a disappointment. Granted, it’s the company’s first phone, but I was expecting more than an industrial design mock-up, and a device under glass that couldn’t be demonstrated or handled.
First impressions? It has a nice heft, and the velveteen paint job gives it a luxurious feel in your hand. However, the software, when compared with products from Nokia, Apple, or Microsoft, has a decidedly old school look and feel. Moreover, Garmin positions this as first and foremost a navigation tool, which means that media capabilities that you may enjoy on other devices will be absent - by design. When asked about Nokia’s new navigation software and their claims that pedestrian navigation is the new frontier, Garmin was quick to dismiss the concept, saying that pedestrian navigation maps do not yet exist.
Hmmm… I’ll take a look again when the device finally releases, but so far it seems a little underwhelming.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Thanks a lot for the coverage. Not sure if you saw my request before or after posting this. Nice timing.
L8er - Martin
February 17th, 2008 at 8:16 am
[...] kit. As you may recall, based on the conversation I had with Garmin reps at the show, I was pretty dismissive of nüvifone. The booth reps positioned it as a navigation device with telephony, and downplayed media [...]
March 31st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
This is actually Garmin’s 3rd phone. The first was an analog AMPS phone that included GPS, Maps and the ability to exchange position information with another phone or a server. The 2nd phone was a European GSM device.
Not knowing about the previous phones makes the research look a little sketchy.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:01 am
the telefono looks gooded I like the slim look like 2 punkins in abatch of watermelons I give 4 stars and wipe my hands with the paper you thank you
April 7th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Garmin has assembled the engineering power to get this right. The next level of all in one. Click you touch screen phone in the car mount and are using a the familiarity of a nuvi with handsfree phone features. Google local with make the 3.5G browser so relevent on the move. The iPhone is awesome, best thing yet - Let’s hope Garmin does not go down the proprietary road Apple is so fond of.