Garmin-Asus, a co-branded alliance between Garmin® Ltd. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. , announced that the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 will go on sale in Taiwan on July 27, and in Singapore and Malaysia by the end of August. Also in August, the Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20 will go on sale in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
“We can’t wait for our customers to start using a nüvifone,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “Our lives are all about location. The nüvifone is designed around that premise and that’s what differentiates it from the myriad of other phones on the market.”
“Whether it’s talking and navigating simultaneously, geotagging a photograph, or navigating to an address on the web, the nüvifone seamlessly links navigation with other commonly performed activities,” said Benson Lin, Asus Vice President and General Manager of Handheld Business Group.
The Navigation Phone
The Garmin-Asus nüvifone series is a breakthrough product line that integrates navigation and location based services (LBS) like no other phone in the market today. It is ideal for those seeking an all-in-one, LBS-centric touchscreen phone, mobile web-browser and personal navigator. The nüvifone G60 and M20 have touchscreen displays that feature three primary icons – “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map.” Customers can easily scroll through the other icons by swiping their finger across the displays, and a built-in accelerometer allows every screen to be viewed in either portrait or landscape orientation.
Navigate Wherever, Whenever
The nüvifone G60 and M20 come with preloaded maps of North America, Eastern and Western Europe, or specific Asia-Pacific regions. Since the maps reside on the nüvifone, customers will receive turn-by-turn voice-prompted directions to millions of destinations without accessing their carrier’s data plan. The nüvifone G60 and M20 utilize a real GPS receiver with hotfix, in addition to A-GPS(assisted GPS), so that customers always have directions at their fingertips, regardless of if they are in their provider’s coverage area.
Just as with Garmin’s acclaimed nüvi® product line, the nüvifone series has millions of preloaded points of interest (POIs) including hotels, restaurants and street addresses. The POIs can be easily accessed for turn-by-turn voice prompted directions. If a turn is missed along the route, the nüvifone G60 and M20 will automatically recalculate a route and get the user back on track. The nüvifone also offers a “Where am I?” feature so that users will know their exact latitude and longitude coordinates, nearest address, intersection, hospital, police station and gas station with one touch of the screen. And to help them find their car in an unfamiliar spot or crowded parking lot, the nüvifone automatically marks the position in which it was last removed from the windshield mount. The nüvifone comes with a unique suction cup mount cradle that fastens to the windshield and will also charge the device while it is being used.
Connect and Communicate
Although navigation is a key component of the nüvifone series, the devices do more than “just navigate.” Both the nüvifone G60 and M20 incorporate top-of-the-line phone capabilities with premium features such as 3.5G data connectivity, SMS text messaging, email, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and more.
1-large-V3The nüvifone G60 and M20 have a full HTML browser that customers can easily zoom in or pan with their finger, and pages may be viewed in either portrait or landscape. Users can surf the web on their phone via Wi-Fi or 3G networks, and the pages are presented similar to a PC browser.
Everything You Need
Customers will also enjoy the benefit of location-based services seamlessly integrated with nüvifone’s intuitive user interface and turn-by-turn navigation. Users can supplement the preloaded POI data with internet enabled local searches and automatically navigate around traffic congestion while seeing the estimated traffic delay along their route. Other services include weather, gas prices, flight status, local events, movie times, Ciao!™and more (content pricing and availability may vary by country).
The nüvifone G60 and M20 include a built-in camera with auto-focus. The camera automatically geotags images with an exact latitude and longitude reference of where the image was taken. The user may then save the image so they can navigate back to the location, or email the geo-tagged image to others. The nüvifone also provides direct access to millions of geo-located landmark and sightseeing photographs available through select picture sharing site, which are searchable and are sorted by the distance from the current location.
Price and Availability
The nüvifone G60 will be available in Taiwan on July 27, and in Singapore and Malaysia by the end of August. The nüvifone G60’s distribution strategy for the Asia-Pacific market will differ by country. In Asia, it will be available through carriers and retail channels. The nüvifone G60 is on schedule for delivery in Europe and the United States in the second half of 2009, and additional details about pricing, availability and carriers will be announced in the coming months.
The nüvifone M20 will be available in August in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. The nüvifone M20’s distribution strategy for the Asia-Pacific market will differ by country. In Asia, it will be available through carriers and retail channels. The nüvifone M20 is on schedule for delivery in Europe in the second half of 2009, and additional details about pricing, availability and carriers will be announced in the coming months.
Source: Garmin