Garmin nüvifone
Encyclopedia
The Garmin Nüvifone is a line of Internet
-enabled mobile phone
and personal navigation devices manufactured by a partnership between Garmin
and Asus
. It makes use of a touchscreen
with virtual keyboard
s and buttons
. The product was announced on January 30, 2008 and only a prototype (presumably not fully functional) was available at the time.
Nüvifone is a 3G
hybrid handset that can be docked into a vehicle mount.
Once snapped onto the vehicle mount, it can automatically kick in the embedded GPS navigation and simultaneously enable hands-free calls. It is featured with a geotagging
built-in camera that can help recipients of the geocoded photograph trace to where the photos were taken.
According to the first press release by Garmin, it was expected to be made available to market in the third quarter of 2008. A later speculation pointed to the second half of 2009.
In February 2009 it was announced that the Nüvifone would be launched as the Garmin-Asus Nüvifone G60, as part of a series of forthcoming Garmin-Asus Nüvifone devices. AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the Nuvifone.
The next device in the series was the Garmin-Asus Nüvifone M20. This has a 640x480 pixel VGA touchscreen, runs Windows Mobile
6.1, offers triband GSM/EGPRS + HSPA and WiFi connectivity, plus an accelerometer, a 3MP camera, 256MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM and 4GB (8GB in some territories) of storage. The processor is a Qualcomm
7200A chip operating at 528 MHz. It also links into Garmin’s Ciao! location-based social networking application.
In 2010, Garmin announced it will stop making nüvifones altogether.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-enabled mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
and personal navigation devices manufactured by a partnership between Garmin
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. , incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, is the parent company of a group of companies founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao , that develops consumer, aviation, and marine technologies for the Global Positioning System...
and Asus
ASUS
ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated is a multinational computer technology and consumer electronics product manufacturer headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Its product range includes motherboards, desktops, laptops, monitors, tablet PCs, servers and mobile phones...
. It makes use of a touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
with virtual keyboard
Virtual keyboard
A virtual keyboard is a software component that allows a user to enter characters. A virtual keyboard can usually be operated with multiple input devices, which may include a touchscreen, an actual keyboard and a computer mouse.- Types :...
s and buttons
Button (computing)
In computing, a button is a user interface element that provides the user a simple way to trigger an event, like searching for a query at a search engine, or to interact with dialog boxes, like confirming an action.-Description:A typical button is a rectangle or rounded rectangle, wider than it is...
. The product was announced on January 30, 2008 and only a prototype (presumably not fully functional) was available at the time.
Nüvifone is a 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
hybrid handset that can be docked into a vehicle mount.
Once snapped onto the vehicle mount, it can automatically kick in the embedded GPS navigation and simultaneously enable hands-free calls. It is featured with a geotagging
GeoTagging
Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes or RSS feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata...
built-in camera that can help recipients of the geocoded photograph trace to where the photos were taken.
According to the first press release by Garmin, it was expected to be made available to market in the third quarter of 2008. A later speculation pointed to the second half of 2009.
In February 2009 it was announced that the Nüvifone would be launched as the Garmin-Asus Nüvifone G60, as part of a series of forthcoming Garmin-Asus Nüvifone devices. AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the Nuvifone.
The next device in the series was the Garmin-Asus Nüvifone M20. This has a 640x480 pixel VGA touchscreen, runs Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
6.1, offers triband GSM/EGPRS + HSPA and WiFi connectivity, plus an accelerometer, a 3MP camera, 256MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM and 4GB (8GB in some territories) of storage. The processor is a Qualcomm
Qualcomm
Qualcomm is an American global telecommunication corporation that designs, manufactures and markets digital wireless telecommunications products and services based on its code division multiple access technology and other technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA...
7200A chip operating at 528 MHz. It also links into Garmin’s Ciao! location-based social networking application.
In 2010, Garmin announced it will stop making nüvifones altogether.
List of Garmin cell phones
| Name | OS | Release Date | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| nuvifone G60 | Proprietary (Linux) | October 4, 2009 | US(AT&T) |
| asus | Windows Mobile 6.5.3 | cost- $550.00 | Asia/Europe |
| nuvifone M10 | Windows Mobile 6.5 | cost- 180.00 € | Asia/Europe |
| nuvifone M20 | Windows Mobile 6.1 | Asia/Europe | |
| nuvifone A10 | Android 1.6/2.1 Eclair | Asia/Europe | |
| nuvifone A50/Garminfone | Android 1.6/2.1 Eclair (update) | June 9, 2010 | US(T-Mobile) |