Garmin Nuvi Phone

[gkarris]

Funny how all the cell phone companies are supposed to have "iPhone Killers" (LG Prada, HTC Touch), but none even comes close.

It takes a GPS company to actually come up with one...

 

[ikare]

That is true.....but this phone has alot of similarities to the iphone that will help it sell

 

[wizard]

Funny how all the cell phone companies are supposed to have "iPhone Killers" (LG Prada, HTC Touch), but none even comes close.

It takes a GPS company to actually come up with one...

Well Garmin is no slouch in the field of innovation. Granted their product serves a more narrow focus than Apple's products but this doesn't make them a company without a mind or soul.

I don't know about LG, but I believe HTC's problem is that they have had their nose so far up MS behind for so long that they can't see what is happening in the rest of the the world. Garmin certainly doesn't have that problem. The thing that really holds back the likes of Garmin, Openmoko and others is the lack of truly open networks. Every service provider store you walk into the only thing they care about is the sale of the contract. For the smart phone market to really take off they have to move from this mentality.

Dave

 

[Archie-]

Funny how all the cell phone companies are supposed to have "iPhone Killers" (LG Prada, HTC Touch), but none even comes close.

It takes a GPS company to actually come up with one...

And I dont see the big deal with this phone. The OS will be closed and limited, and 3G phones with GPS are a dime a dozen ( Nokia N95, AT&T Tilt etc)

Is it because the icons are big and colourful? The size will keep it out of most people's pockets

And BTW, those iphone killers are all selling very well, and the N95 is certainly selling better than the iPhone, with Nokia shipping 18.8 million smartphones only in Q4 2007 (vs about 2 million iPhones), and HTC sold 9.7 million smartphones last year, without much hype.

 

[avaloncourt]

Not so much the phone (don't know much yet) but the fact that all the cool new phones are coming from non-cell phone companies! Apple turned their iPod experience into the best media phone. Garmin turns their GPS experience into the best GPS phone.

I wouldn't say that. I was one of the suckers that bought a Garmin iQue 3600. Now, don't get me wrong. I am a completely Garmin-favored GPS person but that thing was crap. It was a Palm device with a Garmin GPS. It was very expensive and it was horrible. Poor GPS receiver. Poor operating system. Poor features. You were stuck with what they gave you and they promptly abandoned it. Since it had a proprietary version of the PalmOS it was never truly compatible with the rest of the Palm devices. It ran some software okay and the rest wouldn't work at all. Very few software companies bothered to develop for it because it was an orphan. They made one more similar model that was even more stunted and abandoned that one too. I won't ever buy another Garmin hybrid device again.

 

[eric55lv]

I would never expect garmin coming out with a phone

 

[pavvento]

I would never expect garmin coming out with a phone

A lot of "experts" said that about Apple since the iPhone was a convergence device.

 

[t0mat0]

I'm hoping a lot that Apple throws out the SDK so that people can get nice GPS add ons, that just plug in. It's been demoonsrtated to be possible, but it needs not to be broken by updates by Apple.

 

[G4R2]

I don't think Garmin will bother with iPhone software until the iPhone has a built in GPS..

Garmin currently makes a Bluetooth module with software for both PocketPC's and the Blackberry. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't make software to link this device to the iPhone, especially since the iPhone has a larger memory capacity and higher density screen then these other devices.

Here's a link to one of their mobile products:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=138&pID=9796

 

[Archie-]

Garmin currently makes a Bluetooth module with software for both PocketPC's and the Blackberry. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't make software to link this device to the iPhone, especially since the iPhone has a larger memory capacity and higher density screen then these other devices.

Here's a link to one of their mobile products:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=138&pID=9796

Actually that raises an interesting question - will Apple allow official apps to access the 7GB partition thats meant for music or video, or not.

 

[JDR]

I walked into a Garmin store the other day and asked about the Nuvi Phone, and the employees were quite surprised I knew about it. They said Q3 or Q4 2008 as an approximate release time.

 

[wizard]

Garmin currently makes a Bluetooth module with software for both PocketPC's and the Blackberry. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't make software to link this device to the iPhone, especially since the iPhone has a larger memory capacity and higher density screen then these other devices.

The problem with this is not Garmin but Apples Bluetooth stack. Apple needs to get this firmed up for the SDK's release. If not I see a lot of potential apps never happening. Bluetooth on hand held devices like this is very important as support for many profiles provides for easy development of a number of interesting applications.

Dave

 

[cliffg]

Our team was out maneuvered

iPhone: cellular, Internet, and iPod.

Nuvi-Phone: cellular, Internet, and GPS.

I plan to use an iPhone, and I already have a GPS (Garmin, too!). If I didn't, though, then I'd probably opt for the Nuvi-Phone. In terms of a complete package, it just makes sense.

Remember that television commercial a few months back, where someone decides they want seafood? They enter "seafood," or "calamari," or something like that and the iPhone responds with a map of the area, with seafood restaurants indicated. The user simply has to choose one of the restaurants to place a call, and the commercial ends.

But for Garmin, that's not the end.

After the restaurant reservation is made, the Nuvi-Phone can direct you to the restaurant! In terms of a "total system," the Nuvi-Phone's feature set works like a well thought out package...even better than the iPhone. Isn't there a small company out there, having a hard time competing with Garmin, but having a great GPS product nonetheless? They should partner with Apple and enhance the iPhone with true GPS. I wonder if they could fit everything in the iPhone's current case?

And, cost? Let's not talk about that, since most of us remember our win friends berating the Mac due to it's (justified) price. Besides, competing devices tend to bring the cost down for the consumer...