Nuviphone

I know I haven't had a new post on here in quite awhile, but there really hasn't been much to write about, except the on going issues at Sprint Nextel which I have decided to wait to write about until after the Feb 28 Q4 2007 results press release/conference. The only other thing going on was the bad showing the Cowboys made against the Giants in the playoffs and then the trip of the Packers that allowed a streaking Giants team to make it to the Big Game.

My day was brightened when I saw the Garmin press release announcing the new Nuviphone. I am a big fan of the Garmin Nuvi devices and the net rumors have been flying about an up coming Garmin phone, but nothing official.

Now we know and it looks really cool. What we don't know is what carriers will have it and what the price(s) will be. I really hope this is not a carrier specific device, but instead is available for both GSM and CDMA. It won't be available until Q3 2008, but I'll be on the waiting list if it comes to CDMA! Check out the details in the press release.

Here are some of the specs that I'm really excited about:

• integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability
• internet browser,
• data connectivity,
• personal messaging,
• personal navigation functions
• 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons --
• "Call"
• "Search"
• "View Map"
• Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide the user to their destination
  
• If they miss a turn along the route, nuvifone automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track, speaking the names of the streets along the way
• Includes Google local search capability, which harnesses the vast point of interest information available from the world wide web
• "Where am I?" feature lets users touch the screen at any time to display the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations.
• Includes access to Garmin Online(TM), an online service offering constantly-updating information such as real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

Here's a link to the product gallery on Garmin.com

nuviphone HOME screen

nuviphone GPS screen

nuviphone Web Browser