Garmin and AT&T have announced that the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 will be available in the U.S. beginning October 4, bringing not only voice and mobile Internet capabilities, but the full suite of navigation and guidance capabilities that Garmin packs into its high-end GPS navigation systems. The unit’s embedded maps of North American mean users can get turn-by-turn directions wherever they got, and integrated Wi-Fi, full HTML Web browsing, and a 3 megapixel camera help the G60 keep up with the rest of the cool smartphones.
“The nüvifone weaves location into nearly every facet of its functionality making it ideal for people who depend on location to navigate everyday life,” said Garmin president and COO Cliff Pemble, in a statement. “The nüvifone has Garmin’s easy-to-use interface, so navigating to a meeting directly from its calendar or contacts pages, or geotagging an email or photograph with a location stamp, is intuitive, useful, and fun.”
The G60 will come pre-loaded with maps and an extensive point-of-interest database for North America, and can easily be mounted in a vehicles for use as a portable navigation device. The G560 incorporates a full GPS receiver with Garmin’s HotFix technology for rapidly acquiring location data, and offers a “Where am I?” feature so users can quickly get information on the nearest hospital, police station, gas stations, intersections, and addresses with a single touch. And for folks using it as an in-vehicle system, the G60 will remember where it was when it was removed from a windshield mount, making it easy to get back to the car later.
The G60 also includes a full HTML Web browser so users can connect to the Internet using either AT&T’s 3G network or available Wi-FI hotspots. The phone also features a virtual QWERTY keyboard (with predictive text input), a 3 megapixel camera (and, naturally, geo-tagging capabilities for photos).
What does all this cost? $299 with a two-year service agreement, and that’s after a $100 mail-in rebate. In addition, users who want Nüvifone Premium Connected Services—for real-time traffic information, white pages, weather, fuel prices, plus local event and movie listings will pay an additional $5.99 per month—on top of voice and data plan charges—after an initial 30-day trial period.
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