Garmin's ultimate mobility for drivers

By: Drivers.com staff

Date: Friday, 07. March 2008

When it comes to mobile phones, navigation systems and mobile internet, convergence is the name of the game. All these are technologies we've come to rely on, but who needs to carry a cell phone, a navigation device and a laptop around all the time!

We may not have to wait much longer for a convergence solution. The Nuvifone announced by Garmin this past January, looks like it will do everything you could dream about. Garmin, one of the leading producers of personal navigation systems, is touting the phone as "the ultimate multi-tasker."

"The all-touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device," states Garmin's press release. "When powered on, the 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons -- 'Call,' 'Search,' and 'View Map', which allow the user to effortlessly master the Nuvifone's functions."

Neat features

When the Nuvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS system, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling.

The Nuvifone's personal navigation features include preloaded maps of North America and Eastern and Western Europe. Drivers can quickly find a specific street address, or search for a destination by category using the Nuvifone's built-in database with millions of points of interest.

On top of all that, the phone will include Google local search capability and can pull in a vast database of points of interest from the Web. A search for "coffee shops" for example, will pull up results based on the users' location.

The Nuvifone seems to have everything, but one of the most attractive features is that when you undock it and remove it from your car it will automatically mark that position - in other words, no more searching for your car in a crowded parking lot.

Another very useful feature is a built-in camera which automatically tags photos with exact latitude and longitude reference points. As the Garmin press release helpfully points out, "The user may then save the image so they can navigate back to the location, or email the image to a recipient who can navigate directly to the location."

For icing on the cake, Google Earth fans will be able to pull up those Panoramio pictures featured on Google Earth satellite map images and navigate to them using the phone's GPS.

Top this all off with real-time traffic info and other web facilities and the Nuvifone looks like it strikes the convergence chord admirably.

Garmin say the Nuvifone will be available in the fall of 2008.

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