Thursday, February 12, 2009
Garmin-Asus Introduces nüvifone™ M20
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Pocket PC Hardware" @ 06:18 PM
"Garmin-Asus, a co-branded alliance between Garmin® Ltd., and ASUSTeK Computer Inc., today announced the Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20, an all-in-one phone, mobile webbrowserand premium navigation system with a Windows Mobile operating system. The Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20 will be on display at GSMA Mobile World Congress inBarcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009, at the Garmin-Asus exhibit (Hall 7, #7C37). As the first Garmin-Asus nüvifone powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional withenterprise email, the sleek and colorful nüvifone M20 is designed for on-the-go professionals who want a fashionable and functional smartphone to manage their busywork and personal lives. This powerful device combines a dual-band 3.5G/tri-band GSMphone with Wi-Fi connectivity, desktop-like internet browser, push email, documentviewing, multi-media capability, Bluetooth® and Garmin sat nav."
Garmin-Asus has released an interesting device here! Strong GPS navigation features combined with a VGA screen and 4GB or 8GB of storage makes for a potentially compelling travel companion-type device - depending on the price of course. Pricing and availability won't become a reality until the first half of 2009.
The rest of the press release continues below, along with two high-res images.
"The nüvifone M20's full QWERTY soft keyboard makes it easy to send and receive SMS, MMS and emails. The nüvifone M20 can also be synched with a computer so that contacts and emails are always available. HSDPA wireless connectivity and enterprise grade Wi-Fi(802.11 b/g) ensure messages are sent and received quickly, including those with attachments.
Recognizing that location is relevant to every aspect of every day, the nüvifone M20 isdesigned with location based services (LBS) at its core and has the most advanced LBSexperience of any Windows Mobile phone. Navigation functions are linked to frequentlyused applications such as calendar, contacts, email, internet applications and more,simplifying the nüvifone user's day as they travel from one location to another.
The nüvifone M20 supports download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and offers a desktop-styleweb browsing experience. Users can zoom and pan web pages with their finger as they view the information in either portrait or landscape orientation. In addition, they can easilynavigate to an address on a web page with only a few taps of the screen.The GPS features of the nüvifone M20 usher in a level of sophistication never seen beforeon a Windows Mobile smartphone. It has the navigation capability of a premium Garminnüvi® sat nav, and comes with preloaded maps and points of interest (POIs) - hotels,restaurants, stores, fuel stations and more - for North America, Eastern and WesternEurope, or other regions. Selecting a destination is straightforward and requires limitedinput from the user. For example, users can search for a destination by typing in thespecific name or address of an establishment, search by category, or navigate toaddresses in the nüvifone M20's contact database or on the web. The device then givesturn-by-turn voice-prompted directions and automatically recalculates if a turn is missedalong the way. In addition, the nüvifone includes quick access to online points of interestthrough internet enabled local search. The nüvifone harnesses the power of the worldwideweb and information about local merchants and attractions is continually updated.
The nüvifone M20 takes GPS navigation one step further via Connected Services, a suite ofonline applications and data from Garmin-Asus that adds location intelligence tonavigation, phone and browser functions. The expandable list of applications includescontent like real-time traffic information, White Pages, weather, flight status, local events,and movie times.
The nüvifone product line also includes Ciao!TM, a ground-breaking LBS application thathelps users stay up to date on their friends' whereabouts and status by linking numerouslocation-centric social networks. Through Ciao!, nüvifone users will see their friends'location on a map and then be able to navigate to that location with ease. Nüvifone userscan also choose to have the nüvifone automatically update their social network locationinformation.
The nüvifone M20 has exceptional entertainment capabilities with the combination of a2.8" TFT touch lens display, built-in microphone and speakers, built-in 4Gb/8Gb MyStorage, and ActiveSync® for Outlook®, Microsoft® Office, and multi-mediasynchronization. The VGA (640x480) display brings action to life when watching video orlooking at photographs. The three megapixel camera automatically geotags images withthe exact latitude and longitudinal coordinates. Users can then save the image on theirphone, email it to a friend, or navigate to where the image was taken.
Garmin-Asus expects to announce the nüvifone M20's pricing and availability informationin the first half of 2009. Journalists should contact Garmin-Asus media representatives toarrange product demonstrations or interviews. Additional information about the nüvifoneproduct line is available at www.GarminAsus.com."
