Jan 31 2008
The perfect phone? Garmin nuviphone announced
Loading ...This might just be the phone that I’ve been waiting for.
“The nüvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all.”
When the Apple iPhone came out, techo-lust immediately took me over, I had to have one and I had to have it now. That feeling subsided quickly as I dug deeper into it and concluded that without GPS functionality, the iPhone wasn’t nearly as great as it had seemed. I had already become quite accustomed to using a Blackberry 8800 and using Google Maps in conjunction with the GPS. I had also realized the power of having a GPS in your car long ago.
Something deep inside me can feel the potential of location awareness in an internet-connected device. Some of you might say “What about the WiFi Location services in the iPhone that Steve Jobs announced at Macworld?”. To that I say great, but… there are limitations to that technology. WiFi Access Points are subject to change any time and there is a decent amount of overhead associated with maintaining a database of their locations and other parameters. I think it might be a great solution to augment GPS in areas like Manhattan, where you are surrounded by skyscrapers and can’t always get a GPS signal, but not the only thing that you depend on. What if you live outside of those areas that get mapped on a regular basis? As long as you have a clear view to the satellite, GPS doesn’t discriminate based on location.
Time will tell however, I’d like to actually see the nuviphone in action. Press releases are nice, but real hardware, that you can actually put your hands on, is much nicer.
Links:
Garmin - nuviphone press release
USA Today - article about Apple iPhone and Skyhook Wireless
[...] is always around the corner. Not even two weeks ago I was writing about the soon-to-be-released Garmin nuviphone and it has already been knocked off of my radar by the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 due mid-2008. I [...]