Garmin teams up with Asus for Nuvifone series
Garmin and Asus announce a new partnership to create a series of new Nuvifone smartphones, starting with the Garmin Nuvifone 60.
On Wednesday, Garmin and Asus announced a strategic alliance to develop and distribute co-branded GPS-enabled smartphones to be known as the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone series. This includes the original Garmin Nuvifone, which was introduced over a year ago, and will now be rebranded as the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60.
The partnership isn't a strange one, considering that Asus has been working on the original Nuvifone for over a year as the ODM (original device manufacturer). Both companies still plan to ship the Nuvifone G60 in the first half of 2009. In addition, Garmin-Asus said it will offer several Nuvifone models this year--all of which will continue to focus on GPS and navigation features, though it was not clear whether they would all run the Google Android operating system.
In fact, Garmin-Asus plans to introduce its next device at the Mobile World Congress, which runs February 16-19 in Barcelona. Both Kent German and I will be there, so we'll definitely keep you updated with the news, photos, and video. I'm also hoping to press the company for a more definite release date for the Nuvifone G60. I mean, come on already!