Garmin's Nuvifone Passes FCC

For those of you who can still remember that Garmin plans to offer a smartphone, you'll be happy to know it should be on the market shortly as it just passed the FCC. But I don't think I'm out of line by asking if anyone cares about the Nuvifone anymore?If you recall, the personal navigation maker said it was jumping into the mobile phone game last January. The Nuvifone was a touch-screen smartphone that would combine iPhone-like elements with the navigation expertise Garmin's known for. The operating system was going to be custom built, and it was going to have Wi-Fi, 3G, Web-browsing, and all the goodness you expect from a modern smartphone.

Here's a quick video that was thrown together on YouTube:

When I first saw it I was a bit intrigued. With the proper user interface, it would be great to have a phone that could provide kick-butt audible directions, particularly if you're a road warrior. While hands-on reports of the UI have been positive, the device was delayed from the third quarter 2008 until the first half of 2009. That's right folks, this handset will have taken over a year to be released.

Sure, the delay was due to being picked up by a U.S. carrier, as the Nuvifone is ready to rock and roll on AT&T's 850 and 1900 MHz bands. While AT&T hasn't officially announced this, it should mean the Nuvifone is released with a subsidy at a reasonable price. But, as I mentioned before, the time-to-market has been abysmally slow. Since the Nuvifone was first shown we've seen the introduction and release of the iPhone 3G, Nokia E71, the G1, the BlackBerry Bold and Storm, the Touch Diamond and Pro, and the Sony Xperia X1.

I'm sure it's difficult to develop a brand new mobile phone platform, especially a good one, but this is just way too long for many to care. To add to it, Garmin has just joined the Open Handset Alliance, meaning the Nuvifone 2.0 could be rocking the Android platform. While Garmin's integration of GPS may be a killer feature, the G1 has some pretty good GPS, and the platform has tons of developers who are crafting innovative, location-based Android apps. I'm afraid it may be too little, too late, Garmin.