Garmin iQue 3600 GPS Handheld Delayed

The release of one of the most highly-anticipated handhelds of this summer has been pushed back a bit. The Garmin iQue 3600 was scheduled to be released on July 1 but now won't be available for about two more weeks.

A company spokesperson says this device, which integrates a GPS receiver into a Palm OS handheld, will be available in very limited quantities in the middle of this month, while it will be available in greater volume by the end of the month.

Garmin's upcoming handheld will run Palm OS 5 on a 200 MHz Motorola DragonBall MXL ARM 9 processor. It will have 32 MB of RAM. Of course it will come with the standard Palm OS apps as well as GPS mapping software.

This will have the same features as GPS receivers costing much more. It will be able to handle route planning and give the user verbal and visual cues on when to turn. The iQue 3600 can automatically generate a route from the current location to any entry in the Address Book. It will ship with maps of either selected U.S. or European cities. It uses the company's MapSource maps so many additional ones will be available.

The iQue 3600 will be 5 by 2.8 by 0.8 inches and weigh 5.2 ounces. It will have a 320-by-480 pixel color display which will measure 3.8 inches diagonally. It will have an SD slot for storing additional maps and a voice recorder.

It will be the first non-Palm-branded device to use the Palm Universal Connector. This will allow it to use a great many peripherals already on the market, like keyboards, charging cables, and more.

The list price for the iQue 3600 is $589 but Shopper.com lists several stores taking pre-orders for it at $550.

Related Links

• Brighthand's First Look at the Garmin and Kyocera Handhelds