Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 Could Finally Launch this Summer

The release of the oft-delayed Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 may finally be drawing near. According to a company executive, the debut of this navigation-oriented smartphone could be in just a couple of months.

The G60 was formally announced in early 2008, but its release has been pushed back several times now. The wait is near its end: Garmin’s regional director for Southeast-Asia sales Hektor Tung told the website Android Community that this smartphone will be released in some areas in August. His company has said in the past that the G60 will be widely available by the end of this year.

More about the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60
The nüvifone G60 will be a GSM featurephone designed to take advantage of Garmin's GPS expertise. It will include a large touchscreen, GPS receiver, and built-in maps.

Because it will offer a constant 3G connection to the Internet, this device will offer features not available in this company's earlier smartphones, such as real-time traffic and fuel prices.

This will be more than just a navigation device. The G60 will have a web browser, messaging application, multimedia options, and a camera.

It's not known which wireless carriers will offer this device, though Garmin's president says their is still interest from carriers, despite the delays. 

One of a Kind
The nüvifone G60 will run a version of Linux that was developed by Garmin and Asus, but it will be the only one to do so. Other future smartphones from this team will run either Google Android or Microsoft Windows Mobile. 

The nüvifone M20, the second model in the Garmin-Asus collaborative effort to create navigation-oriented smartphones, will be a Windows phone. This device is scheduled to hit the market in the second half of this year.

Source: Android Community