Android-based Garminfone To Debut in June for $200

T-Mobile USA has announced that the Garminfone is going to be released at some point next month. This means this GPS-oriented smartphone running Google's Android OS is going to be slightly late, as it was originally scheduled to debut in the springtime.

It will be Garmin's first device offering both Google's Android OS and a suite of advanced navigation software.

The Garminfone is going to cost $200 with a qualifying two-year service contract.

Overview of the Garminfone
The smartphone will give users driving, walking and public transportation navigation with voice and onscreen directions and automatic re-routing. Users will be able to locate an address by clicking it from a text message, email, contact, calendar appointment or web page.

Applications for real-time traffic, weather local events, movie listings and gas prices will be pre-installed, and the device will also remember where the user's car is parked.

It's going to be the first to feature Garmin Voice Studio, an Android application that allows customers to record and share custom voice directions from family and friends.

Its 3-megapixel camera with auto-focus is going to automatically geotag images, and the smartphone will offer overlapping positioning technologies: GPS and cell tower location.

The phone will also come with a window and dashboard mount (shown here), allowing users navigate and charge the phone’s battery simultaneously.

As the Garminfone will run the Android OS, it will go beyond just mapping and navigation, and come with a suite of communication, entertainment and productivity software. It is going to include Google Search by voice, a YouTube player, support for Microsoft Exchange email, contacts and calendar, software for social networking and instant messaging, and an advanced music player.

The smartphone's advanced web browser and other Internet-related software will take advantage of T-Mobile's 3G network as well as Wi-Fi hotspots.

In addition, it will give users access to the Android Market, which has nearly 40,000 apps and ringtones, among other items.

Source: T-Mobile USA