So, we had a few precious moments to play around with Garmin-Asus’ latest Nuvifones here in lovely Barcelona today — the M10 and A50, running on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and Android 1.6, respectively — and even better, we did so in the back of a black Mercedes expressly purposed for testing out the integrated turn-by-turn capabilities. Follow the break for our quick impressions!

Continue reading Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just heard about Garmin-Asus’ WinMo 6.5.3-packin’ M10 yesterday, and already the handset has been broken out for a photo shoot and hands-on review in Russia. The design itself isn’t anything otherworldly, but we have to say — we’re kind of digging the user interface. Granted, we’ve a soft spot in our hearts for Garmin’s nuvi line of PNDs, so anything remotely familiar gets a big thumbs-up ’round these parts. At any rate, critics noted that the phone was a pleasant mix of WinMo and nuvi, which is something that really sets it apart from other Windows Mobile-based offerings. There’s nary a mention of exactly how awesome this thing would be with Windows Mobile 7, but if you’re in no hurry to ponder the next big thing, give that source link a look.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 gets handled, reviewed in the wilds of Russia originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the Java programming language burst onto the scene in the mid-’90s, the mantra was “write once, run anywhere.” Any Java coder will tell you that dream never quite became a reality, and while plenty have worked on ways to make Java code run like instructions specialized for this or the other family of processors, Nazomi Communications wants there to be only one: its way. The company was founded in the late ’90s by Sun expatriates and created some processors capable of running compiled Java code natively. Now its biggest production is a lawsuit against Amazon, Microsoft, Nokia, Garmin, Sling, and others for patent infringement. Exactly which patent hasn’t been made clear at this point, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s 6,332,215, the same one the company referenced when suing ARM back in 2007. Nazomi lost that suit (plus a subsequent appeal) and, given how much we dislike these annoying patent disputes from tiny, seemingly struggling companies (Nazomi currently has four whole employees according to LinkedIn), we’re hopeful that all these lawsuits go away soon too.

Nazomi Communications makes friends by suing everyone you know originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s the WinMo-running M10 and Android-powered A50 both leaked in January. Problem is we still think they should get out of hardware and into apps.

But back to the phones. They’re boasting it brings “more location technology than any other smartphone,” as you’d expect from the satnav dudes at Garmin. The hardware isn’t all that surprising, with a 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen, a 3.0-megapixel camera with autofocus and geotagging, Bluetooth, 4GB of internal storage (with the usual microSD card slot) and an accelerometer. No word on Wi-Fi just yet.

Bundled with the phone is a car mount and power cable for the car, which is a nice touch—nothing worse than having to fork out for additional accessories after laying down a few hundred on the actual device. The software is, of course, Garmin’s turn-by-turn navigation.

It’ll go on sale sometime in the first six months of 2010—nice and vague—and the price hasn’t been announced (or rumored, in the M10’s case) just yet.

That aforementioned M10 (above) won’t be showing up with Windows Mobile 7, launching instead with 6.5.3 (though presumably it’ll be available for a software update once WinMo 7 launches at the end of the year). Specs sound just like they did when Asustek president Benson Lin blabbed last month about it, with the 3.5-inch WVGA resistive touchscreen, 4GB of internal storage, 512MB of RAM and the same again for ROM. Garmin and Asustek have chosen a 600MHz Qualcomm MSM 7227 chip which won’t steal too many headlines, but at least it’s running the most recent version of WinMo, eh? Again, wouldn’t it be neat if you could get a Garmin app on a phone that was closer to 1GHz or on an iPhone?

The rumored price was $435 last month, but we’ll keep you updated once we receive official word. [GSM Arena and BusinessWire]

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Garmin-Asus phones, they’re like buses aren’t they — you wait for ages to get one, then two come along at the same time. Seeking to sate as many mobile OS appetites as possible, the partner company has quickly followed up its A50 Android handset with this here M10, sporting Microsoft’s latest Windows Mobile build. As only the second WinMo 6.5.3 device around, the M10 is as up to date as you can get on the software front, though earlier word of a slightly dated 600MHz Qualcomm MSM 7227 CPU will douse some enthusiasm on the hardware side. Then again, Garmin-Asus do furnish you with 512MB of both RAM and ROM and a decent 4GB of integrated storage, so it’s not like this is going to be a slouch or anything, and the 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen should also do a nice job of displaying the built-in turn-by-turn navigation. Location awareness is said to be ingrained in everything the phone does, with navigation functions attached to the calendar, web browser, messaging and email clients. Launch is slated for the first half of 2010, and you can quite naturally expect us to get all up close and personal with this handset at MWC next week.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 offers Windows Mobile 6.5.3 with an obsession for navigation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The long rumored Nuvifone jump to Android is here just as we get set to kick off Mobile World Congress next week. Garmin and ASUS claim that the A50 brings “more location technology than any other smartphone” with a plethora of location-aware apps making use of a highly sensitive (though unnamed) GPS receiver. Spec-wise, the A50 packs a 3.5-inch HVGA (that’s 480×320 pixels, presumably) capacitive touchscreen with custom, finger-friendly UI, 4GB of internal storage with microSD expansion, and accelerometer for the usual portrait to landscape mode flip. The A50 uses satellite, network-based, and terrestrial sources to quickly zero in on your location and comes pre-loaded with Garmin turn-by-turn navigation, lane assist with junction view, and maps — no need to download them over the network (and risk data dead spots), eh Google. In fact, it’s ready for in-vehicle (ships with car mount and vehicle power cable) or pedestrian navigation out of the box. The A50 also brings on-device sync with Microsoft Exchange server and includes all the usual Google mobile services like search by voice, Maps with Street View, Gmail, YouTube, and Android Market. Rounding things out are a multitouch WebKit-based browser and 3 megapixel autofocus camera that automatically geo-tags your snaps. The A50 will launch in Europe in the first half of 2010 though pricing has not been announced. We’re still digging for more specs but will definitely be back with a detailed hands-on from Barcelona next week.

Update: We have an insider telling us that the device runs Android 1.6 (something we’ve seen before) and uses Qualcomm’s gpsOne platform for SatNav. Makes sense, but we won’t be able to confirm until we meet with Garmin-Asus next week at MWC.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone A50 runs Android, knows where you are turn-by-turn originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not the Android phone that Asustek’s president was bragging about yesterday, but the WinMo 6.5.3 model we heard whispers of actually looks nicer than expected, if this Taiwanese pre-order picture extravaganza is anything to go by.

The listed specs are exactly what Asustek president Benson Lin promised they’d be, namely a 3.5-inch WVGA resistive touchscreen, 5.0-megapixel camera, Qualcomm 7224 600MHz processor and GPS functionality. At least we now know that it’s also sporting 512MB RAM and the same again for internal storage, with a microSD card slot for extra back-up funsies.

As is typical with these Garmin-ASUS collaborations, the M10 will be tailored for drivers and will come bundled with a car holder. It’ll be $435 when it goes on sale in Taiwan, in early February just like Lin said. As you can see from the branding on the base of the phone, it’s under the Nuvifone range—looks like they haven’t been too scarred by the reaction to the G60 and M20, then. [ASUS Taiwan via Slashphone via Engadget]

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It was sadly predictable, especially after the exact same thing happened last October when Google released their free turn-by-turn navigation. Cheer up though TomTom and Navigon—at least you’ve got iPhone apps, right? Oh. [Yahoo Finance via TechRadar]

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It was only yesterday that we heard of this WinMo 6.5.3 beastie, and already Taiwanese ladies and gents can sign up to own one, pending a February 6 delivery. The new pre-order page confirms our earlier indications of a 3.5-inch WVGA display and 5 megapixel camera, while adding the knowledge of 512MB of both RAM and ROM, plus MicroSD storage expandability. A relatively low end Qualcomm MSM 7227 600MHz CPU drives the show here, and we’re told a spare battery (1,500mAh by default) or a car holder for navigation also come as part of the 13,900 TWD ($435) package. So, are you excited or what?

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 emerges on Taiwanese pre-order page originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A year ago, the satnav people at Garmin made an alliance with Asustek, the computer people. A while later, the G60 and M20 went on sale. In October, we branded the G60 with a ‘DO NOT BUY’ review tag.

So why do I think Benson Lin’s (the president of Asustek’s mobile division) boasts of a new Garmin-Asustek phone are worth mentioning? Well, the fact that it’s running on Android has something to do with it. There have been murmurings about an Android device for some time now, but with Lin claiming we’ll be seeing it at Mobile World Congress next month, it’s sounding a lot more realistic.

The Nuvifone range of phones (all two of them, so far) made by the two companies haven’t exactly fared well in tests. In our own review, we moaned about the resistive touchscreen, lack of homescreen button, faulty accelerometer, poor browser, shitty camera and strange interface, and that wasn’t even half of it.

A phone running Android would certainly help clear up some of those problems, but obviously hardware will still be an issue if Garmin and Asus can’t see fit to put a homescreen button on the device.

In addition to the Android phone, Asustek’s going to reveal a Windows Mobile 6.5.3 phone called the M10 at Mobile World Congress. It’ll have a 3.5-inch WVGA resistive touchscreen, 5.0-megapixel camera, run on a Qualcomm 7224 600MHz processor and surprise surprise, will also have GPS. The M10 will go on sale in Taiwan in just a few weeks time, for the equivalent of about $435.

Lin is already talking sales figures, despite this mysterious Android phone not being shown off yet—they’re hoping to ship one million Android and Windows Mobile devices, with as many as five models expected to launch this year. There goes our notion that this relationship would just be a passing fad. [Digitimes]

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