There's only one way to say this: We knew it. It has rarely been a good sign when an upcoming überphone, or Garmin Nüvifone in this case, doesn't work decently from day one on the show floor. Garmin today confirmed that the Garmin Nuvifone will be delayed to the first half of 2009.
So, should we believe that Garmin will ever be able to pull off such a stunt as to release a überphone based on an all-touch interface all by themselves? No, but word on the street has it that Garmin has teamed up with Asus as the manufacturer, while taking care of the interface and the navigation service for the Garmin Nuvifone themselves.
That's pretty similar to what HTC is doing for the Windows Mobile world, so that could be a good thing. And for all we know, the Garmin Nuvifone could also show up as a Windows Mobile phone with a Nuvi panel interface. We doubt Sony Ericsson is the only new player Microsoft (and HTC) has got up its sleeve right now.
Now, none of Asus' Windows Mobile phones we've tested extensively in the past have been able to match HTC's best smartphones, but since Asus is pretty much cancelling a new phone per week now, they seem to have found the special one; a Garmin Nuvifone that they can focus all their efforts on, in order to get blazing performance out of it. That's a smart move.
Still, as far as we know, Asus has never gotten around to actually getting a phone picked up by a U.S. carrier to date, so it'll be interesting to see what the Garmin Nuvifone will actually have to offer Americans when it gets released in 2009. And if we had to make a bet, the Garmin Nuvifone would end up as a Windows Mobile smartphone with a Nuvi panel at the end of the day. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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