Garminfone: A terrific Android device
Finally, there is a Garmin cell phone worth talking about.
This is the T-Mobile Garminfone. It runs on Google’s Android operating system. It uses three different GPS direction-finding systems.
And it’s one of the best Android phones on the market today.
The Garminfone is actually manufactured for Garmin by Asus – famous for their netbooks and computers. They’ve been making smartphones for the rest of the world (not the United States) for years and they’ve done an excellent job on the Garminfone’s hardware.
Garminfone is a GPS device first and foremost – a cell phone second (check out the large buttons on the phone’s home screen). It’s also a modern-day Android smartphone with all the trimmings.
It has a 600MHz Qualcomm processor, a multi-touch screen, 4 GB of built-in storage (2GB goes to Garmin’s North American map storage) and also a 2GB miniSD card (upgradable to 32GB).
In the box you get a nifty car mount bracket which allows you to charge the phone, make and receive calls via the built-in speakerphone and also learn where you are going at the same time. Even better, when you take the Garminfone out of that car mount bracket the phone remembers your exactly location where you have parked – so you can easily find your car again. A clever feature.
It does that with Garmin’s built-in North American map system (other area maps are optional) as well as Google Maps software and AGPS triangulation with cell towers. The purchase price includes Garmin’s standard maps upgrade policy (called nuMaps Guarantee): you can update to the latest version of North American maps for free for 60 days (starting with the first time you acquire a GPS signal). After that, you have to pay. All the other stuff, updates of Garmin’s real-time traffic, weather, arrival time and gas prices are updated for free.
In addition, Garminfone is a GPS device which comes with all the high-end features you’d find in their top-of-the-line (and much more expensive) location devices. As a matter of fact, even more.
For instance, there’s Garmin Voice Studio which is an app that allows you to disregard the built-in voices and re-record turn-by-turn directions in your own voice. Or your friends’.. or your child’s.
Of course, it’s also able to handle your Google mail (it IS an Android phone), any POP3 and IMAP mail account and even ActiveSyncs with your Microsoft Exchange mail servers. Don’t forget all of your IM, texts photos, videos, music files and all the other smartphone goodies you can think of.
A smooth performer, the test Garminfone worked perfectly right out of the box. Their new interface – they call it Breeze – while different than other Androids is easy to master. Since this is a GPS phone – the largest buttons are for making voice calls and finding directions. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Amazingly, I’ve found that despite a slightly slower (Qualcomm 600MHz) processor, this phone turns out to be a virtual speed demon in its own right. I’m sure, this is due to the handset support for T-Mobile’s fast (7.2Mbps) 3G HSPA network.
T-Mobile plans to begin selling Garminfone in June. No actual date had been set though. They have announced the pricing: $200 with a new two-year contract and your pledge to pay for an appropriate voice plus data plan.
Comparing the Garminfone to other Android phones is somewhat unfair – to all the other phones. This is not meant to be a super-modern PDA with support for voice calls and travel directions. This is meant to be a top-of-the-line GPS and voice device built into a super-modern Android smartphone. (and all the apps you can get from the Android store).
Garminfone is aimed at a different audience than all those other devices which highlight their ability to Tweet and handle Facebook entries.
Built for a specific purpose – Garminfone is an unqualified winner.