Review: Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60

BARCELONA, Spain – The partnership between Garmin and Asus hasn’t yielded any device to the world’s smartphone market. The Nuvifone G60, the first device to be marketed by the company, is said to be launching by AT&T in the U.S. later this year, and has been launched in Taiwan this July.

The device, which brings full GPS functionality and a mobile phone in one package – something not new, but emphasized to be, in this case – will feature a 3.55″ touchscreen display, HSDPA connectivity, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, full HTML browser, and a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and geo-tagging.

Location-based services will be available throughout the G60’s software platform (Linux, closed system). The navigation function will provide the user with turn-by-turn directions, online points of interest (POI), real-time traffic information, and the Ciao! service, which links the user’s location to social networking websites.

A shortcut in the screen dubbed “Where am I?” is designed to instantly show the user with important geographic informations, such as co-ordinates of the user’s current location, nearest address, intersection, hospital, police station, and gas station. Furthermore, the phone also marks the parking spot of the user’s car, the moment the G60 is removed from the windshield phone holder.

The phone is designed to be the simplest possible. Although the design has worked in that way, it is missing the iPhone’s charm – its surface seems to be too dull.

The Contact screen is one example of that simplicity – below a contact’s name and phone number, there are only three options: “Call”, “Text”, and “Go!”. The latter optionnavigates the user to the contact’s location saved on the phone.

Below the display, there is a microphone, while above it, there is an ear speaker.

On the right side of the phone there is a camera button, and a volume/zoom rocker. Both these keys fit to to phone’s bulky style.

On the left side of the phone there is a lanyard loophole, a memory card port, a connector port, and a miniUSB port.

The 3.5mm audio jack and the power button are located on top of the phone. The bottom of the phone is left untouched.

The back of the phone looks dull as well, and incorporates the camera and the speaker.

The G60’s battery has 900mAh of capacity, and offers up to four hours of talk time.

The only advantage that the Nuvifone G60 has over its competitors is its dedication to navigation and other location-based services. Its featureset and dull looks won’t be sufficient to attract the mobile phone market.