Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 Mobile Phone

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The Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 is a PDA communicating using Linux and compatible with Wi-Fi and 3G+, which has more of a GPS chip. This wizard drives you and guides you from its large touch screen of 7.1 inches diagonally.

Initially announced in 2007, this device is developed in collaboration with Garmin and Asus and is finally available. Its goal is to consolidate the functions of a phone and those of a high end GPS in a single product. A very basic promise leaves doubtful about the value of the unit. Lets look at it more closely.

Black hull touch "soft" buttons located on the quiet side of the unit: the Nuvifone G60 is put on a sober immune from criticism. Or almost, since a majority of people who had the camera in hand could not help saying "it is heavy" or "it is big." So, admittedly, it measures 1.46 cm thick and weighs 137 g, but little more than an iPhone 3G S, weighing 133 g to 1.23 cm thick. Yet, faced with this product, the iPhone really is a heavy-duty mobile.

Definitely not an iPhone killer

A few seconds of use sufficient to establish that the G60 is not a competitor to the iPhone, its far away from that. Not any fun or practical application installed (Facebook, YouTube, advanced email client, etc.). We can not even add via a portal like App Store. The operating system, designed on a Linux, can not accommodate additional application.

Questioned on this subject: its not complex as spokesman tell us that Garmin Nuvifone G60 is not meant to be a smartphone capable of anything. It is just a phone, or GPS, in his words, a "phone browser" associated with online services, that's all. This came on the market for mobile telephony is therefore accompanied by a very big bet. In this light we proceeded to test the product, which showed early poor function.

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Just a phone? For whom?

It is undaunted by the manufacturer to bet on the value of an ordinary phone to attract crowds. Especially when it displays the look and especially the price very good smartphones ($900).

The commonness of the G60 first appears in the menus and options rather stripped. Here, it is not to browse menus of settings to not knowing what to do. The system options are reduced to very nearly, to activate the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, to set the date, time and intensity of illumination of the screen, the choice of a ringtone (MP3 or polyphonic) or the configuration of the browser (homepage, accepting cookies, etc..) and an e-mail. The directory can be enriched by a multitude of criteria such as postal and electronic addresses and contact photo.

Much more convincing, the photo sensor of 3.2 MP taking pictures just correct outdoors and often blurred or noisy indoors. Even if the shooting is intended solely for fun, it is very frustrating that the Nuvifone G60 is not able to send MMS. Garmin and Asus does not conceive the interest of those little handy multimedia messages. Something as trivial as taking a photo and sending it to another phone in a few clicks is impossible. In two weeks of testing, and we missed a dozen of MMS. It is always with as much assurance that our speaker responded that we have the e-mails for this ...

The e-mails, they say ...

If we pass on the MMS, this requires e-mails to get into picture. If, in theory, the G60 is compatible with POP3 accounts and IMAP, in practice, none of our Hotmail accounts, Free, Yahoo! or Gmail will work. Whether manually configure a Free Account or automatically, a Gmail account, the result is the same, an error message telling us a problem of configuration and security. Given the small number of configuration options, we could not detect the reason for the malfunction. At Garmin, we are surprised. Normally, it is automatic. On our test model, this will be the SMS or nothing. Very interesting, right?

The Internet is much better

With access to 3G+ (HSDPA) and Wi-Fi, one might expect that the browser provides a certain comfort. Although the manufacturer claims it is the same type of browser on an iPhone or HTC Magic but its not the case at all. Not only the accuracy and display quality of the screen have nothing to do, but the engine itself is much less efficient. The pages open more slowly and are not especially adapted to the screen G60. With Android, it is 26 s in our Magic to display a web page, but 1 min 26 sec for the G60.

The most disadvantageous is the layout. On the iPhone as the Magic, the new line in an article is done automatically, thus adapting the text to the screen size. On the G60, it is strongly zoom to read the same article and in addition, move the window from left to right. This is not the automatic rotation of the screen in landscape mode to facilitate reading. It quickly painful as it is not uncommon to click a link that drags on a page. We finally gave up. To top it all, if the switch from portrait to landscape mode is quick, the G60 responds more difficult to reverse. We are continually trying to shake the phone to return the image faster.

A full-fledged GPS

A small pressure on the Search icon off the menu on the phone launches the browser CityNavigator NT of Garmin. The first impression comes from the small - yet strong - media asset comes with the device. Once the G60 plugged in the socket, the screen automatically switches to landscape mode, and the loudspeaker is activated. A small tip which benefits to telephony. When you enter in it, while it is in full telephonic conversation, merely drop the phone in its holder is sufficient to activate the speakerphone to free his hands. A speaker, by the way, a quality just right.

After getting comfortably grasped the address on a virtual keyboard (adequate), the navigation starts quickly since the acquisition of the GPS signal is fast enough. If it is impossible to say whether the mapping is updated, however we did not find any problem.

Although the manufacturer tells us of a "high end" GPS, the G60 appears minimalist, even when confronted with high-end devices and Garmin specialty. If navigation is fluid, information on the card are reduced to the minimum (name of the route to follow, speed and distance), and functions such as assistance on the track or 3D display output missing the call.

We have also identified what we describe as "big bug". For example, when you reach your destination but you can not find a place to park. You are then obliged to turn round to find a place, usually near the place where you go. Well as soon as GPS assumes that you have reached your destination, it erases the line, and after a few seconds, the screen turns off and locks automatically. It's amazing because then you have to laboriously unlock the screen and restart the calculation of the route to the last address.

Services connected

Garmin and Asus also speak of "service connected." Nothing innovative, the first is the local search of Google, which gives access to a database of points of interest ultracomplete. More original, the nüvifone G60 includes a reverse directory service. If someone calls you with its fixed line, you can go to his address by phone number. In our tests, it has worked with the numbers listed in the White Pages. No address corresponding numbers for our professionals.

A phone enduring

Finish on a more positive note: the Nuvifone G60 displays a talk time of approximately 7 h 30 min. In 3G, the device kept the shock for about 3 h. Regarding the Bluetooth module, note that the G60 was not able to connect to our hands-free car. In contrast, no problem with the Bluetooth headset Plantronics Voyager Pro.

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Features

Location-based Life

With the nüvifone G60, you'll find navigation at the core of the device. Location information is included in email, SMS, photo sharing, social networking and more. So no matter where you are – or where you're going – you'll always have the information you need right at your fingertips.

Everything you need

The nüvifone G60 is ready to go with the same great features and user experience that have made Garmin the global leader in satellite navigation. Each nüvifone G60 comes standard with voice prompted turn-by-turn directions that speaks street names, onboard maps and millions of points of interest (POIs). And to make sure you have all the tools you need for life on the go, the nüvifone G60 integrates a quad-band GSM phone with 3.5G data connectivity, a Webkit-based Internet browser, personal messaging, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth and Garmin's proven personal navigation functionality.

Connect

• Quad-band 2G, tri-band 3G for voice and high-speed wireless Internet
• Wi-Fi b/g with WPA encryption
• Desktop web experience with full HTML browser
• Location-based applications, including real-time traffic information, gas prices, flight times, weather, White Pages and local search

Communicate

• Geo-tagged SMS, email and photo sharing
• Ciao! Location-based Social Networking platform that integrates compatible social networks into one easy-to-use interface
• Large screen with portrait and landscape view of each screen and virtual QWERTY keyboard on touchscreen

Navigate

• Industry-leading Garmin navigation experience, with voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speaks street names
• Optimized for automobile use with included car mount
• One-step navigation from contacts, email and local search results
• "Where am I?" safety feature displays your current address and nearest police, hospital and fuel services in one click
• Pedestrian mode for in-hand navigation

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Specifications

• 2G Connectivity: Quad-band GSM / GPRS / Edge 850/900/1800/1900
• Other Connectivity: 802.11 b/g WLAN, Bluetooth, HFP, HSP, AVRCP, A2DP mini-USB 2.0
• OS: Linux
• Talk Time: Up to 4 hours
• Standby Talk Time: Up to 250 hours
• Dimensions: 112 x 58.1 x 14.6 mm
• Weight: 137g (battery included)
• Display: 3.55" 65K colors, anti-glare resistive touchscreen
• Camera/Photos: 3MP camera with auto-focus and geo-tagging
• Flash Memory: 4GB on-board 128 MB RAM
• Expandable Memory: Micro SD, HC Capable, expandable up to 16GB
• Music Player: MP3 capable
• Headphone Jack: 2.5 mm
• Battery: 1100 mAh removable/rechargeable lithium cell
• Messaging: SMS
• Email: POP3 / IMAP4 / SMTP
• Internet: HTML browser based on Webkit platform
• Calendar/PIM: Outlook contacts and calendar
• Productivity: Document viewing: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, JPG

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Conclusion

In our tests, it was nice to test this mobile phone from the user point of view and we found that the nüvifone G60 just generates a real interest. If it aims to be a "navigation phone", this product does not stick to the packages offered by operators. Too painful to enjoy an unlimited data plan (e-mail, Facebook, Internet, etc..) and unable to post videos on YouTube or access to TV channels via 3G+, the product will have trouble finding its premises for use. If indeed someone is willing to spend $900 in such a device, its better to buy a GPS at $375 and $75 phone, which will make much better services...