There are a lot of devices that are influenced by the iPhone. While some imitations are more egregious, others are merely what one would expect as the technology in the iPhone is brought to the American market. Competition requires some imitation. That aside, Garmin’s first entry into the jungle that is the mobile phone market looks to be more than just a flattering imitation.

First of all, it makes no claims to being the fashion-forward lifestyle device that the Apple marketing team has trumpeted since its coming out party last January. Also, it boasts a list of functionality that the iPhone just doesn’t have. Forget gimmicks like multitouch (coolest gimmick ever?), the nüvifone will feature GPS, HSDPA and a few other features that will actually make my life easier.

Forget being able to check some wedding website to find out your girlfriend’s boss’s fiancee’s name, she’s not going to remember you anyway. Forget that, it’s so 2007, plus nüvifone’s got a browser too. How about some big boy features like say, turn-by-turn directions over the phone’s speaker? Or being able to know your exact coordinate location in addition to the nearest intersection and other nearby landmarks like hospitals or gas stations? And the best part? High speed downlink packet access for the win. The cool kids call it HSDPA and it means you won’t waste 5 minutes loading that wedding website if you’re the kinda chump who cares to do that sort of thing.

Now for the disclaimers: I love the iPhone, it’s damn sexy and from concept to store shelf, Apple has done a great job of executing their first cell phone. Garmin makes great GPS navigators and I hope that that quality translates directly to this cell phone. Press release says it’s due out in Q3 2008 and there’s nothing in this thing so groundbreaking as to warrant excessive delays, so let’s keep our collective fingers crossed. But without carrier support (there’s no mention of any so far, though if T-Mobile were to get their act together and finally offer some 3G in America, this would be a great way to christen the service and keep me from jumping ship) the phone just will not be as popular as the iPhone. I don’t think Garmin expects that kind of popularity and I don’t necessarily want a popular phone, but it’s kind of nice to have some carrier support. The store I know in Chinatown does not exactly hold customer service as a priority.

With FCC clearance being what it is, Apple has a slim window to announce what will be iPhone Part Deux if it wants to beat Garmin to market. And that’s assuming S. Jobs sees fit to include both GPS and a 3G radio this time around. He’ll probably have some excuse that uses the words “battery life” or “consumer demands”. If Garmin pumps out a device anything like the one described in the press release, they’ll have a winner on their hands. As it stands now, I want one.

image from engadget
source: Garmin press release

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Phones — Roy @ 10:34 pm