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T-Mobile said the Android-powered Garminfone will be available June 9 for about $200 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new, two-year contract.
As you would expect from Garmin, the handset takes strong advantage of the GPS chip by offering multiple navigation features. It will come with a car dock, as well as turn-by-turn audible directions that includes real-time weather and traffic information. Of course, most modern Android devices can do free navigation via Google Maps Navigation but the Garminfone takes it up a notch by pre-loading the maps on the device so you won’t need connectivity to get directions.
The handset has a nice design and it feels like it was built solidly. It also rocks a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display, a 3-megapixel camera, WiFi, access to T-Mobile’s expanding 3G network, a microSD slot and 4 GB of onboard storage (2 GB are taken by Garmin’s GPS maps).
The Garminfone rocks Android 1.6, which means you’ll be able to make calls, surf the web, send and receive e-mails from personal and work accounts and download apps from the Android Market. It has been customized for a unique user interface, multitouch in the gallery and support for Microsoft Exchange accounts. The older version of the operating system means you won’t be able to download some apps – like Twitter’s official Android client – but the market is filled with over 50,000 programs, so you should be able to find a viable alternative.
Garmin and T-Mobile have also launched a giveaway sweepstakes where it will be giving away five Garminfones via Twitter. Merely follow @TMobile_USA, tweet an interesting story about being lost without a GPS, use the hashtag #needgarminfone, and you could be one of the lucky winners.
One thing that really irks me is that there’s no headphone jack, standard or otherwise. Sure, you’ll be able to use a USB-to-headphone adapter but that’s a bulky and cruddy solution. Ah well, check out our hands-on video of the Garminfone below for a closer look.
About The Author
Marin Perez
Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.
