“The nüvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all" says the offical press release.

Electronica reports that the device aims to score in areas presently underserved by Apple iPhone such as GPS and 3G connections and appreciates built in features with as automatic location tagging of created media such as photographs, the ability to pinpoint ones location in an emergency by using a special "find me" feature and a built in directory with millions of preloaded locations allowing a person to essentially carry a mobile directory. The difference between such a service and competitors such as Google Maps of course is that the application is preloaded and integrated with the unit itself to there's nothing to configure except ones default location.  Throw in a solid browser and good media capability and you might just have another trend setting device.

However, Wired points out that the device still  falls behind the the iPhone in terms of overall design and a completely touch driven interface. The phone will also be larger than those of competitors and there are no initial plans to allow third party application development as was the case with the iPhone when it was first released.  Still the article credits Garmin for taking an important step forward in the cell phone arena with the GPS phone in much the same way that Apple did with their phones design and form factor.

By embedding GPS they effectively set a bar that the industry as a whole has to chase. And as we know so well, whenever a industry  is forced to innovate it's the consumer that tends to gain. 

According to ABI research prices for wholesale GPS units could fall from a current $10/unit to around $2 a unit by 2010 potentially allowing for sub $200 handsets - that's about the same price that many mobile customers in the US currently pay for a higher end handheld upgrade and certainly within easy reach especially if bundled with provider subsidies. ABI also predicts the handheld GPS segment to triple in size over the next four years from 140 million to over 600 million suggesting further proof that Garmin is certainly leaning in the right direction with this device.

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