This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Find out more about how to manage cookies, or dismiss this message and continue to use cookies.
New Android and Winmo based Garmin Nuvifone
mvl
191 Points
Garmin just announced new Nuvifones:
M10 will run on WinMo 6.3.2
A50 will run on Android (version not announced)
http://garmin.blogs.com/pr/?activeBranchId=newsroom
M10 will run on WinMo 6.3.2
A50 will run on Android (version not announced)
http://garmin.blogs.com/pr/?activeBranchId=newsroom
Comments
BTW, the Oregon 450t is Barron's "Gadget of the Week":
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB126601890467445301.html
But I found the following statement curious. For Garmin's sake, I hope it isn't true...
Good comments almost across the board from those that have seen it. Nearly all are mentioning how customized the interface is, even making use of multi-touch and sprinkling in some features from the 2.x android OS. (Android 2.x is planned as an update for later this year). But according to Garmin, neither the M10 or A50 is scheduled for the US. Since the android-based A50 can easily be set up for T-Mobile or AT&T, I personally expect it to pop up on T-Mobile's network by summer. I can't imagine Garmin would let their apparently very good Android phone skip out on North America.
PND sales are flat to declining while other sectors like factory in-dash systems and smartphone applications are on the rise. Garmin's "Nuvifone" brand is out there with a fairly poor reputation right now.
People purchase hardware based on its primary design purpose. You purchase a smartphone for its phone/email/web capabilities first; secondary will be a specific application like navigation.
Garmin's adoption of Android is at least a step in the right direction. My wish for them is that they release an Android app for sale that can be purchased on non-Garmin/Asus phones. Motorola Droid + Garmin android app ... synergies like that will make for a winning combination. Same goes for the iPhone + Garmin app.
Almost all other Garmin hardware is built around products where the primary purpose is navigation. The Nuvifone breaks that trend and I think people are going to have a hard time turning around into looking at Garmin as a general consumer electronics company rather than just a navigation company. Sure, apple broke into the phone market in a big way... but they were already a general consumer electronics company following on the success of desktops, laptops, and MP3 players.
Additionally... and this thought is a bit more of a guess... but I think Google is going to become a company people increasingly love to hate over the next couple of years. I think they are going to develop a reputation and profile more similar to Microsoft. Like Microsoft, they will still dominate their markets with huge market share, but they will come under increased criticism. I see Microsoft has having a bit of a rebirth over the next couple of years.
So in short-- I see people purchasing an Android based phone partly because they can run kick-ass Garmin software (so long as Garmin releases their app for sale) but I don't see droves of people going out to buy a Garmin phone because of its phone strengths. I just don't see a compelling reason to purchase a Garmin android phone over a nice Motorola Android phone.
Anyway... enough of my rare dip into speculation. ;)
EDIT: By the way, Tim. Your comment several months ago not to write off the nuvifone just yet since Android offered good potential looks to be right on the money. Rather than rolling out a standard Android phone with navigation software, Garmin-Asus looks like they put some thought into this. May be hope yet :)
PND profits = wholesale price - hardware costs - other costs.
App profits = retail price - app store commission - other costs.
Being able to charge retail pricing for an app versus wholesale pricing for a PND, plus fixed hardware costs likely exceed the app store commissions, so I think there is more room for discounting apps and retaining profits in the app space versus the PND space. I suspect TomTom, Navigon, Magellan, and for that matter TeleNav are still pretty happy with the prices they are getting.
It would probably be a lot easier to roll out a software package, but that's the road everyone else is taking, and may turn out to be the low road. What the heck, jump in there with the big fish (Apple, HTC, etc) if you want to be one. Apparently that's Garmin's attitude.
http://tinyurl.com/y9tbhp9
http://tinyurl.com/ykvodqz