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Android 2.1 Update For T-Mobile Garminfone Available For Manual Installation; All 10 Owners Ecstatic

Aaron Gingrich — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:58:47 +0000

Granted, this particular bit of news is only valuable to the (very) small crowd of people who purchased the T-Mobile Garminfone, but it's nice to hear nonetheless. The good news: Garmin has released an update to Android 2.1 (Éclair). The bad: it's a manual update.

The update process isn't complicated per se - but it's definitely more work than an OTA:

1. Download the software update package for your Garminfone which can be found here: http://www.garminasus.com/en_US/support/software/006-B1130-00.update
2. Connect your Garminfone to your computer using the USB cable provided in your box
3. Select "File Transfer" mode when the "USB connected" dialog appears
4.

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Garmin Considers Exiting Phone Business-Yeah, Garmin Made A Phone

Brad Ganley — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:38:11 +0000

Garmin CFO Kevin Rauckman stated on the 9th that Garmin may be leaving the mobile phone part of its business on the side of the highway. Garmin has released exactly one Android phone that was met with limited success, to put it nicely. They released the Garminphone with an outdated version of Android and put it on the 4th largest (out of 4) wireless carrier in the US (T-Mobile). The cards were definitely not stacked in their favor.

At one point in time, I'm sure this phone would have been a break-away hit but, now that every phone has GPS navigation, the Garminphone has become completely irrelevant.

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Slow Garminfone Sales Prompt T-Mobile To Lower Price From $199.99 To $129.99

Aaron Gingrich — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:37:05 +0000

T-Mobile has been forced to lower the price of the Garminfone as a result of very weak demand - analyst estimates peg the number sold around 20,000. The phone was priced at $199.99, a price most reviewers agreed was too high for a phone with relatively weak specs:

600 Mhz processor
3.5” screen
3 MP camera
2GB microSD card
Android 1.6 with no word on an upgrade
Focus on navigation capabilities

Those in the market for an Android device were able to either get a more powerful phone for the same price, or an equally capable one for substantially less. Either way, the Garminfone had little in the way of economic appeal.

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UPDATED: Navigate Your Way To A Garminfone On June 9th

Chris Dehghanpoor — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:38:00 +0000

Update 05/26/2010: Well, as legit as the picture that Engadget posted looked, it seems that it was incorrect. I recieved an email this afternoon from T-Mobile announcing the availability of the Garminfone for $199.99 after a 2 year contract on June 9th. Seems all other details remain the same. You can view more information on the Garminfone here.

Sorry for the punny title – that actually hurt a bit to write. So, it seems that Engadgets received a fairly credible picture announcing that the Garminfone (did they really have to call it the ‘Garminfone’? I keep typing ‘phone’) should be available on June 2nd for the rumored $199 price point – as long as you’re OK with a 2 year contract.

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UPDATED: Navigate Your Way To A Garminfone On June 9th was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Garmin-Asus' Garminfone Reviewed, Is It A Solid Entry? [With Video]

Artem Russakovskii — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:05:25 +0000

The Garminfone is coming to T-Mobile very soon, so in order to help us figure out whether it is just a useless and superfluous toy or a candidate for your next phone/gadget, Engadget grabbed a review unit and put it to the test.

The Highlights

You can read the full review or if you want just the most important highlights, you can read the bullet points I handcrafted below, followed by a video and some photos:

Garminfone is coming to T-Mobile in June for $199
It has a 600MHz processor, a 3.5" capacitive screen, a 3MP camera, a 2GB microSD card, and runs Android 1.6, unlikely to be upgraded to 2.0+ any time soon, if ever, due to heavy customizations in the UI
if it's not obvious from the pictures, there is no physical keyboard
according to Engadget, Garminfone is the best mix of PND (portable navigation device) and smartphone to date
the phone is quite similar in build quality, size, and shape to Garmin G60, aka Nuvifone, which was running a custom Garmin OS and never ended up being too successful
there is no headphone jack… WHAT??

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T-Mobile To Ship Garminfone In June For $199

Artem Russakovskii — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:37:00 +0000

If you've been waiting for Garmin's half-GPS/half-Android-phone (phonotaur?) Garminfone to drop, you now won't have to wait too much longer.

According to Engadget, T-Mobile is going to start shipping this highly originally named device in June for a relatively steep price of $199.

Update: T-Mobile's garminfone site is now available:

Considering that a superior EVO 4G is rumored to have the same price tag, the Garminfone deal may seem like a steal to only the most directionally challenged of us. Yes, EVO 4G will run on Sprint, but if you want to stick to T-Mobile, why not get a similarly superior Nexus One instead?

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Real-life Photos Of The Garminfone Spotted For Those Of Us Who Are Directionally Challenged

Mattias Ahlvin — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:09:45 +0000

A number of real-life photos of the new Android-powered Garmin phone, called Garminfone just got leaked to TmoNews.com. With the full Garmin navigational experience loaded into the phone, Garminfone is clearly directed towards those of us that may be directionally challenged.

Let's have a look, shall we? Here are the most interesting of the leaked pictures:

Here’s their initial impression:

With just a few shots we get a quick glance at what we honestly expect to be just a moderate Android device…with no real “wow” factor.

For those that may have missed what makes this phone so special (which is nothing), below is an excerpt from the features, specifically the key Garmin-related features.

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Garmin-Asus Announce Garminfone, Exclusive To T-Mobile USA

John Thompson — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:33:59 +0000

Garmin-Asus have announced their first Android powered smartphone with the Garmin navigation experience fully integrated. Called the Garminfone (original, I know), it comes with a 3MP camera on board, a MicroSD slot supporting up to 32GB of storage and of course a custom version of Android.

Although the key selling point of the Garminfone is the turn by turn navigation, it offers a compelling set of features for any smartphone lover. The turn by turn navigation promises to use multiple positioning technologies to find your location no matter where you are, and you can use Garmin’s voice studio to record custom voice directions for the navigation.

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