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back to article Garmin: Nuvi satnav phone release set for Q1 2009

Garmin has confirmed that the Nuvi Fone will be launched between January and April next year. Garmin_Nuvi_IFA_2008_01 A dummy Nuvi Fone on display at IFA The satnav-cum-phone maker admitted to Register Hardware that “the launch has taken longer than we expected”. It said the hold-up was the result of its talks with …

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  1. Piloti
    Thumb Down

    Who owns the bloody thing anyway....

    Have to say, I'm getting pretty pissed off with hardware suppliers telling me with whom I can use a device and whom I cant'.

    If this thing is a 'phone and GPS device then the gps is independent of the gsm stuff.

    Now, yes, I know, EGPS blah blah blah but GPS IS independent of the carrier.

    It is independent of everything frankly.

    And if I take it abroad, will the sim lock and then try and charge me stupid amounts for the data transfer....

    Stuff it, looks like a Nokia and Magellan once again for the future for me.

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  2. Monkey

    At first I thought...

    ..."blah blah" to Piloti's comment, but then, thinking about it you have a really valid point there.

    Having used my GPS functioning phone in Europe earlier this year I got stung with an enormous data bill (knowingly). But had no option to drop in a local PAYG SIM to counter this.

    I guess the Apple model of single carrier tie in is just too damned profitable to ignore for all involved. The price we pay I guess for demanding all functions be levered into a single device.

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  3. Piggy and Tazzy
    Unhappy

    Oh dear

    Another really-looked-forward-to phone being restricted to just one mobile carrier.

    When will these clowns realise that all they are doing is locking out a lot of customers by doing this?

    Regardless of whether or not others think it's just whining, I think it's a bloody shoddy practice. Why can't they release phones on ALL carriers? Some of us don't want to have to change mobile supplier, for god's sake. Not forgetting the fact that any supplier who gets it exclusively inevitably jacks the bloody prices up to stupid levels too.

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  4. Giles Jones Gold badge

    Don't get it when it first arrives

    Will need a few updates behind it to be fairly bug free. Garmin seem to release early and get lots of customer testing to iron out the bugs.

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  5. martin burns
    Jobs Halo

    Locking out potential customers?

    @Pig and Tazzy: Locking out potential customers is only a problem if you have more supply than demand via your single channel to market.

    In Apple's case, they've sold their entire production capacity, with good margins, so it's a pretty astute move.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    SatNav Free?

    People might think in terms of GPS being free. Well maybe it is presently but you can bet your bottom dollar that our wondrous governments are scheming to get their paws on money from it. What other reason would there be for Europe trying to create a matrix of satellites to feed the GPS system? Isn't the US military system good enough? I for one can put up with a GPS system which can get me within 20 yards of my final destination if that is the shortcoming - why the heck do I need one that can get me to within 6 inches? (Sorry, inches probably reveals my age a bit - I meant half a foot).

    Paris because I'd like to get within 6 inches of her.

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  7. Robert E A Harvey
    Alert

    yes,yes

    It's quite simple.

    I need a phone I can put any sim card in. So any phone tied to a contract is no good and I won't be buying it.

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  8. Matthew

    Locked phones...

    ...just give the crackers something to do. The thriving industry in hacking and cracking the iphone would be tiny if it wasn't for the network tie.

    If the vendor or network has disabled capabilities that I deem essential then I look elsewhere or work around the restriction, as does every savvy purchaser. But as a way for a manufacturer to manage (or artificially restrict) supply it is quite effective, even if it does piss off a large minority of customers. If they choose to cripple a desirable product, persuade them to do otherwise by refusing to buy it!

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