Forum Moderators: phranque
One thing, search is the driver to the web even more. Not good for those who don't rank in the top three each time.
"The nuvifone is a touchscreen device combining smartphone technology, mobile web browsing and personal navigation tools."
The 3.5-inch touchscreen indicates three primary icons--Call, Search and View Map--when you turn it on.
"When the nuvifone is docked onto a vehicle mount, it automatically goes into GPS mode, activating the navigation menu and enabling hands-free calling."
"The handset arrives preloaded with maps of North America as well as Eastern and Western Europe, complete with turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions."
The nuvifone is the first Garmin device to feature Google local search capability. In addition, it offers personal messaging applications, mobile entertainment features (including camera) and Garmin Online, which delivers real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock quotes, and news, weather and sports updates.
Garmin said the nuvifone will hit retail in the third quarter of 2008.
Here's where I first heard about it:
[garmin.com...]
[edited by: phranque at 3:54 am (utc) on Feb. 1, 2008]
[edit reason] source of PR material [/edit]
What's a nuvi 360 cost?
The POI files are mondo kewl. I use Google Maps to help the visitor find a place, then they can download a POI file which they send to their device (it is a CSV file that can actually work on a number of devices).
One thing that I wanted to do was to combine my map searches (find all THINGYS within 5 miles of the place you click or an entered address, etc.) with cellphone location. The site has a mobile (WML 1/2) interface, and the searches are really awkward. I wanted visitors to be able to say "Find all THINGYS within 5 miles of where I am."
However, there are big privacy concerns. Even phones that "know where they are" (via GPS or celltower triangulation) won't send it to the site.
I would be interested to see whether or not this has changed.
But, "the industry" should be able to address it with an button: Let this website know your current location: yes/no.
Typically, "the industry" (including me), wants everything on and all of the data I can get my hands on. But, we are coming to a point where we are going to strangle the golden goose. And this is from someone who has long argued that people are not really concerned about privacy.
Facebook came close to messing it up for all of us with its hamhanded database linking that looked like it was going to let everyone know everything about everyone all of the time.
Do parents want GPS phones/cameras/computers on their kids to track them? Sometimes, yes. Do parents want GPS phones/cameras/computers on their kids where you can track them? Hmmmm, maybe not.
But, if the web is in everyone's pocket, retail shopping is going to get weird. Jeans for $28? No, here they are for $17, in the store next door. To heck with it, I'll just shop online from the get-go.
[amazon.com...]
The price of these things seems to fluctuate wildly. For a while I thought you could get a 370 (in my understanding same as 360 plus European maps and a FM traffic reciever) for only 50 or so bucks more. This was a great deal but now it looks like the 370 is selling for a _bit_ more.
[amazon.com...]
Still, worth it if you want those features.
Still, about the design...I dunno: it's a touch screen, so, it's a gray, flat box. Maybe they should have looked over 2001 A Space Odyssey.
