Digitimes is reporting that Garmin is planning on releasing Android handsets in the second half of 2009. It’s no surprise really. Recently the world’s number one selling portable navigation device maker joined the Android-supporting Open Handset Alliance. The company will also be releasing the long-delayed Garmin nuviphone in the first quarter of 2009 as it attempts to increase its product roster as PND prices crash through the floor. According to Garmin’s Asia Pacific marketing director Tony An, the Android handsets will be self-developed but the hardware manufacturing will be outsourced. No partners were named nor were any specs detailed but it’s likely given current market forces that they’ll be touchscreen devices heavily focused on GPS navigation.
Despite the fact that Garmin is a new player in the smartphone market, its timing may be just right. The nuviphone will run on a low-cost Linux-based operating system and its Android handsets should cost virtually nothing to produce. Even a year ago, the costs for Garmin to enter the mobile market would have been substantially higher.
And while some will likely argue that Garmin doesn’t have the experience to develop a user-friendly handset like the iPhone, remember that the user interface used on Garmin’s nuvi line is incredibly intuitive and attractive. It’s also very likely that Garmin’s handsets will feature navigational specs that Apple’s iPhone or T-Mobile’s Android-based G1 don’t currently offer–like turn-by-turn directions.
The terms of using Apple’s SDK have prevented the addition of turn-by-turn directions to GPS applications–TomTom had an app in the works before the 3G iPhone’s release and never made it into the app store. T-Mobile’s G1 also doesn’t have turn-by-turn directions built though recently an app called AndNav2 was released in alpha providing the feature. But I have no idea how effective it is.
I think that Garmin could be a force to be reckoned with in mobile.
