TomTom and Garmin to build GPS handsets?
While TomTom and Garmin have been duking it out in court, a few big names have snuck in and unleashed a bevy of GPS navigation devices; chiefly, Nokia and their 330 Auto Navigation. So it's no surprise to hear that Garmin and TomTom are looking to reclaim some turf by getting in on some of that hot GPS on handset action. Of course, TomTom already has their SIM-enabled GO 715 navigator and works extensively with experienced handset makers Quanta and Inventec Appliance. More notable perhaps are those pesky "market sources" who say that Garmin is already in talks with Compal who we've seen dabbling in GPS-enabled devices for Via Michelin and others. The surprise here isn't that Garmin and TomTom are entering this burgeoning market, only that they haven't done so already.[Via NagiGadget]
Filed under: Cellphones, GPS
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mrmckeb @ Apr 10th 2007 9:56AM
Umm... an iPhone? Come on...
Rohit Kapur @ Apr 10th 2007 10:00AM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that interface the same as (or extremely similar to) the iPhone's?
angelsvairwaves1 @ Apr 10th 2007 10:04PM
haha yeah it is. why do so many people bash the iPhone and say its not revolutionary, while all these companies are making carbon copies of the iPhone OS? Hypocrites...
Greenline @ Apr 10th 2007 10:29AM
Who can we blame for using the iPhone (streched) number pad? I can't even remember what the post is about now because of that. Geesh.
McGinley @ Apr 10th 2007 10:36AM
I hope Garmin make another ad for it like the maposaurus one.That made my day.
Ryan @ Apr 10th 2007 10:43AM
PLEASE stop using the word "action" unless you are talking about "action heros" or "action movies." It's officially old.
PEZ @ Apr 10th 2007 11:16AM
I think it would be silly for Garmin or Tom Tom to get into th ehandset game. What could make sense is co-branded hardware. Maybe even something like a Tablet (via a Nokia design). Though, the more functions you put into a deivce that makes you carry less, the more you wont be able to use those top devices at the same time - GPS and cellphone, for instance. If I am on the phone, or the phone rings while I am geting crucial directions, that is a distraction. In this case, I would rather much have two seperate devices dedicated to their specific specialty.
Michael @ Apr 10th 2007 12:26PM
boooring... who wants to drive anyway? why cant they roll out auto pilot gps systems that drive for you?
scatch @ Apr 10th 2007 1:27PM
Garmin made a GPS cellphone some years ago and it flopped due to lack of interest
Rumour has it that their just sitting on the patents now waiting to cash in...
CB @ Apr 11th 2007 4:11AM
Got Tomtom 5 on my N70 right now and it's actually very easy to use , transfers well onto one hand-no touch screen use.
Just love using Tomtom to drive to the mountains then switching apps to http://www.viewranger.com for navigating the trails.
Any handheld would have to have this road/offroad capability for me...Oh yes I've got it allready on a device I got for free off my provider :)
Jeff @ Apr 11th 2007 10:59AM
Garmin had the NavTalk http://www.garmin.com/products/navTalkGSM/
Stern @ Apr 12th 2007 3:22PM
It looks like someone took a picture of the device and copied a picture of the iPhone interface over it; that's an exact picture of the iPhone interface, complete with the battery icon and the voicemail button at the bottom.