Hands-off with Garmin's nuvifone

We're not sure it was a real great idea on Garmin's part to put its new smartphone / GPS / iPhone wannabe in a darkly lit room, on a bright pole, with a shiny globe around it... but hey, it's not our company. Needless to say, it was pretty difficult to get a shot of this thing, and impossible to get it in our hands. Imagine if the Samsung Blackjack was all screen, and you can pretty much get an idea of what this little guy is like in person. Check the gallery below for our attempt at photos.

Gallery: Hands-off with Garmin's nuvifone

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[wes @ Jan 30th 2008 8:26PM]

who are the providers ?

[Julian @ Jan 30th 2008 10:39PM]

No camera? useless for me. I'll wait for a 3G iphone here in Oz.

[Mike @ Jan 30th 2008 8:33PM]

Those pics aren't very flattering. It looks huge in some of the shots. That really appears to be a horrible setting for an unveiling.

I like the specs on this baby, though.

[Peppie @ Jan 30th 2008 8:33PM]

A valiant effort by the photographers.

I'm interested to learn more.

Is there a jailbreak in development yet? (jk)

[JAmerican @ Jan 30th 2008 8:35PM]

Lol. Is it me, or is this the announcement of the iPhone all over again.

[webon @ Jan 30th 2008 8:52PM]

how r you supposed to hold this to your face??

[Reader @ Jan 30th 2008 8:59PM]

Bluetooth is there to make sure you don't have to I suppose. Would look awfully awkward holding up that monster I would think.

[shadow @ Jan 30th 2008 9:23PM]

is the web browser only for the wifi?

[Etronics @ Jan 30th 2008 11:13PM]

Man...you guys are savvy and on your game most of the time. But, letting your writers run wild at CES with point and shoot digi cam or cell cams, and expecting good shots is just counter-intuitive. Hire a real professional photographer, might I suggest myself, to take your product shots. Stop blaming the booth designers for your shortcomings. Any actual, photojournalist could have gotten many outstanding shots of this product, in that display. Your coverage of CES rocked otherwise, and not all your writer can't take photos, but yeah these blow.

[Drew @ Jan 31st 2008 2:59AM]

I have to agree. Most of Engadget's product shots are terrible.

[OA @ Jan 30th 2008 11:27PM]

Was it fun being on Lakeshore Dr.?

[robert @ Jan 31st 2008 1:29AM]

I know they are debuting it at a GSM show, but will it also be available in CDMA?

[Wwhat @ Jan 31st 2008 3:44AM]

What's with techsavvy people having such trouble making pictures, and fixing them in photoshop?
I mean I so often see them making pictures full of reflections of flashes and out of focus and and dark and shaken pictures, is there no pride?
There are many sites with tips and instructions you know.

[bf @ Jan 31st 2008 11:11AM]

It's the same size as an IPhone... do you hold that to your face?

[bf @ Jan 31st 2008 11:12AM]

Not only does it have a camera, but it geotags the pictures... Don't post unless you know what your talking about:

http://www8.garmin.com/buzz/nuvifone/media_gallery.jsp

[P. Anderson @ Feb 2nd 2008 4:18PM]

An important question. Does it come loaded with Garmin's mapsource program for TOPO? I use GPS's when I go hunting, and have been using them for 10 years. I have an old Garmin GPS 12 and a newer e-trex Legend CX. I also take my cell phone with me and can get service most places. It would be nice to combine the two if I could as everything that goes in goes on my back or pockets, or belt. If it is just a road map program it would be useless to me.