Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 hands-on (Update: now with video!)

We got a bumpy car ride through Barcelona, and handled the newly spruced-up and official Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 along the way. The phone has come a very long way since we last saw it, with a snappy, smooth interface, and nary a glitch or crash. The touchscreen keyboard -- usable in portrait and landscape modes -- is no pretender to the iPhone's throne, but is one of the best we've seen on a resistive touch device. We also found the WebKit-based browser to be one of the smoother ones we've seen outside the T-Mobile G1 and the iPhone. The phone is pretty slow when reorienting itself or entering certain applications, and, as feared, there seems a general lack of depth to the functionality of the actual "smartphone" features like calendar or contacts, but the location-based services -- in the car and out -- really do bring a lot to the table.

Update: we added a video after the break, pardon the bumps!

Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 hands-on

[CheesusCrust Posted Feb 15th 2009 8:00PM]

No they don't

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 15th 2009 6:27PM]

I guess when you use it as a navigator device in your car, you would probably plug it in. These devices being used constantly will really suck the life out of a battery.

So many models of great looking smartphones. It's going to be hard to choose. Within the past two years this technology has really taken a leap forward. What will make any model smartphone stand out above the rest? Ease of use? Battery life? Low cost?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 15th 2009 6:28PM]

I don't think people understand touch screen technologies here, resistive is fine if it has a good UI on it, and if it uses dual resistive tech then its not all to different from a capacitive.

[DaRockwilder Posted Feb 15th 2009 6:58PM]

Not impressed, and her presentation kinda sucks: - "it's er... a great...er...new feature...bla, bla..."

[dr steve brule Posted Feb 15th 2009 7:58PM]

i think she said "if you so choose" like 10 times, it makes her sound like an idiot.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 15th 2009 8:40PM]

,,,,,,HAMIDXA...........NO ......GARMIN PHONE.....FOR YOU!!!!!!


.....L

[operation northwoods Posted Feb 16th 2009 5:23PM]

How in the world this technoledhe site doesn't have video support for iPhone!!!! Come on...

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 15th 2009 9:11PM]

another failed iphone clone wannabee,boring.,guranteed to tank here in usa. In 3-6 months this phone will of been forgotten n possibly discontinued. Asus stick to netbooks..,.,no iphonekiller here.,im sure we all agree

[Raaj Posted Feb 15th 2009 10:04PM]

No we don't. Not every phone released has to be an iPhone killer.

[Tohe Posted Feb 16th 2009 5:28AM]

I like this phone. It is young, stylish and powerful. Something about it just feels fresh.

[PEZ Posted Feb 16th 2009 8:04AM]

Resistive is good if you life in colder climates and when gloves just dont work with capacitive. I have an older resistive garmin GPS, and I can hardly tell its resistive. At this point, I dont care what the screen tech is, as long as its sharp.

and... its very smooth, this OS (Linux) I am impressed. I am just curious to know if there will be a dev kit, and if it will take off.

[wenuell Posted Feb 16th 2009 12:53PM]

Here are the specs

G-60 http://www.garminasus.com/garminasus/cms/site/home/lang/en/phones
M-20 http://www.garminasus.com/garminasus/cms/site/home/lang/en/nuvifone-m20

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 18th 2009 1:22PM]

Nice one! :) Is it already somewhere available for buying? I would buy it immediately!