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By Yenie Darian, October 6, 2009 4:21 PM

Garmin Nuvifone G60 GPS Phone Review: Do Not Buy

Here the new review from Gizmodo

Garmin nuvifone G60

What’s Bad ?

• The resistive touchscreen reminds me of phones circa 2006, bad for everything but big-button tapping.

• There’s no homescreen button, to quickly take you out of a mire of menus.

• It’s crashy—screens froze twice while I was writing this, forcing a full-on hard restart.

• Sometimes the accelerometer just stops working completely.

• The camera is terrible—if the hardware button required for the shutter even works—and there’s no video of any kind.

• The web browser is all but useless, because it relies heavily on zooming in and out, and the touchscreen easily confuses swiping and tapping.

• The interface looks cool at first, but there are strange design choices throughout. Want an example? The QWERTY keyboard only appears in horizontal mode—it’s ABCDE in vertical mode. Also, no “Where To?” button, a la older Nuvi devices.

• You have to pay a $5/month premium charge to check the weather, traffic, local events and other services—all of which can be found on free apps from real smartphone platforms (not just iPhone).

• Even when using email (let alone calendar), there doesn’t seem to be any awareness of the rest of the internet: The email wizard lets you enter any address and password, but it doesn’t say whether it can actually get mail. This tenacious little phone is still trying to log onto my Hotmail account.

• The battery ran down completely during my first day of testing, after a few phone calls and some modest GPS navigation, and the battery indicator drops fast when it’s just on standby. In fairness, you shouldn’t use this phone or any other phone without a car charger, if you intend to use it for GPS navigation.

• There is no car charger. It’s missing the $7 USB-to-cig-lighter adapter. AT&T probably wanted to sell it separately, but when I asked at my local AT&T store, they didn’t even carry it.

• Since it’s an AT&T phone, it has to compete with the iPhone and other handsets that are way better. If the Nuvifone were on Verizon, it would at least have a network advantage in certain markets that it could lord over the iPhone herd. But even Apple haters would have a hard time spending an extra $100 on this—with the exact same phone reception.

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By Yenie Darian, September 11, 2009 3:50 PM

Garmin® Updates Low-Cost, High-Sensitivity GPS 72H Marine Handheld

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, announced today that it was introducing the GPS 72H with new, state-of-the-art features including a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, and a fast USB interface – all in an easy-to-use handheld that floats.

“Since 2002, the GPS 72 has been the handheld of choice for the boater that wants a simple, rugged, and reliable navigator,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president for worldwide sales.  “Now, with a high-sensitivity receiver, boaters can acquire a position fix quickly and easily.”

In addition to improved GPS satellite reception, the GPS 72H can quickly transfer waypoints, tracks, and routes via its fast USB interface, as well as the tried-and-true NMEA 0183.  Battery life has also been improved to 18 hours (typical use).  Like the legacy GPS 72, the updated 72H is fully waterproof to IPX-7 standards (submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes).  Best of all, the unit floats, in case of an accidental dunking.

The GPS 72H features built-in celestial data, including tide tables, sunrise/sunset times, and a fishing and hunting almanac.  Like its predecessor, the GPS 72H stores up to 500 waypoints and 50 routes.

The GPS 72H includes a wrist strap, a quick start manual, and digital owner’s manual.  The unit is expected to be available in the October 2009 for a suggested retail price of $149.99.  Visit www.garmin.com for more information.

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By Yenie Darian, August 26, 2009 1:15 PM

Bob Dylan Could be New sat-nav Voice

Music legend Bob Dylan is “talking to a couple of car companies” about becoming the voice of their GPS system.

The singer-songwriter discussed the possibility on his BBC Radio 6 Music Sunday show which was on the theme of street maps.

Renowned for his raspy, nasally tones, the 68-year-old American gave his listeners a taster of what his directions might sound like.

“Left at the next street. No, right. You know what? Just go straight.”

He continued: “I probably shouldn’t do it because whichever way I go, I always end up at one place – on Lonely Avenue. Luckily I’m not totally alone. Ray Charles beat me there.”

The normally reclusive Dylan, whose hits include Blowin’ in the Wind and Like a Rolling Stone, admitted he does not normally like telling people what he is doing.

His Theme Time Radio Hour is on Mondays at midnight. The singer is currently on hiatus, and this week’s show was a repeat. His comments had not previously been reported.

Comedian John Cleese is one of several celebrities who have already lent their voices to sat-nav devices.

Other sat-nav voices include Susan Skipper, who appeared as Nigel Havers’ posh girlfriend in the 1980s sitcom Don’t Wait Up; and Eve Karpf, who voice-dubbed the famous line: “Monsieur, with these Rocher you are really spoiling us” in a chocolate commercial.

Original Source : BBC News (August 25, 2009)