Garmin Nuvifone Delayed Until 2009
If you were hoping to get your hands on that fancy new Garmin Nuvifone soon– I’ve got some bad news. While originally anticipated for a release by the end of September, rumors had been circling around that the Q3 date would not be met, but that they would appear just in time for the holidays. Unfortunately, even that won’t happen as Garmin announced today the Nuvifone won’t be available until “the first half of 2009″.
In their press release from earlier today, Garmin cited the following reason for the delay.
…we have found that meeting some of the carrier specific requirements will take longer than anticipated. We remain pleased with carrier interest in the device and are working toward making necessary design changes to meet their requirements.
Unfortunately for Garmin, this gives another GPS software company a perfect opportunity to step in and offer a killer turn-by-turn directions program on the iPhone, something we still believe will happen. While there will undoubtedly be advantages and disadvantages to either approach (a phone with full GPS versus a full GPS with phone) being first to the market is rarely a bad thing.
Thanks for the update. I’ve been waiting for the rumours to be confirmed. Now the Blackberry Bold is looking better and better.
I was honestly keeping my fingers crossed for this Nuvifone to come out before Christmas 2008. I am guessing by the time it comes out there will be turn by turn directions being offered on the 3G iPhones accompanied by software by TomTom. Garmin, you must do better.