Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Oct. 4, 2009

AT&T has confirmed it will start offering the new Garmin-Asus G-60 Linux Nuvifone exclusively in the U.S. beginning today. The Nuvifone G60 smartphone will be available in AT&T stores or online for $300, with the usual two-year service agreement and $100 mail-in-rebate coupon.

A "Nuvifone Premium Connected Services" offering, which includes traffic updates, white pages, weather, stock quotes, movies, local events and fuel price content is available for just $6 a month after a 30-day trial.

The Nuvifone G60 is approximately twice the price of some smartphones, including the Palm Pre (now only $150 after a recent price drop), but Garmin-Asus appears to be gambling that wireless users will see the navigation-centric phone as a smartphone-enhanced version of the full-featured Garmin Nuvi8xx personal navigation device (PND), rather than just another smartphone with more modest nav features.

The Nuvifone G-60 was made available in Taiwan on July 27, and in Singapore and Malaysia later in August, via various wireless carriers and retail channels, said Garmin-Asus.

The company also plans to roll out the smartphone in Europe at some point, and plans to field an Android phone by the end of 2009, in addition to the G60 and its Windows Mobile-based Nuvifone M-20.

Announced on Sep. 16, the new handset incorporates a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, and supports T-Mobile's HSDPA 3G network, with download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.

The new smartphone offers WiFi functionality, Bluetooth, GPS and a five-megapixel camera, as well as a 3.5mm audio port.

The Nuvifone will be going up against a growing number of Android phones being launched in the U.S. this fall, including Motorola's first Android model, the Cliq.

T-Mobile USA has announced late Friday that it will begin selling the Motorola Cliq on Oct. 19 to existing wireless customers, with sales to the general public starting Nov. 4.

The smartphone has been priced at $200 with a two-year contract.

In other news, AT&T said it has launched its new Femtocell service dubbed 3G MicroCell. The compact unit acts like a mini cellular tower in the home or small business, allowing better indoor coverage.

The new MicroCell connects to AT&T's network via users' existing broadband Internet service and is designed to support up to four simultaneous users in a home or small business setting.

With AT&T's new 3G MicroCell, the mobile user gets better cellular signal performance for both voice calls and cellular data applications, like picture messaging and surfing the Internet.

While AT&T's website didn't provide specific availability and pricing details, it appears the MicroCell will initially be available in limited areas and will require a monthly service fee.

AT&T certainly isn't the first wireless carrier to deploy a femtocell solution. Sprint currently offers a similar solution, which also requires a monthly service fee for unlimited service.

Femtocells have long been touted as the answer to cheap backhaul for mobile service carriers, but lack of a business model has kept them from mass deployment.

AT&T has so far not announced any national plans but says the price of its trial femtocell device is $150.

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: AT&T.