Garmin had originally scheduled the buttonless, touchscreen nüvifone to come out about this time but has delayed the release due to cellular network preparations taking a little bit longer than expected. Garmin has pushed the nüvifone release to sometime in the first half of 2009.

Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO says that, “The nüvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device, this is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for – a single device that does it all.”

He’s totally right on that one! But I think what we’re all looking for as well as network choice and the ability to use the device the way that we want to unfettered by the need to use a certain provider on a certain type of network – One of the great downfalls of the Apple iPhone.


The nüvifone obviously has mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. What really sets it ahead of the iPhone in terms of GPS Navigation is that Garmin includes their own turn by turn voice prompted navigational software while the iPhone still has to rely on a speachless Google Maps GPS interface which you also have to use a data connection for.

Since the nüvifone is a real mobile device it has an intelligently design docking mode – when the nüvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling. When you take the nüvifone off of the vehicle mount it automatically marks the location of your vehicle – so you’ll be able to get back to it no matter how big the parking lot.

The nüvifone includes a built in camera that has geotagging capabilities – this means that the image has the latitude and longitude information stored inside the picture so programs can read the information and map it in a geographic location. Of course the NuviFone also features a built-in video camera, MP3 and MPEG4/AAC capability.

So let’s hope that this one won’t be locked onto any specific network and we’ll all be able to use the device as if it were our own.

Additional information about nüvifone is available at www.garmin.com/nuvifone.

For clarity we’re going to break the electronics down into two parts.

We have the BEACON which is the part of the system that moves around and relays its’ position to the RECEIVER which shows the user the positional data or whereabouts of the beacon.

There are two basic approaches to relaying the beacon positional data back to the receiver and each of them have their own unique drawbacks.

The first method is to use the cellular network to send messages to the receiver device. Using the cellular network allows the system to be used pretty much anywhere that you have a cellular network but it might not work in the back-country where people would normally go hiking, boating, fishing or camping. If you intend to use the tracking system outdoors in those back-country places to track your dog if he gets lost then you’d better hope your dog has some good survival instincts and tracking ability of his own.

The Zoombak “Advanced GPS Car and Family Locator” is one product that uses a cellular network to relay the data back to the receiver. The receiver in this case is a web site on the Internet so you’ll need internet access to be able to use it.

Although Zoombak doesn’t charge a setup fee for the device; you’re going to have to pay a minimum $9.99 a month for the service and about $175.00 for the electronic beacon that you attach to the object you’d like to track.

The real drawbacks to the Zoombak is that you need internet access because it doesn’t come with a handheld receiver and that you’ll have a monthly service fee for as long as you’re going to use the device.

The second method is to use publicly accessible, free radio signals to send messages to the receiver device. Since the device is using public radio signals you can expect that there will be no monthly service fees which is a real bonus since paying a service fee for every electronic device that you own starts to add up to some real coin very quickly.

RoamEO is one manufacturer that makes these types of GPS tracking system devices that is made specifically for dogs. They give you a handheld receiver that tracks the position of the beacon in real-time so you can even use it in the back-country where there’s no cellular systems.

Since this device works on radio waves there’s some pretty strict regulations that they have to adhere to and one of them is the power level that they’re allowed to transmit. The handheld receiver will handle up to 3 beacons and the beacon device transmits at 2 watts on 154.6Mhz so the beacon isn’t going to be in Juneau, Alaska and transmit to you California.

The biggest drawback is that the device is only going to transmit about 1 mile and you’re going to foot about $400.00 for 1 beacon and the handheld receiver.

I really like the Zoombak device and if I didn’t have so many projects on the go I’d like to get ahold of a Zoombak to see if it could be hacked to be used off of their system and used independently of their service fees.

Nokia Maps is available for the Nokia E61, E61i, E65, E90, N70, N72, N73, N76, N93i, N95, the Nokia 6110 Navigator and finally the 6120 Classic.

If you have one of these phones hook it up to your computer and get some updates! You’ll need the Nokia Map Loader which can be found on the Nokia Web Site.

Nokia says that “With Nokia Maps on your mobile device, you can browse maps of more than 150 countries, search locations, plan routes for free, and even view a simulation of the route. If you would like Nokia Maps to give you clear voice and visual guidance turn-by-turn, just upgrade your application with the extra voice-guided navigation service.”

Don’t worry though the Navigation Feature only costs you for downloading your data through your Cellular Service Provider’s data charges – if you plan in advance you can load the phone up with maps before you go. The Voice Direction Service is FREE for 3 days so you can try it out before you buy it, my thoughts are that the Voice Direction Service is a little expensive and for the cost you might as well go buy a Garmin or TomTom.