Cell Phone Cat » Asus

Feb 4, 2009

Garmin® And Asus® To Create Garmin-Asus Line Of Co–Branded Lbs-Centric Mobile Phones

Cayman Islands and Taipei, Taiwan/February 4, 2009/Business Wire — Garmin Ltd. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. today announced a strategic alliance that will leverage the companies´ navigation and mobile telephony expertise to design, manufacture and distribute co-branded location-centric mobile phones. Garmin and ASUS have already begun joint development on a diverse mobile phone product line, which will be known as the Garmin-Asus nüvifone™ series. The companies expect to bring to market several Garmin-Asus nüvifone models in 2009, and a new Garmin-Asus nüvifone model will be announced at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009.

We believe that converged devices are an emerging opportunity,” said Dr. Min Kao, chairman and CEO of Garmin Ltd. "This alliance is advantageous to both companies because it allows us to combine our resources and establish a strong foundation from which we will innovate and introduce the world to the benefits of LBS-centric mobile phones. We´ve been working with ASUS for over one year on the initial nüvifone that was announced in 2008 on the basis of an ODM relationship. Learning from this experience, we concluded that by leveraging and combining our respective industry-leading areas of expertise at a higher level, we will be able not only to significantly expand our product line, but also to shorten our product development time. We believe that through this strategic alliance we are uniquely positioned to deliver the world´s best integrated and most compelling GPS-enabled mobile devices."

The companies expect to bring to market several Garmin-Asus nüvifone models in 2009, and a new Garmin-Asus nüvifone model will be announced at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009.

"This alliance allows ASUS and Garmin to seamlessly combine the strength of both companies to offer the market leading mobile phone solutions that are of the highest design and quality. ASUS and Garmin both believe strongly in the continuous investment of R&D resources to always provide the leading-edge innovations to people and businesses," said Jonney Shih, Chairman of ASUSTeK Computer Inc. "Through this alliance, our companies will continue to develop innovations that simplify life. Our technologies should accommodate our customers, not the other way around. We believe all devices should perform and communicate seamlessly not just anytime and anyplace, but in real time, in real places, and we´re confident the nüvifone series will meet this objective."

All Garmin-Asus nüvifone devices will continue the product vision of the original nüvifone and will be LBS-centric devices that seamlessly connect, communicate and navigate. The original Garmin nüvifone that was announced in 2008 will be re-branded as the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60. The Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 is expected to be delivered in the first half of 2009, and additional information about the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 will be released at the Mobile World Congress trade show.

LBS functionality is core to the Garmin-Asus nüvifone series, which will offer the same

turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation features found on high-end Garmin portable navigation devices (PND). It has preloaded maps and millions of points of interest that allow drivers to quickly find a specific street address, establishment´s name or search for a destination by category. In addition, the nüvifone includes quick access to online points of interest through internet enabled local search. The nüvifone harnesses the power of the worldwide web and information about local merchants and attractions is continually updated. The nüvifone also features Ciao™, a social networking application that bridges the gap between multiple location based social networks and integrates them seamlessly into one device.

The Garmin-Asus alliance was disclosed during a press conference in Taiwan on February 4, 2009. Analysts or journalists unable to attend the Garmin-Asus announcement in Taiwan are invited to participate in a webcast or via phone on February 4, 2009, at 11:00 am EDT (10:00 am CDT). Webcast details are available at www.GarminAsus.com/pressroom.

Garmin-Asus nüvifone models will be on display at the Garmin-Asus booth at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009 (7C37, hall 7). Journalists should contact the Garmin or Asus media contacts to arrange a live demonstration or interviews. Additional information is available at www.GarminAsus.com.

Print! Print this article   Share/Save/Bookmark

Related Asus Articles

(Feb 27, 2009) Asus Raises The Bar For Mobile Web Surfing And Multimedia Enjoyment With P835 WVGA PDA Phone. ASUS, a leading producer of innovative handhelds, today launched the P835, a PDA phone that delivers an Internet browsing and multimedia viewing experience without equal. The P835 is equipped with a large 3.5” touchscreen that runs at WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) resolution—offering five times the number of pixels of most phones—thus rendering the P835 capable of delivering unprecedented clarity and screen real estate...

(Nov 14, 2008) Asus Presents Fastest Business PDA Phone In The World. ASUS today introduced the ASUS P565, a business PDA phone that boasts an 800 MHz processor—the fastest in the world at the time of this announcement. Other useful applications such as Anytime Launcher and Multi-Home enable users to view their calendars, the times of local and visiting cities, weather reports, online news and much more—all with an intuitive tap, slide or flick of their fingers...

(Oct 13, 2008) A Stroke Of Genius: Asus Releases First Glide-Enabled PDA Phone. ASUS today launched the ASUS P552w PDA phone which features Glide – an innovative touch-responsive user interface that makes navigating and performing tasks on a mobile phone more intuitive and interactive than ever before. Underpinning the ASUS P552w´s revolutionary touch-responsive user interface is its cutting-edge Gester technology that enables users to perform a variety of navigational actions – such as selecting, zooming, scrolling and flipping – easily through simple flicks of their fingers...

(May 23, 2008) Go Big With Mini GPS PDA Phone. The exceptionally elegant ASUS P320 Mini GPS PDA phone was designed for the fashion-conscious who are constantly admired for their accessories – including their handheld choices. With ASUS Today, icons such as time, calendar, messages, weather and the media player can be seen easily in the same window – providing users with easy access to their needed functions...