If Apple, a long term PC and IT technology vendor, can shift sideways into handsets and have the impact that it has had, then why can’t vendors of smaller devices, which are more similar to handsets, such as GPS device makers do the same. That seems to be the logic behind both Garmin delivering a handset now and a rumor that GPS maker TomTom will not be far behind.
Both of them have tried to navigate (excuse the pun) their way into the mobile market on the back of supplying software to handset makers as they embrace GPS function, but given that something like 450 million handsets are expected to have GPS chips in them over the next five years, the pure GPS device makers must be considered threatened with extinction in the long term unless they move into handsets.
It put us in mind of the huge swathe of word processing companies that were in business prior to the PC and small personalized printers taking off in volume. They all said that PCs would never replace them, but now they are all gone and no-one would dream of using anything other than a PC to write a letter (or better still an email).
So there’s a lot riding on the Garmin n’vifone, which comes with a 3.5 inch touch screen, browser, Google local search and its own software for giving directions to the places that Google finds for you. The 3.5G handset has personal messaging, email and some interesting extras like helping drivers find their car by automatically marking the position in which it was last removed from the vehicle mount and giving directions back to it.
The handset can be docked onto a vehicle mount and it automatically turns back into a GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling while giving directions to the destination. The device comes with preloaded maps of North America, Eastern and Western Europe.
The n’vifone has a built in camera which allows users to take a picture which is automatically tagged with latitude and longitude references of where it was taken. The user can save the image and navigate back to the exact spot any time in the future. It is also an MP3 player and Garmin says it will be available in the third quarter. No terms or pricing have yet been set.