Technology solutions provider Garmin Ltd., has just signed a strategic alliance with an IT oriented company - ASUSTeK Computer Inc., to design, manufacture and distribute co-branded location-centric mobile phones.
Right from offering PC components to complete solutions including notebooks, desktops, smart phones, PDAs, broadband communications products, LCD monitors and wireless applications, ASUS is recognized as the fastest growing brand globally.
ASUS is also working on the design, manufacture and distribution of mobile phones, and has exclusive intellectual property rights in 3G core technologies. The company introduced its first PDA in 2001 and mobile phone in 2004.
Garmin (News - Alert) has been specializing in designing, manufacturing, marketing and selling satellite navigation and communication devices. Garmin’s on-board and off-board navigation solutions are widely adopted by numerous mobile phone manufacturers and network operators, and are currently available on over 500 different phone models.
Garmin and ASUSTeK are working on a diverse mobile phone product line, known as the Garmin-Asus nüvifone series. The companies have plans to launch several Garmin-Asus nüvifone models in 2009.
“We believe that converged devices are an emerging opportunity,” said Min Kao, chairman and chief executive officer at Garmin Ltd.
Kao mentioned about this alliance as advantageous to both the companies as it allows them to combine their expertise and resources and establish a strong foundation which subsequently will allow them to innovate and introduce several 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,” added Kao.
“ASUS and Garmin both believe strongly in the continuous investment of R&D resources to unfailingly provide leading-edge innovations to people and businesses,” said Jonney Shih, chief executive officer at ASUSTeK Computer Inc (News - Alert).
“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,” added Shih.
According to both companies, the original Garmin nüvifone that was announced in 2008 will be re-branded as the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60, and is expected to be delivered in the first half of 2009.
All Garmin-Asus nüvifone series will come with LBS functionality which will offer turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation. Apart from this, it will have 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.
Added to this, the nüvifone will include quick access to online points of interest through internet enabled local search. 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.
Jai C.S. is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Jai's articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by Jessica Kostek
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