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Garmin Nuvifone G60 - one year contract?

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Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Anyone know if it is at all possible to get the Nuvifone on a one year contract instead of two?

I played with the G60 at an ATT store today (3rd Oct). Lady had to get it out from the back. Didn't get to see anything great because somehow her ATT Work SIM never worked okay. She didn't even know about the phone until I asked her about it. It felt very nice in my hand. Not gimmicky. Felt like a phone and not a toy.
Said a display model will be available tomorrow (4th Oct) to try. Only one actual phone in stock available for purchase. Only tonight did I see ATT had the phone on their site. Would've thought it would be promoted a bit earlier.

Later in the day, I phoned ATT and asked if the unit can be unlocked for travel to Europe and the CSR lady said yes. Been an ATT customer for three years so they could unlock straight away (bonus!) Let's see if this actually happens!

I think I saw somewhere online that a two year commitment will bring cost to $300. If you get a one year commitment, it will be $375. Just wanting any clarification.
Due for an upgrade so wonder what I can get the phone for? Hmmn...?


Posted by: bass4040

does gps work without service as a stand alone


Posted by: Jim1348

My understanding is that you can buy it out right for $549.99 or two year contract for $399.99, but they have a rebate for $100. It will be interesting to see if they have a one year option.

The GPS works totally independent of the cell phone carrier. Here is an excerpt about just that "...Since all maps are preloaded, you don't have to worry about not getting directions when you're in a remote area out of cell coverage..."
http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2...ogs-but-no.html

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...angarmin=garmin

http://www8.garmin.com/nuvifone/

I think it will be interesting to see how long it takes for others stores that carry AT&T phones to have this. Radio Shack and Best Buy both carry AT&T phones, but I wonder if they will have this.

There are some You Tube videos on this as well.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

I know a lot of people say the UI is outdated but I actually like the simplicity. I have ahad a SE P990i, iPhone 2G, Treo 680 and as much as I have enjoyed using smartphones, the thing I really wanted in my next phone was GPS. I actually have a TomTom unit, but there have been many times I have not taken it with me (certainly don't leave it in the car!) and then I found I needed to get somewhere.
People laud the iPhone navigation, but as I understand it, it doesn't do true GPS (or does it?) Having a GPS unit that is also a phone (instead of a phone that also does GPS), seems a better option for true on the go needs in one device. Will go out in a while and see if I can actually have a good hands-on with it. Will see if I can send Contacts via SMS. Why do "smart"phones today not let you send Contact info via SMS/Bluetooth or let you send a photo file via Bluetooth (yes you iPhone!)?
Will ask many questions


Posted by: kingstu

The nuvifone from AT&T is a mixed bag. They removed some of the features of the unlocked Asian Pacific version. One of those features was tethering. Others are a business card OCR app and a RSS newsfeed reader. The locked phone needs an AT&T sim in order to use the GPS but the sim can be an expired sim. All you get is a message that says "SIM not provisioned MM #2". If you unlock it then all the GPS features are available without the SIM.

It is really a GPS with phone functionality. Almost everything option is integrated with some GPS functionality. But it is compatible with other Garmin products so you can download applications from Garmin's website and load maps and custom POI.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

So, I was able to have a play with it today and it was quite nice. No ability to send Contact via SMS . Didn't have a chance to see if I could send a photo/file via bluetooth.
The touch screen seemed quite responsive. Did not like the ABCD keyboard layout in Portrait mode. Was able to try a quick route search and the map result seemed clear and bright. The computer voice sounded okay too. Am guessing you can get more voices from Garmin site. The phone was security attached at the store so was limited in how to try it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingstu
They removed some of the features of the unlocked Asian Pacific version. One of those features was tethering. Others are a business card OCR app and a RSS newsfeed reader.[...]If you unlock it then all the GPS features are available without the SIM.
Once it is unlocked (and ATT said they would unlock it for int'l use), does that mean the tethering and RSS will become "available"? Hopefully in the next weeks/months, we'll see some nice user hacks/tips to modify it

My contract with ATT finishes this week and I am sorely tempted to go and get it, but it is pricey. Anyone have a suggestion as to how long to wait for a price drop? Thinking to get one for both myself and wife. Will be great to both have it:
"Where are you honey?"
"I think I am at [blah blah blah] but am not sure...."
"Gimme a sec...ah! I can meet you in 20 mins. You're at [blah blah blah]"
The Ciao! feature seems quite handy.
Thought it would also be a great "security" feature by having a proper GPS in the phone. Not only is having a cell really handy, but if you were stuck you can use the "Where Am I?" feature to ask for help.

I sent myself an SMS of the current location from the planned route and it comes as a URL in the text message. Only handy if the person you are sending it to can access data on their cell plan.

Overall, I really liked it. Now the waiting game begins...come on ATT....drop the price!!!


Posted by: bass4040

anyone know how it might compare to a htc touch or other phone running garmin xt mobile


Posted by: kingstu

I know the garmin developer site has the unix source code for the AT&T version as well as the APAC version. If anyone is bold enough to figure out the difference and also figure out how to modify and/or hack it then I would love to see what happens. Maybe with source it could be hacked to give give features and remove features we don't like, hehehe.


Posted by: RYOBI

Ic0nBoy, did you get a chance to make a few calls with the phone? I would interested in hearing about the call quality, volume and reception.


Posted by: bass4040

The nuvi 1690 GPS is 499 top of line model, if they price the nuviphone less it would end up losing sales to their other models


Posted by: kingstu

AT&T has also removed the Google Local Search from the version they sell. The APAC version seems like a much better device. I have the AT&T version and it's voice quality seems fine but the screen saver seems to black out the screen all the time when I am calling and I am taking some time getting used to it. It feels quality but it also feels like AT&T reduced a lot of useful functionality.


Posted by: Jim1348

PC Mag did not rate it very high:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2353744,00.asp

Garmin nuvifone G60 (AT&T)

REVIEW DATE:10.05.09
Ratings

EditorFair

Rate This Product
CHECK PRICES

$150
Amazon $149.99
by Jamie Lendino
discuss Total posts: 1

Many cell phones offer optional GPS navigation services. Even standalone GPS vendors like TomTom and Navigon now offer iPhone apps. But the Garmin nuvifone G60 is a first: a Linux-powered cell phone and bonafide Garmin GPS device in one. That means you get text-to-speech capability, a database with millions of points of interest, and full-blown search capabilities. Unfortunately, Garmin spent almost two years bringing this phone to market, and it feels like a 2007-era device. At $299 with a two-year contract after a $100 mail-in rebate, the nuvifone G60 simply isn't competitive.

Design and Call Quality
The rubberized G60 looks pedestrian. It measures 4.4 by 2.3 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.8 ounces. It's fashioned in charcoal-colored rubber with chrome plastic bands on the sides and back panel. One oddity is the side-mounted docking port, which plugs into the included GPS mount for your dashboard. However, there's no DC power adapter in the box for charging the G60 while driving. The 2.5mm headphone jack works with many cell-phone headsets, but not music headphones. The 3.6-inch, 272-by-480-pixel resistive plastic touch screen worked OK for thumb taps, but felt old school compared with today's glass LCDs and AMOLED panels. Typing on the on-screen QWERTY keyboard was pretty accurate, though it had no haptic feedback, and the predictive text mode worked well. The accelerometer rotates the phone's UI when you rotate the phone.
View Slideshow See all (9) slides
More

The nuvifone G60 is a quad-band EDGE (850/1900/1800/1900 MHz) and tri-band HSDPA (850/1900/2100 MHz) device with Wi-Fi. Calls sounded crisp and clear in both directions, with no background hiss. Voices in the earpiece had a little hollow echo around them, but it wasn't too bad. Reception was excellent; usually the G60 was a bar ahead of a nearby iPhone 3G on HSDPA signal strength. Calls also sounded fine through a Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth headset. The speakerphone went relatively loud but sounded harsh, and it distorted horribly near maximum volume. Battery life was good at 5 hours and 17 minutes of talk time.

GPS Navigation
So what makes this GPS phone special? It's a Garmin PND crammed into a cell phone. The nuvifone G60's 4GB of onboard storage contains 2GB of U.S. and Canadian maps, and the assisted GPS receiver includes the company's HotFix technology. The G60's GPS features work in areas with little cellular coverage—or even without the AT&T SIM installed, for that matter. In my tests, the G60 always started up quickly and locked onto my location within seconds, even in a rural part of Massachusetts. That compared well with a current-model, Editors' Choice-winning Garmin nüvi 265T I had on hand and bested many GPS-enabled cell phones I've tested.

Typing in addresses or searching for points of interest was a breeze with the on-screen QWERTY keyboard and animated UI graphics. You can also search for points of interest with your voice. Once underway, the nuvifone was a great navigator. GPS accuracy, directions, road data, and voice prompts were identical between the phone and the dedicated GPS. The G60 displayed the same level of map detail (at the same zoom level) as the nüvi 265T and popped up similar speed limit signs in all the right places.

A few nits: once I went off route, recalculations took a beat or two longer than the standalone unit. The results were always identical. There's no on-screen lane assistance for complex exit ramps, but that's also true of the standalone nüvi 265T. The Garmin G60 dimmed the backlight whenever it wasn't speaking to conserve battery life—fine, but a consequence of the missing power cable. The only real difference in operation was speaker volume. The G60's voice prompts were clear but tinny and not very loud even at maximum volume. (The speakerphone distortion wasn't present in this mode.) The nüvi 265T's speaker sounded smoother over highway road noise and went considerably louder.

Garmin preloads several additional services, including a flight status lookup, a YellowPages.com app, and a currency converter. You can also search by intersections and find cities by name. For $5.99 per month extra, Garmin's Nuvifone Premium Connected Services add real-time traffic, white pages look-up, weather data, movie times, local events, and fuel price comparisons. That's a tough sell over other AT&T cell phones, many of which offer the excellent TeleNav-powered AT&T Navigator for $9.99 including real-time traffic and free map updates. Still, the G60 is the best cell-phone-based GPS navigation device I've ever tested.

UI, Multimedia, and Conclusions
If only the rest of the phone measured up. Let's start with the Linux-powered G60's user interface, which is completely different than most other smartphones. The home screen straddles the line between a navigation device and a cell phone. Three big, colorful icons cover making calls, viewing the map, and running searches. A separate large ribbon scrolls through other common tasks, such as the music player and camera. There's a document viewer on board for displaying Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files, though you can't edit them.

Messaging fans should choose a different phone. The G60 supports threaded text messaging and Gmail, Hotmail, AOL mail, POP3, and IMAP e-mail accounts. But there's no MMS, no video messaging, and no instant messaging client (such as for AIM or Yahoo Messenger) on board. In addition, all social networking duties are handled by a location-based, proprietary service called "Ciao." Ciao wasn't activated on my handset, so I couldn't test it.

The Web browser rendered HTML pages very nicely, but it was sluggish even with a strong 3G signal. The 3.2-megapixel camera includes auto-focus and geotagging capability, but most photos ended up useless due to the poor focus, slow shutter speed, and blown-out highlights. There are no picture configuration options. You can send a photo as an e-mail attachment but not save photos to a memory card or otherwise transfer them without syncing to a PC over USB. At least the side-mounted microSD card slot lets you sideload music; my 16GB SanDisk card worked fine. MP3 tracks sounded bright but flat over a pair of Motorola S9-HD Bluetooth headphones.

The G60 has no video player, no video recorder, no streamed media services, no way to purchase music tracks over-the-air, and no downloadable games or other apps. The total lack of apps actually means it doesn't fulfill our definition of a smartphone, although AT&T is selling it as such.

Finally, there's that high $299 price. The Garmin nuvifone G60 costs $100 more than the far more flexible 16GB iPhone 3GS and $200 higher than the $99, second-generation iPhone 3G, both of which have diverse GPS options. The QWERTY slider LG Xenon GR500's GPS software isn't as powerful, but it has far better messaging and multimedia capabilities than the nuvifone. Even the lower-end Samsung Solstice outdoes the G60 on features and rings in at $49.99—that's $250 less. None of these devices offers the same accurate GPS power as the Garmin G60. But all are much more versatile handhelds. It's like Garmin gave up halfway through the development cycle and released what it had.

Benchmark Test Results
Continuous Talk Time: 5 hours 17 minutes


Posted by: kingstu

It's a GPS with phone features. Not a phone with GPS. If you buy it with that in mind then you know exactly what you are getting. I just got one and I am learning so much about it. It is definitely different...but also very unique.


Posted by: Jim1348

You pointed out something interesting about the missing Google Search feature. As it gets into more hands around the world it will be interesting to see what modifications can be made.


Posted by: Jim1348

Wow, the Gizmodo author isn't shy about his feelings!

http://gizmodo.com/5374720/garmin-n...view-do-not-buy


Garmin makes the best portable navigators out there. Millions of people, including me, are fans. But following notoriously lengthy delays, the first Nuvifone should have been euthanized, not put on AT&T shelves next to the iPhone—for $100 more.

The Nuvifone G60 GPS phone is out this week for $300, an absurdly high price for even a smartphone in this age. But the Nuvifone is not a smartphone, not even a clever one.

Nuvi vs Nuvifone

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What's Bad

• The resistive touchscreen reminds me of phones circa 2006, bad for everything but big-button tapping.

• There's no homescreen button, to quickly take you out of a mire of menus.

• It's crashy—screens froze twice while I was writing this, forcing a full-on hard restart.

• Sometimes the accelerometer just stops working completely.

• The camera is terrible—if the hardware button required for the shutter even works—and there's no video of any kind.

• The web browser is all but useless, because it relies heavily on zooming in and out, and the touchscreen easily confuses swiping and tapping.

• The interface looks cool at first, but there are strange design choices throughout. Want an example? The QWERTY keyboard only appears in horizontal mode—it's ABCDE in vertical mode. Also, no "Where To?" button, a la older Nuvi devices.

• You have to pay a $5/month premium charge to check the weather, traffic, local events and other services—all of which can be found on free apps from real smartphone platforms (not just iPhone).

• Even when using email (let alone calendar), there doesn't seem to be any awareness of the rest of the internet: The email wizard lets you enter any address and password, but it doesn't say whether it can actually get mail. This tenacious little phone is still trying to log onto my Hotmail account.

• The battery ran down completely during my first day of testing, after a few phone calls and some modest GPS navigation, and the battery indicator drops fast when it's just on standby. In fairness, you shouldn't use this phone or any other phone without a car charger, if you intend to use it for GPS navigation.

• There is no car charger. It's missing the $7 USB-to-cig-lighter adapter. AT&T probably wanted to sell it separately, but when I asked at my local AT&T store, they didn't even carry it.

• Since it's an AT&T phone, it has to compete with the iPhone and other handsets that are way better. If the Nuvifone were on Verizon, it would at least have a network advantage in certain markets that it could lord over the iPhone herd. But even Apple haters would have a hard time spending an extra $100 on this—with the exact same phone reception.

Nuvifone Features

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The Verdict

Unlike most reviews, this verdict isn't for you. If you made it to the end of the headline, you already know what to do. But because I care, I thought I'd say something to the makers:

Garmin: Please get your act together in the phone space. You have two choices: Either make tidy useful navigation apps for the major platforms, or make real phones. There's no such thing as a PND that also makes phone calls (though I think that was the original plan for the G60).

You are great in your field, but even teamed with Asus, you aren't better than the lowliest phone maker, so you have to play catchup: Pick a mobile OS and stick with it. Skip Windows Mobile (for now) and make a serious push into Android. To do that, you'll have to see what everyone else is doing. Don't just set yourself up to lose in the end to an HTC running a TeleNav or TomTom app. You're good at making tough hardware, so why not differentiate with a rugged outdoor Android smartphone?

I urge you to re-consider your premature departure from the mobile app business. Garmin brand equity would sell a lot of iPhone apps, especially if they came with the Nuvi interface most people love more than TomTom's or Navigon's. It may bruise the ego a bit to focus on software instead of hardware, but I just don't see how successful you can be by doing what everyone else is doing, only later and worse. I didn't mean to be this harsh, but I also didn't expect the G60 to be so bad.
In Brief

The home screen is cool for a dumbphone, with three major buttons and a slider of auxiliary options

The navigational experience I have enjoyed on regular Nuvis is here, almost completely intact, but since you can already get that without buying this phone, it's not a major plus

See above—like, every single word of this piece


Posted by: bass4040

I might get it. Nuvifone is a gps phone so award winning gps is priority, no data plan or care about 3g, not buying for camera and pictures, wont pay extra to tell me its sunny and traffic everywhere in LA everyday, have a usb car charger already, always use dc adapter with gps units so batt no problem and prefer to use horiz mode anyways.


Posted by: Spazmogen

There are lots of reviews popping up now. GOOGLE SEARCH
There seems to be as many positive reviews as there are negative.

CNET gave it 2 stars and immediately got slammed by readers who own it and their average rating was 4. A few accusations about CNET not doing a through review (sounds like Gizmodo). Gizmodo didn't like it right out of the box and didn't do a full review in my mind.

An obvious oversight about the lack of a car charger for it. That's a $2 part on eBay. The lack of MMS seems to upset some, but how often do people send MMS' ?

I'm in Canada and would like to see it up here.


Posted by: Moe3754

I saw it the day it was released and thought that it was cool until the AT&T person told me of the extra five buck charge and all of the stuff that they took out of it, I would rather use my Nokia N86 with mobile XT and get everything for free!!! Would have liked to have it to try, maybe when someone comes up with a way to dump the AT&T firmware and load a generic firmware off of the asian phone and get it to a better place than it is now. I thought about getting the asian phone off of E-bay but they are going for $700.00 there!!


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Thinking about getting one for myself and one for wife. Will be handy to use the Ciao! feature to find each other if we're out and about in different places. Part of me is apprehensive about getting a phone that has many negative reviews. Hmmn....
But, what keeps pulling me back to this unit is the GPS. As much as I am keen to wait for a GSM Android 2 handset, what makes the G60 a plus for me is that if I am in an area with no cell signal, I can at least find my way around with the GPS. I am, perhaps naively guessing that a GPS signal will be more consistent than a cell signal...? All the other GPS options in iPhones, Pre etc. rely on being connected in the cloud. When that fails you, I guess you're stuck.

How do I get contacts from a previous phone or Google/Yahoo to the G60? Is there a way to sync/transfer? I wouldn't have to type in each one surely? Anyone know for sure...?
I see Amazon are selling it now for $100. That is a big drop from $400.

No phone will ever be perfect. I for one am not impressed with the iPhone. Have had the original iPhone and it has been nice, but really, not that wow, if I am 100% honest. I always said that I would like my next phone to have turn-by-turn GPS. SO many times I have been out (with my iPhone) and needed to have directions when driving. Making the Nuvifone jump might be risky but then others have said they are enjoying it. Guess it is all personal when it comes down to real-world reviews eh!


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

I just got off the phone with an AT&T CSR (Charmaine) who was very polite and helpful. I asked about getting two Nuvifones from Amazon and she said I can do that and the contracts would only start once the phones are activated (and not the date the phones are purchased - just needed clarification on that).
I enquired about the requirements for a data plan and she said it is only iPhone and Blackberry phones that require it. I asked if she was sure and so she went and found out and said "No, the Nuvifone does not require a data plan. If you buy an SMS package (say $5), then you can add an unlimited data package for an additional $10/month."
That is very nice to know!
I again asked her about the data requirement saying I was told in a store that I had to have it and she said the data package is not required but beneficial, if you need to go online for anything.
Can anyone confirm this info please?


Posted by: kingstu

The Nuviphone offered by AT&T versus the APAC version will definitely require a data plan if you insert a postpaid sim inside. It works perfectly fine with a prepaid sim. I got one of those FREE AT&T messages when I put my postpaid sim in it which basically said that if I was not on a data plan they would add one to my account.

Once it is unlocked it should work with a T-Mobile prepaid sim as well as a without a sim. That's really why I like the Nuviphone. It doesn't have to be an "everything" phone and it isn't "useless" once you upgrade your phone. But it is obvious AT&T isn't trying to make this phone a winner. They have put all their eggs in the iphone basket.


Posted by: Jim1348

Thank you for the update. I assume that APAC is the Asia and Pacific version. I have a T-Mobile pre-paid SIM card now that floats between an unlocked Motorola Tundra and a Pharos GPS Phone 600 that has Garmin Mobile XT installed in it. I think some of the big differences between the Garmin Nuvifone and a smartphone with Garmin Mobile XT are as follows:

Garmin Nuvifone Garmin Mobile XT Phone

Flight Status (Included) Flight Status (Included)
Yellow Pages(Included) Weather (Included)
Converter (Included) Fuel Prices (Included)
Ciao! (Included) Traffic (Included)
Traffic (Premium) Google Local Search (Included)
White Pages (Premium)
Weather (Premium)
Movies (Premium)
Local events (Premium)
Fuel prices (Premium)

So, to look at this analytically the Garmin Nuvifone:

-Flight Status feature remains free
-Weather (was free is now premium)
-Fuel Prices (was free is now premium)
-Traffic (was free is now premium)
-Google Local Search (was included, but now gone)
-Yellow Pages (new and free)
-White Pages (new and premium)
-Movies (new and premium)
-Converter (new and free)
-Ciao (new and free)
-Local Events (new and premium)

Although sort of comparing apples to oranges, the Garmin Nuvi 1690 NuLink has two years of services included, but then charges after that for the following:

-Google Local Search
-Real-time Traffic
-Gas Prices
-Ciao!
-Weather
-Movie Times
-Local Events
-Send to GPS
-Flight Status
-Converter
-White Pages
-myGarmin

In some respects the Enhanced MSN Direct feature on some stand alone GPS units might be a better deal for some folks as it also has News Headlines, Stock Quotes, and Doppler Weather Maps. I do think that I will get a Nuvifone eventually, but I can wait for the prices to come down on a used Nuvifone.


Posted by: bass4040

an att csr says no data plan required and kingstu says you need one
so what is the answer


Posted by: Squid7085

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ic0nBoy
But, what keeps pulling me back to this unit is the GPS. As much as I am keen to wait for a GSM Android 2 handset, what makes the G60 a plus for me is that if I am in an area with no cell signal, I can at least find my way around with the GPS. I am, perhaps naively guessing that a GPS signal will be more consistent than a cell signal...? All the other GPS options in iPhones, Pre etc. rely on being connected in the cloud. When that fails you, I guess you're stuck.


GPS is available pretty much the planet over. There are very few places that GPS signal does not reach, and chances are, you won't be traveling there. The only thing that decreases GPS accuracy is being inside. With GPS, if it can see at least 3 birds in the sky, it will work. With that said, you will have GPS pretty much always. Cell service is based on Towers, so you have to be within the Range of a tower. You could be in the middle of Area 51 with not a single blip of Cell service, but have a perfect GPS location. On the flip side, you could be in the basement of a building with great cell service and the GPS has no idea where you are.

Secondly, you are wrong about all GPS options needing to be connected to the cloud. A few of the iPhone options are completely self sufficient. I personally use Navigon, but Tom Tom makes one too. I can say from experience, those will work without a blip with or without cell service. Others such as the built in Google Maps and AT&T Nav do need data. As far as the Pre, I have no idea. Lol


Posted by: Jim1348

One thing that I have wondered about is if there is anyway to supplement the Nuvifone navigation with cellular data when out of range of satellites. For example, say you are inside somewhere and want to navigate, but can't get data from the satellites, why not take the cellular data and use that for navigation until reacquisition of satellite signals?


Posted by: askdanny

Have used the Nuvifone for a week and love it. I talked to an ATT CSR today and a supervisor. Both said I needed a data plan because it was classified as a smart phone. I informed them politely that this phone doesn't use ATT Navigation but is a GPS in itself with preloaded maps. That I could even use the GPS feature without the phone being activated. All I wanted was a voice plan and I would keep the phone. My request was refused.

I think Garmin's mistake wasn't to include a mediocre browser but to include one altogether. If they weren't greedy with their premium service and had kept this phone a 'non-smart' phone, you would have a great cell phone ($39/mo voice plan) that would give you satellite navigation with preloaded maps and Points Of Interests (restaurants, gas stations, etc.) anywhere in the country--even when you don't get cell coverage. That is something the iphone can not offer.

If you're going to display a product right next to the iphone but can't compete with it, then don't.

My nuvifone is now sitting on the counter, packaged and ready to be sent back to Amazon. Not because of the phone, but because of ATT's stupid rules to force data plans on customers who don't want it.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Finally decided to go for it and both my wife and I have the G60. Not perfect but really like the GPS. Used it for road trip from California to mid-west!
They definitely need to move the Enter/Return button above the delete button. Grrr!
Also, I find that the road shown while routing does not show as accurately compared with TomTom. My G60 and other Nuvi GPS show slight bends in the road compared to a TomTom unit which shows the bends more curved. Today, a road curved right, went straight, curved back left and straight on again but the G60 and Nuvi only showed the slightest of a bend at all. The TomTom unit showed the road shape as I would have seen it - helpful in the dark, especially when you don't know the road ahead. Just a little observation.
By the way, anyone know on a G60/Nuvi how to have POI show on the map route I am on? On the old TomTom, you could choose which POIs to show on your map route e.g. Pharmacy, Dentist, Theater etc. On the G60/Nuvi, all I have is the current route showing with a few side roads as they come by - not even a train track showing. Am I missing something...?


Posted by: Moe3754

Settings-Navagation-Automobile-Map Detail-More

Is how it is done and you have to zoom in to the closest setting to see all the different places on the road, works just like any of the Garmin Nuvi stand alone GPS units.

As for the G60 map performance it is just as good as my Nuvi 760 and my Nuvi 885, personally I think that all of the so called experts that said this phone was so bad have their heads up their back side and need to learn that most of all this is a GPS unit with a phone as a EXTRA because as I said it is just exactly as my two other Nuvi units!!!!

It will fill in the void when I am on vacation and on foot or public transportation, sure could have used this in San Antonio TX.


Posted by: bass4040

What will happen if you dont have a data plan and use the nuvifone. Does att find out if you don't tell them or do they know as soon as you make a call


Posted by: kingstu

I had the nuvifone before and I'm getting one again. It's $249 on Amazon and that is without contract. Amazon Nuvifone $249 If you have a postpaid plan with AT&T they will check and make sure that you have an appropriate dataplan. If you have prepaid with AT&T they won't care if you have data or not. If you get it unlocked you can use it with any carrier or without any sim. You can use the full GPS functionality and other options with an unactivated or expired AT&T sim. I can't see a reason for buying a stand-alone GPS when the Nuvifone has all the features of their best GPS and then some extras.

Amazon also had it for 1 cent with new activation. I personally think this is a feature phone and not a smart phone but all the features can use Wifi data at home so you don't need to use celluar data if you don't want to. I hope the price will continue to drop and then more people can use it.


Posted by: Jim1348

Thank you very much for the post. Did the price just drop then? I have been wanting to get one for some time now and I have made a few bids on Ebay, but I have always been outbid. I am waiting for my Nextel BlackBerry 8350i to arrive next week and then I was going to focus on a Garmin Nuvifone G60. Now that the price has dropped from Amazon, I may just have to "pull the trigger"! I have a Pharos GPS Phone 600 now with Garmin Mobile XT installed, but I use it mainly as a GPS and use a subsidy unlocked Motorola Tundra for GSM (T-Mobile). Again, at the risk of being redundant, thank you so much for the post!


Posted by: bass4040

I have a postpaid plan without data so it won't work even unlocked, I would still need a data plan. There aren't many choices for a gps phone without a data plan.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kingstu
If you have a postpaid plan with AT&T they will check and make sure that you have an appropriate dataplan. If you have prepaid with AT&T they won't care if you have data or not. If you get it unlocked you can use it with any carrier or without any sim. You can use the full GPS functionality and other options with an unactivated or expired AT&T sim.



Posted by: Spazmogen

And its had yet another price drop: $219.99 NO CONTRACT and FREE SHIPPING.

I'm seriously considering selling my unlocked Blackberry Bold and getting this thing.

I located the offical Garmin Asian firmware/software on their site. I'm trying to figure out how to flash it overtop of the AT&T firmware before I buy it.

Does the G60 play video or not? I've read the specs that it does, and read reviews that says it doesn't.

Are there any games that work for it? Or apps like Gmail's app?


Posted by: Jim1348

If you flash it to the APAC version, that resurrects the USB tethering, RSS feeds, and Google Local Search, does it do anything else?


Posted by: vs2

Hi. new here.
I am in New Zealand and have just brought the g60 (AT&T) from ebay and was wondering if you can update the firmare to APAC and then be able to use Vodafone here in NZ. I have brought many phones from Singapore before and they always come unlocked. I guess if it lets you update then you are in luck ...or it could brick your phone??

http://www.garminasus.com/garmin/cm...tware-updates_1


Posted by: Spazmogen

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
If you flash it to the APAC version, that resurrects the USB tethering, RSS feeds, and Google Local Search, does it do anything else?



I'm manually extracting the whole APAC OS from the tarball format.
Hopefully there's some documentation with it, but I doubt it. Its from the Garmin Developer site.


Posted by: vs2

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spazmogen
I'm manually extracting the whole APAC OS from the tarball format.
Hopefully there's some documentation with it, but I doubt it. Its from the Garmin Developer site.


So can you flash the AT&T version to the APAC version without issue?

This company is offering the G60 worldwide and stating that they upgrade to the latest firmware before shipping.

http://www.tramsoft.ch/gps/garmin_nuvifone-g60_en.html


Posted by: Spazmogen

Quote:
Originally Posted by vs2
So can you flash the AT&T version to the APAC version without issue?

This company is offering the G60 worldwide and stating that they upgrade to the latest firmware before shipping.

http://www.tramsoft.ch/gps/garmin_nuvifone-g60_en.html


I have no idea; I've said nothing of the sort. Logically, there is only 1 device and numerous firmware to flash to it. I have neither the device or the app loader software to flash the Asian/Pacific firmware to it.

I'm looking for a way to do it BEFORE I buy the AT&T version for $219 from Amazon.

The Asian tarball is only 337mb but uncompressed its about 100 folders, each with at least 2 more files inside, also compressed...this is going to take a while.


Posted by: vs2

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spazmogen
I have no idea; I've said nothing of the sort. Logically, there is only 1 device and numerous firmware to flash to it. I have neither the device or the app loader software to flash the Asian/Pacific firmware to it.

I'm looking for a way to do it BEFORE I buy the AT&T version for $219 from Amazon.

The Asian tarball is only 337mb but uncompressed its about 100 folders, each with at least 2 more files inside, also compressed...this is going to take a while.


Ok and thanks.

As amazon won't ship the G60 to NZ I got a $200 deal from ebay. Once received I will just update via the US site and then try unlocking via GSMliberty. If no luck then I will probably try from here:

http://www.garminasus.com/garmin/cm...tware-updates_1

With my Samsung Omnia you could flash to different carriers but you needed a special keypad sequence (and a hard reset) to choose which operator (Country) you wanted 1st.

I will post results.


Posted by: Jim1348

I was looking at the available accessories for the Garmin Nuvifone G60. I have read that a vehicle power cable does not come in the box, but rather is an optional accessory. I did find Vehicle Power Cable 010-11212-10 listed and I am wondering if it is proprietary in any way and what the specifications are on it. I used to think that all mini USB power cables are created equally, but now I know better. (As an aside, I bought a Slacker G1 device last year and a Motorola mini USB power cable for it, but I found out that it needs more than the amperage that the cable provides. I never could get the actual specifications on that either, but I think it was something along the lines of the Motorola power cable only gives 200 milliamps, but the Slacker needed 500 or more milliamps to charge.) Anyway, I certainly can get the genuine Garmin Vehicle Power Cable, if necessary, but if I can get by with a different one, at least for now, that would be good to know since I am expecting my new Garmin Nuvifone G60 tomorrow.



https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=37522


Posted by: Spazmogen

Jim:
Did you get your G60?
If so, what are your thoughts on it?

RE: USB power cable for the car, I believe that any type will do. But you may want a right angle one from the looks of the Garmin cable its a right angle as it probably connects to the mount and not the phone.

Or Ebay Item number: 270513480284. But you can't tell if its a right angle cable or not.

If you already have a standalone Garmin GPS, try its cable 1st.


Posted by: Jim1348

My Garmin Nuvifone G60 arrived Wednesday afternoon, but it is still subsidy locked. I called AT&T. The representative told me that if I faxed them a copy of my receipt showing that I paid full retail price, that they would email me an unlock code. I faxed it right away, so I am hoping that I get the code today. They said it is usually a 48 hour turn around time. After that I will be able to try it and make some comparisons.


Posted by: Spazmogen

One other question: does it have a belt holster in the box with the phone or just the windshield mount?


Posted by: Spazmogen

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spazmogen
One other question: does it have a belt holster in the box with the phone or just the windshield mount?


Also forgot to ask if the box had an AT&T sim card in it.


Posted by: Jim1348

Mine came with a windshield mount, but there was no SIM card, belt holster, or automobile power cord inside the box.


Posted by: Spazmogen

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
If you flash it to the APAC version, that resurrects the USB tethering, RSS feeds, and Google Local Search, does it do anything else?



Jim:
Can you confirm if Google Local is removed on the AT&T version?

I have a Blackberry Bold with Garmin Mobile. Google Local is a feature I use on occasion:



The Blackberry version downloads the maps as needed as you go, so data costs add up while roaming. I'm Canadian; I'd hate to use the Garmin Mobile on the Blackberry while in Vegas or Florida this year as my data plan is for Canada only. I have an older Nuvi 650, but that would require travelling with 2 devices rather than a Nuvifone G60.


Posted by: Spazmogen

And the Nuvifone has dropped to $199USD (no contract) now on Amazon.com


Posted by: Jim1348

I did order one of these from Amazon on Sunday, January 24, 2010. They were offering free two day shipping. However, apparently that really means three days, since it arrived on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. I was home when the UPS truck arrived and I figured the first thing to do was to try and get it unlocked, since I am a T-Mobile customer. The US version is subsidy locked to AT&T and can't do anything, except dial 911 until it is either unlocked or an AT&T SIM card inserted.

One of the first things I did was call AT&T Customer Service and ask for an unlock code. They asked for my IMEI number and told me that I would need to send a facsimile of the receipt showing that I paid retail price for this. I was told that it would take 48 hours. I was okay with that since that would mean I would get it by Friday evening and have the weekend to try it.

Two days passed and I called again Friday night to check on the status. This time I was told it would take 72 hours. I called again a couple of times was not able to get the unlock code until Friday, February 5th, 2010 from AT&T. During that time I was told that only AT&T can issue the code, but that it comes from Garmin.

In the meantime I was getting nervous because we are getting ready to go on vacation and I wanted to be able to use this. I actually tried two different unlock companies. I check with Remote Unlocks first http://www.remoteunlocks.com/ They allow you to enter your IMEI number to see if your phone can be unlocked. I felt pretty confident because after entering the IMEI number, I received a message that states, "Your phone details have been successfully submitted and our system shows your Garmin phone can be unlocked immediately." I proceeded with PayPal payment and a short time later I received an email stating, "Requests are generally processed within 12 hours, however please allow up to 24 hours before receiving your details." I thought to myself that immediate must means something different to them. Anyway, the following morning I get another email.

"We have been unable to obtain an unlock code for your phone using the imei number supplied. Although this model is generally un-lockable, there are instances where codes cannot be generated. This is due to unique phone variables and cannot be predicted in our preliminary report.
As an apology for this, we would like to offer you a full refund and a free unlock code for your phone as soon as one becomes available on our database. Alternatively you can use this free credit for an alternative phone.

We would like to offer you a full refund for this and we offer our apologies for the inconvenience.
Refunds are usually processed within 48 hours, however please allow up to seven days for funds to reflect in your account.

If you have any issues please contact us.

We have offered some further advise below on possible options you now have.

Next Step

1) You can contact your service provider and ask them for a code, however if you have excessive time left on a contract they may not allow this. This option can be free.

2) Specialist shops are available in commercial areas. They can unlock the phone directly using a cable. Prices can vary for this service.

3) You can download certain software from the internet which may make it possible to unlock your phone using your USB cable, however this can be risky and may damage your phone or firmware.

Again we apologize for this and hope you have more success unlocking your phone in future."

So by this time I am getting nervous since I had just bought a new Garmin Nuvifone G60, I can't seem to get an unlock code from AT&T or Remote Unlocks, so at that point it seemed like I had just spent $219.99 for something I can't use.

I even tried CellUnlockStore.com. They, sent me the following:

"Dear Customer,

Sorry I have been unable to generate the correct unlock code for your mobile. There are so many mobile out there sometimes the firmware on certain versions mean I cant generate the code.

I have sent your details over the accounts team who will send you a refund. Although normally quicker please allow up to 7 days for the refund to get back into your account.

Once again I apologize for not being able to get the correct code for your mobile. Your only option may be your network operator or a local shop who can unlock via a cable.

Best Regards,
cellunlockstore.com"

So, by this time I am even more worried, but I tried AT&T again, and was finally able to get the unlcok code from them. I entered it and it opened up the Nuvifone immediately. I made a test call with my T-Mobile prepaid SIM card and it worked fine.

I apologize for the length of this post, but hopefully it will be beneficial for anybody considering a Garmin Nuvifone G60, especially if they want to not get a data plan and use it primarily as a cell phone and GPS.

One of the first things people need to know is that this isn't an iPhone. If you want an Iphone and the accompanying contract and data plan, then get it. I, however, usually have a laptop computer at work with a wireless aircard in the car with me. I can't justify the expense for a phone that I don't use that much. I also want a GPS that works independent of the cellular towers.

To give a little background, I still have my Garmin StreetPilot 2730 that I bought used. It works great, but it is getting a little bit dated by today's standards. I also have a Garmin Nuvi 500, that has been taken over by my wife. Finally, over a year ago I bought a used Pharos GPS Phone 600 (Eten Glofiish X500) that I use with Garmin Mobile XT. Probably many of my comparisons over the next few days will be between the Pharos/Garmin Mobile XT and the Garmin Nuvifone G60.

Anyway, I anybody is still considering a Garmin Nuvifone G60, it can be unlocked, but prepare yourself to wait to get it unlocked. Since Amazon dropped the price even further to $199.99, it may get more interest.

Spazmogen, yes Google Local is missing from the US version.

As a tie in to another running thread, you can indeed get some limited data from T-Mobile on the Garmin Nuvifone G60. Although I am normally more of a Google guy, I have been using Yahoo! Mobile through T-Mobile T-Zones on this with great success. I will certainly admit that the internet browser is not as polished as an iPhone or iPod Touch, but that is not the reason I bought this. I bought this for what it is, a GPS/cell phone. Any extras like MP3, camera, and free data on T-Zones is really just icing on the cake for me. I think the fact that I can use this with T-Mobile Pre-paid makes this a great phone for a tightwad like me!
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1599765


Posted by: Spazmogen

Thanks Jim1348.

I'm pretty sure I'll wait until after the Mobile World Congress in 2 weeks time to make a decision.

Garmin is showing off the Android version there. I checked the the MWC site and Garmin is listed this year as an exhibitor.


Posted by: Jim1348

You are very welcome. I, too, look forward to seeing what is announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC). I really like the Slacker Radio application. I have both a G1 and G2 portable now, as well as my BlackBerry Curve 8320. Since it will cache content on the BlackBerry I don't need a data plan. They are getting closer to having an Android version of Slacker Radio and eventually it will cache, also. Perhaps by that time whatever is announced at MWC will have come down in price enough that I can afford to buy it. I wonder if Garmin will offer any devices in the US unlocked right out of the box? Also, I suspect that some people may even be interested in a CDMA version for the Verizon/Sprint crowd!


Posted by: vs2

Seems like I have been following jim1348 all over the forums concerning the G60.

I got mine from ebay (AT&T) and sent to NZ. I borrowed an expired AT&T SIM from a friend to get past the lockout to have a play. I thought if I flashed over the ATT firmware with the APAC (Singapore) one I downloaded I could get a unlocked phone with the latest firmware and all the goodies it comes with. WRONG!! Do not try this. After it tranferred via webdater and I pulled out the USB it just sat at the ATT screen and did nothing. I let it sit for 30 min and still nothing. I thought I had bricked it as I could not enter USB Mass storage mode. I tried everything (removing battery for 10 min, removing SIM etc etc) While I was playing around I did find something interesting. If you hold down the camera button and volime up button, then power on you get 5 blips of vibration then my PC (win7) tries to load a driver but fails with unrecognized device. This must be a way in via Linux?? Anyway I pulled out the battery waited a few minutes then inserted the usb cable with battery still out until a battery error icon came up then I inserted battery and waited. Voilla - after about 10 min the unit became recognized in mass storage mode and I could access the drive. I copied everything over to my PC then deleted all maps,logs,.xml's, bins on the nuvi drive. Unplugged USB and pulled the battery and started back up. It went to mass storage mode again but I waited (thinking it was writing the garmindevice.xml) and after a few minutes the screen came up. I went in and did a master reset and phone shutdown and booted up and all is good now. Copied all the stuff back over to the Nuvi drive except logs,updates and garmindevice.xml as a new one was generated. Phone is working perfectly.

As far as the ATT unlock goes I also tried GSMliberty and unlockitnow and like Jim1348 they could not find the code from my IMEI. So I called ATT who told me to call Garmin as ATT had no reference to my IMEI I provided them. I called Garmin support who did have a reference to my IMEI?? Long story short I did get my unlock code from Garmin (via ATT)

I wanted to get a few more into NZ but with this unlock hassle I won't bother until someone figurea a way around it.

I think the firmware update could be done to other regions but it would involve editing the garmindevice.xml (I think)

I like the phone but wish it had MMS. Also is there anyway to get a reminder sound for missed calls,SMS. Thanks.


Posted by: Jim1348

I have also done some posts regarding the GPS POI aspect of this over on POI Factory.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/27374


Posted by: Spazmogen

Quote:
Originally Posted by vs2
Seems like I have been following jim1348 all over the forums concerning the G60.

I got mine from ebay (AT&T) and sent to NZ. I borrowed an expired AT&T SIM from a friend to get past the lockout to have a play. I thought if I flashed over the ATT firmware with the APAC (Singapore) one I downloaded I could get a unlocked phone with the latest firmware and all the goodies it comes with. WRONG!! Do not try this. After it tranferred via webdater and I pulled out the USB it just sat at the ATT screen and did nothing. I let it sit for 30 min and still nothing. I thought I had bricked it as I could not enter USB Mass storage mode. I tried everything (removing battery for 10 min, removing SIM etc etc) While I was playing around I did find something interesting. If you hold down the camera button and volime up button, then power on you get 5 blips of vibration then my PC (win7) tries to load a driver but fails with unrecognized device. This must be a way in via Linux?? Anyway I pulled out the battery waited a few minutes then inserted the usb cable with battery still out until a battery error icon came up then I inserted battery and waited. Voilla - after about 10 min the unit became recognized in mass storage mode and I could access the drive. I copied everything over to my PC then deleted all maps,logs,.xml's, bins on the nuvi drive. Unplugged USB and pulled the battery and started back up. It went to mass storage mode again but I waited (thinking it was writing the garmindevice.xml) and after a few minutes the screen came up. I went in and did a master reset and phone shutdown and booted up and all is good now. Copied all the stuff back over to the Nuvi drive except logs,updates and garmindevice.xml as a new one was generated. Phone is working perfectly.

As far as the ATT unlock goes I also tried GSMliberty and unlockitnow and like Jim1348 they could not find the code from my IMEI. So I called ATT who told me to call Garmin as ATT had no reference to my IMEI I provided them. I called Garmin support who did have a reference to my IMEI?? Long story short I did get my unlock code from Garmin (via ATT)

I wanted to get a few more into NZ but with this unlock hassle I won't bother until someone figurea a way around it.

I think the firmware update could be done to other regions but it would involve editing the garmindevice.xml (I think)

I like the phone but wish it had MMS. Also is there anyway to get a reminder sound for missed calls,SMS. Thanks.


In the end, were you able to get the APAC software into the G60? We probably downloaded the same tarball from the garmin developer site. I too, have been following Jim across 4 or 5 different forums about his new G60.


Posted by: vs2

Spazmofen.

No I was not able to. I dowloaded the actual APAC 2.43 release (150mb .exe) from here: (not the tarball)

http://www.garminasus.com/garmin/cm...tware-updates_1

I think during update it looked at the garmindevice.xml and the update failed and caused my phone to get 'half bricked'. If I was to do it again I would delete the contents of the nuvi drive 1st and then try the update or figure out a way to edit garmindevice.xml to accept the firmware update.

I like this phone and the GPS side of it is far better than any other GPS phone I have had but it has got bad reviews and I cannot see ATT/Garmin spending much more time in its development especially with the new highy anticipated M10 coming out and the new 'android' models out this year as well.


Posted by: Spazmogen

For those that are interested Garmin announced their new Nuvifones for 2010 today.

Both are being displayed next week at MWC in Spain.

A50 Android Nuvifone

M10 Windows Mobile Version

I'm liking the sound of the A50 myself. I suspect the G60 is a dead line for Garmin.


Posted by: Jim1348

Thank you for the post. I suspect that I will eventually get a Garmin Nuvifone A50. I certainly do like the G60 in the meantime. It will be interesting to see if this will be subsidy locked to AT&T or sold unlocked. I think having it on the Android platform just makes sense. Maybe I will be able to get Slacker Radio on a Garmin Nuvifone after all!


Posted by: Jim1348

I posted last week about getting my Garmin Nuvifone G60 unlocked in time for my family trip to the Orlando FL area. I had been getting nervous because I did not get it unlocked until Friday, 02-05-2010 and we left for Florida two days later on Sunday, 02-07-2010. The Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday before leaving I registered the device on line, downloaded Favorites through MapSource, and a number of POI files with POI Loader. I type this knowing that I have a stronger GPS background than cellular telephone background. Don't get me wrong, I have used a work Motorola Nextel on the iDen network for years. I just happens that I bought a personal used Garmin StreetPilot 2730 GPS a couple of years ago and having had some experience with other GPS devices, I do have a preference for Garmin. That having been said, my first GPS Phone was the Pharos GPS Phone 600 that I bought used over a year ago. I bought it for the purpose for installing Garmin Mobile XT software on it. In retrospect, the Pharos GPS Phone 600/Garmin Mobile XT combination works pretty well. When I had my wife with me one of the first times using it, however, she quickly pointed out the obvious, that it does NOT speak street names. To me (us) that is an absolutely necessary feature for automobile GPS navigating. I knew of the lack of spoken street names prior to purchasing, but I bought it anyway. I point this out because certainly my experience with that has some impact on my perception of the Garmin Nuvifone G60. Anyway, once arriving in Orlando and using the Garmin Nuvifone G60 as a GPS it works great. I certainly do enjoy having the spoken street names on the device.

The other thing I do need to point out, however, is being a cheap tightwad, I am not using an AT&T data plan with this. I am using T-Mobile SIM card on a prepaid plan. That negates many of the Connected Services, but not all of them! The Yellow Pages service works just fine when connected via wifi. In fact, I have tried it in the airplane mode with wifi off, and I get nothing. I have tried with just wifi on and just cellular mode and it seems to behave the same way. It does use the GPS coordinates to perform the YellowPages.com search. (For those not familiar with T-Mobile, they do allow limited data without a data plan. It does not use cellular minutes, nor does it incur a charge at all on days that I use it, but no voice minutes.)

I also experiemented with the Flight Status mode. It seems to work just fine, as well. I can't be sure yet if it is getting its data either from wifi or cellular, but I suspect thyat it, too, will work in either mode.

Premium Connected Services, on the other hand, do not work whatsoever with my configuration. This is an area where the old Pharos GPS Phone 600/Garmin Mobile XT has an edge. All of the Garmin Online features work just fine while connected exclusively via wifi. They are Traffic, Weather, Google Local Search, Fuel Prices, and Flight Status. The Premium Connected Services are:

•Traffic — Receive alerts for traffic delays and road construction on your route.
•White Pages — Search by business name or first/last name.
•Weather — Current and 5-day forecasts tailored for your current location.
•Movies — Look up movie times by theater location or movie title and navigate to the theater.
•Local events — Search for and navigate to concerts, theater performances and more.
•Fuel prices — Search for the best fuel prices near your location and navigate there with 1 click.

And like I already mentioned, I can still get Flight Status. Generally speaking, the traffic option is a non-issue for me. On the other hand, since T-Mobile T-Zones allows Navteq Traffic.com, the data can still be obtained without a traditional data plan.

That really leaves the White Pages, Weather, Movies, and Local Events functionality. Again, this is where T-Mobile T-Zones helps out. The Yahoo! Mobile works just fine with T-Mobile T-Zones. You can check weather, movies, local events, fuel prices, and more. While it may not work quite as simply as Garmin and AT&T intended, the data is pretty readily available with this device.

Another feature that has been mentioned briefly, which I particularly enjoyed this week, is Garmin Locate. When I parked at the various Disney and Universal parking lots and removed the G60 from the automobile mount, Garmin Locate saved my location as a Favorite. Just for fun I would edit the Favorite location to what the park called it, like Mickey 45 or Pluto 18, etc.

I did take a few snapshots with the camera. I am not much of a camera guy, it it seemed to work okay. I still have not has a chance to download any MP3 files to this yet, but I akm sure that I will at some point in the future.

As others have mentioned, battery life is a huge issue if you are using the GPS function and are not not connected to external power. I have never used a traditional cell phone navigation service, so I don't know how they compare in terms of power consumption, I do know that regular GPS navigation does comsume power at a pretty fast rate. The battery simply will not last long while using the GPS. I think Garmin considered this and if the GPS is not actively being used, it stops functioning to save power.

I have used the web browser function quite a bit this week, both via wifi and T-Mobile T-Zones. Clearly it is easier to use via wifi and has already been reported, it does not recognize all webpages and display them properly as perhaps an iPhone or iPod Touch does. On the other hand, if you are interested in certain sites that have a mobile/WAP version, it seems to work pretty well via wifi.

When web browsing via T-Mobile T-Zones is where thing get a little bit trickier. Again, for many mobile searches, the Yahoo! Mobile function will work fine. It is beyond that where you have to work at getting what you want. I have used the C Bypass (Tmobile pro) proxy with pretty good success. I usually prefer to have it start with Google and then I select Google Search and away I go. Keep in mind that this is 2G, not 3G, but considering the price, this is pretty nice.

The Location Link function is also pretty handy. For example, I can use Yahoo! Mobile to search for a business that has an address embedd in it. Once I find it on Yahoo!, I simply click on it and it searches and asks me if I want to navigate to that address. I can also save it as a Favorite at that point as well.

I have also played around a bit by taking a photograph and linking it to when my wife calls me on her cell phone. That works just fine. I have also a different ringtone for her and that seems fine as well. While I am certainly not trying to convince anybody to buy this, I must point out that I am quite pleased with it. Although it was really never intened to be used as a feature phone without a data plan on a T-Mobile prepaid account, it works just dandy in that capacity for me!


Posted by: Jim1348

One idiosyncrasy that I have noticed on mine relates to the battery life. As has already been pointed out, when using the GPS or web browsing while on the internal battery, it will not last long. The other thing I have noticed is inconsistent battery meter display. It seems like it will show the battery running down to about two bars and then suddenly I get the warning that it is depleted.


Posted by: vs2

I had the same problem but it is much better now since setting 'data' to 'on demand' and wifi and BT off. Screen at 70%.


Posted by: Jim1348

I did make the Data change to On Demand. I also downloaded a few MP3 files today and that seemed to go very smooth.

I also experimented with transferring photographs both to and from the G60 and that seemed pretty smooth as well. I checked the push pin and indeed the GPS coordinates are embedded in the snapshot.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Thanks for all the replies everyone.
Two questions...
1. My wife dropped her Nuvifone. The screen is cracked. Phoned AT&T and Garmin and neither can help because we never took out insurance when we bought the phone (through Amazon. I didn't even know anything about insurance!). I asked about paying for a repair but none of them can help. Garmin keeps telling me that they are tied by contract to AT&T and all questions have to go to them. Grrr! Even though it powers on, all we get is a white screen. Is there any way to redeem this phone or am I stuck with a paperweight than gives me an extra battery for my Nuvifone. Obviously there is no warranty on it now that it is damaged, should I open it and try something myself?
2. I did try updating with firmware I found cached on Garmin's site but the phone got stuck in an endless reboot. All it showed was the startup screen and then "Loading maps..." and then restart. Thankfully I only had it a week and Amazon swapped it out. Has anyone successfully updated their AT&T Nuvifone with APAC version so you could get tethering and other features working?

I phoned AT&T and asked for my unlock code and after adding International Calling/Roaming (the no monthly charge/free feature) they phoned me back to give me the code. The CSR lady (very helpful!) said she couldn't find the code so put in a support request. They will phone me back on the 19th Feb to (hopefully) give me the code. You have to have been with the contract 90 days to request the unlock code.

I also phoned Garmin the other week asking about updates and the Nuvifone guy said they would have an update but could not say what or when. I hope at least Copy & Paste comes on it!
On other phones I have used, you could back up your Contacts file manually (e.g. contacts.db) so I asked the Garmin guy about doing that because I have made a mess of the Syncing tool with Outlook. Thankfully I only lost about 10 contacts but now I have over 150. He said the file is on a secured part of the phone, so I am guessing a hidden partition or something.
Anyone who is a techy-guru managed to figure anything like that out?

I also wanted to "reset" or delete words from my predictive list that are in error and the Garmin CSR guy said that the only way to get rid of them was to reset to Factory default.

Here's to hoping we get an update soon. I do like the look of the A50!


Posted by: Jim1348

I wish I had something helpful to offer you, but I don't. I was wondering about the Nuvifone Sync Agent. I did download it this weekend, but when I looked at it a little bit closer it looks as if this is compatible with Outlook exclusively. We just use Outlook Express at home. I think we have the full Outlook at work, but I don't know if our IT department would allow me to do that. I have pretty much decided that for now I will simply use the MapSource software on my desktop computer to organize Favorites. I did notice one interesting thing doing that yesterday. It seems as if I add a telephone number with a Favorite POI on the G60 and then transfer it to MapSource, the telephone number does not appear. However, if I clear the POI from the G60 and transfer it back, the telephone number is present. I was also wondering if there is a way to edit the location on a saved POI on the G60. On other Garmins it is possible, but I haven't found a way to do it on the G60 yet.

As far as other features, it would be nice to reconfigure the other features to that I could use them with T-Mobile. I don't know enough about how these contracts are written between AT&T and Garmin-Asus, but I suspect that they are configured in such a way that Garmin can't make certain changes unless AT&T agrees to it. As a side note, I also own an AT&T branded Motorola Tundra VA76r. I have read some things about features that it has that have been reduced or eliminated compared to the non-US version of the Motorola Tundra VA76r. I certainly have some mixed emotions on the whole subsidized handset arrangement that is so popular here in the U.S. I understand that the carriers are in business to make a profit, and I certainly don't fault them for that, but locking down certain features that are available on non-US versions can be frustrating to the end user.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Just a little tip I discovered the other week using the Nuvifone.
If you use a portrait picture to save as wallpaper, it doesn't necessarily fit very nicely when you have to use it in landscape.

Here's the part that I think is quite cool: Find a landscape picture you want to save as wallpaper and let it apply as portrait and then landscape. Now find a different portrait picture and save it as wallpaper, but, when it comes to saving it as landscape, just cancel out of it.
You will now have two (different) pictures as your wallpaper (and lock screen) and they will change when you rotate the phone

Hope this helps someone!


Posted by: kingstu

It's good to see that so many are enjoying the Nuvifone G60. The premium connected services appear to only be available for AT&T postpaid customers and are billed via your AT&T bill.

I haven't done much customization except some personalized ring tones and some new devices from Garmin Garage. I have downloaded Garmin Voice Studio (where you can make your own voices for turn-by-turn directions) but I haven't used it yet.

From what I heard about the A50 it's interface is very similar to the G60 but it is android in the background. I really don't like having to pay monthly for those services which should be free or at least factored into the price of the device. I hope that with the A50 I can get free weather, white page and local events just like I can with my Nokia 5800 Nav Edition phone.

The spec sheet for the A50 shows that it can work on T-Mobile 3G and AT&T 3G so I hope it will be possible to get a non-carrier branded version to work here as I don't like what AT&T did with their version of the firmware.


Posted by: vs2

Nuvifone A50. Definately my next device.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpipLPUa_pA

*If you try tp flash your G60 to APAC etc and get the cont. reboot screen there is a way to fix it. Read a previous post of mine.*


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

I just got my unlock code from ATT today via email.
It is a 16 digit code. My phone is unlocked

Just to let others know, if you want your ATT Nuvifone unlocked, make sure you have had the contract for 90 days at least. Phone 611 and ask to add the International Roaming Plan (the one with no monthly charge - so free to add on). They will then ask you for your IMEI number (on dial pad press *#06* or look underneath battery). My CSR took about 15 minutes looking for my code and couldn't find it so said they would contact me on the 19th Feb (today is 16th, so 3 days early )
I followed the instructions in the email and Nuvifone said my device is now unlocked. I did notice that the last digit in the IMEI of the email was not the same as mine, but the unlock still worked fine.
They might ask you when/where you are travelling to, but that is just so they can let you know about the int'l tariff for those countries. Obviously, I would use a local SIM overseas - that's the point in unlocking! I wouldn't expect my friends overseas to dial an int'l number to call me if I was visiting them!

Indeed I am a happy camper! Now if only I could get the APAC firmware on without messing up my phone


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by vs2
*If you try tp flash your G60 to APAC etc and get the cont. reboot screen there is a way to fix it. Read a previous post of mine.*

So vs2, from what your previous post said about getting into Mass Storage Mode and all that, did you actually get the APAC version running okay or did you revert back to the ATT version? Wasn't sure what you were inferring. Thanks!


Posted by: vs2

Hi IcOnBoy.

No I did not try again with APAC version as too nervous esp. after 1st try!! I have my phone unloced through Garmin and I'm happy with it now.

What I do know is after deleting the contents on the Nuvifone drive and then rebooting the phone the device re-wrote the 'garmindevice.xml' and booted up normally.

When 'flashing' or updating the software the update is put into a folder called 'update'
then the phone reboots and then you should see the progress of the firmware update. Mine did not do that but instead rebooted and only got to loading maps and then stayed on that screen and every 20-30 seconds it would try to boot further but just fo back to the AT&T screen.

If I was confident it looked at the garmindevice.xml before it updates then I would probably try it again by deleting garmindevice.xml before the update. But if it looks at the ROM then thats a different story. Plus its all Linux and I know nothing about Linux.

I managed to get it to read mass storage during my issues with win xp (32bit) and Win 7 (64bit)


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

vs2, did it take a while to get your unlock code from Garmin?
What happened with you concerning the continual reboot happened to me. I did phone Garmin asking if there were any kepresses to do (like your camera+volume up sequence) but they couldn't help me. If I had known your info, it would have saved me the hassle of sending the phone back. Thankfully, Amazon paid return shipping!
I am wondering if your technique will work with my wife's broken Nuvifone? If I can get it to go to Mass Storage Mode, I might be able to tinker around.
I too, am too unueasy about reflashing and bricking my phone. The APAC version seems nicer!


Posted by: vs2

I told Garmin and AT&T that I brought the phone off ebay and had it in NZ and wanted to use it with my Vodafone account. It took two days but through my insistance it went higher than customer support. I do know that Garmin has the NCK codes.

If you do tinker around make a copy of the nuvidrive on your PC. Another thing I have found is often the computer will not go into mass storage mode unless you remove the micro SD card 1st (mine is 8gb) Micro SD is hot swappable once connected to PC. Also make a folder labelled 'images' and another labelled 'MP3' on your SD card and the device will search there as well.

Sync agent works well with outlook on win 7 (64bit).


Posted by: Jim1348

Do you guys think that we will ever see a CDMA or iDen Garmin Nuvifone in the future? I am guessing no iDEN, but possible a worldphone Nuvifone that would be both CDMA and GSM, but I suspect sales during 2010 will have a huge impact on the future of the Nuvifone


Posted by: kingstu

I really don't see a CDMA nuvifone. The rest of the world outside of US is on GSM/UTMS and see Verizon or Sprint clamoring for it. With an unlocked GSM phone people can use it even if they don't get it through a carrier.

I am thinking the APAC version of the A50 will also be "better" than the US version. I heard that all phones sold in Taiwan (home of AsusTek) have to unlocked so they would have built-in tethering and other nice features that their G60 has. I believe that Yellowpages.com was used instead of Google local search in the american G60 because of Garmin's agreement with AT&T


Posted by: Jim1348

I have never sent a text from a telephone until today. I ahve received them on phones and sent them from desktop computers, but I have just never sent one from a phone before today. Anyway, my wife called me today and asked for a telephone number for our city hall for the public works department. It then struck me that this would be a good time to try a feature. I found our city POI and it gave me the choice to text it to her. Maybe this is old hat for iPhones, etc., but I thought it was a pretty neat feature. Also, if I would receive a telephone number via text I believe I could click and call from that. Again, maybe that is already available on other devices, but I still think it is pretty next. One slight shortcoming on the GPS side, though. With my Garmin StreetPilot 2730, after the unit state selection is made, it gives the last two cities selected as choices, as well as the option to search all in the state or enter the city name. That is probably not a "deal killer, but I do miss that feature and I email Garmin to add that in future updates. I did suggest the Auto Zoom Disable feature, but I got the standard reply from them on that.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by vs2
If you hold down the camera button and volime up button, then power on you get 5 blips of vibration then my PC (win7) tries to load a driver but fails with unrecognized device. This must be a way in via Linux??

I never got 5 blips of vibration when I held down the keys you mentioned - just the standard vibrate when the phone normally starts. Am I doing something wrong?


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
I have never sent a text from a telephone until today.
Congrats - once you send the darn things, you wonder how you got by without them! Did you know that SMSes don't cost the networks anything really?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
With my Garmin StreetPilot 2730, after the unit state selection is made, it gives the last two cities selected as choices, as well as the option to search all in the state or enter the city name.
That sounds like a very helpful feature. I would like the ability to change what shows at the bottom of the screen when driving. At the moment, it just shows ETA - I would like the option of driving direction or other options as available on Nuvi PNDs.
How did Garmin respond when you asked about the city choices or did you get the typical default thank-you response that Tech Support often give...?


Posted by: Jim1348

I have not e-mailed that suggestion to them yet. I would like them to know that there are a few of us out here using this, so hopefully they will uspport this.


Posted by: kingstu

I get the feeling that they won't be worrying about updating and adding new features to the G60 as it has been updated/replaced by the A50. If you haven't seen the videos of it's features you will be amazed that it has pinch to zoom on Garmin Maps, full Google Maps and apps and a few great enhancements from the G60.


Posted by: Jim1348

It will be interesting to see if this is offered unlocked, much like the Nexus One, or if it will only be offered as a subsidized device through AT&T and/or T-Mobile.

I must say I was spoiled by the price of the G60, though. I tried the calendar function yesterday to alert me 15 minutes ahead of my 9 AM appointment today. I never did get an audible reminder, though, but I may have had something set wrong.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
I never did get an audible reminder, though, but I may have had something set wrong.

Jim, double-check in your Settings | Audio for what your Calendar alert sounds will be. Try and set up a test in Calendar and see if it works. Hope this helps!

Has anyone else been battling with the responsiveness of the keyboard when typing? I find that I have to backspace so often that typing is a pain

I know you can recalibrate the unit,
Code:
Turn off the Nuvifone
Hold device so the power button is on top (portrait orientation).
Press and hold the power button until the calibration screen appears (about 60 seconds).
Release the power button
Follow the directions to calibrate the screen
The screen is now re-calibrated and ready for use.

but never know how hard/firm to push. My typing isn't firm when I touch the screen. I have tried a Master Clear but still don't feel the touch is accurate.
Any ideas/suggestions anyone?


Posted by: Jim1348

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ic0nBoy
Has anyone else been battling with the responsiveness of the keyboard when typing? I find that I have to backspace so often that typing is a pain


I just installed a 16 GB microSD card this afternoon and I am downloading MP3 files.

Do you use your finger for typing (like I do) or do you ever use a stylus?

Can you (or anybody) refresh my memory, I seem to recall there is a way to get back to the home screen in one easy step, but I don't recall at the moment what it is.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
Can you (or anybody) refresh my memory, I seem to recall there is a way to get back to the home screen in one easy step, but I don't recall at the moment what it is.

Just keep holding down the "return/previous" until you get to the home screen.
Btw, where did you get your 16 card (with adapter I guess) from?


Posted by: vs2

Just keep yor finger on the 'back' button and it will return to home screen.

If you want to calibrate your screen --- turn phone off then keep finger on power button for about 60 secs and then the calibration screen will come up.

You can have many different maps on device just by renaming them. On the SD card you can only have one map image at a time--it is gmapsupp.img. On the device you can have gmapprom.img, gmapsupp.img, gmapsupp1.img, gmapprom1, gmapbmap.img and I think gmapoem.img. This is great if you tracel to different Countries or want maps for lakes or hiking or marine etc. You can choose which ones you want active in the nav settings - map info on the device.

About the screen responsive. I applied the 'zagg' invisible shield an my screen became very unresponsive and stopped working unit a reboot and then same thing. I did a master reset and even tried recalibrating the screen. Nothing worked. I did not like the feel of the Zagg so I removed it and the phone was better but still touch screen was intermittent. All functions of the phone were fine except for the touch screen. I thought maybe it was water damage from applying the Zagg as you spray on a solution to apply. As a last resort I deleted (copied 1st) everything off the nuvidrive and when phone rebooted everything is running perfectly. (only load back onto nuvidrive copied items that are not already on device.) I did another master reboot again just in case (after loading everything back on to the nuvidrive). Keep photos and mp3's on SD card to save space. So if you are experiencing touchscreen issues try it. I cannot explain why it worked but it did.

iconboy.
Take out battery
wait 30 secs
plug usb in until battery warning thingy comes up
with one hand hold down camera button (to second click) and vol up button
with other hand insert battery
hold power on and you should feel 5 vibrations and then a few second later computer should try to install a unrecognized device.


Posted by: Jim1348

Thank you for the reminder on holding down the "Return/Previous" steady until it returns to the Home screen. I tried it and it works great!

I just did a Google search and at the time this was the least expensive 16 GB micro SD HC that I could find:
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.a...tingid=33261839

I was wondering about memory management, though. When I store POIs through the POI Loader, I suspect that it will give me a choice of storing on the device or the micro SD card. Similarly, with MP3 files I get a choice. With photograph I think it is simply storing them to the device, unless there is a different setting to change it to the micro SD card.

I also wanted to pass along what I am doing for 12 volt power. Since the AT&T branded G60 sold in the US doesn't come with a 12 volt car cord, I was all set to buy a Vehicle Power Cable 010-11212-10 for $ 28.00, but then I decided to buy a Scosche USB12V2 http://www.scosche.com/products/productID/1230 it is under $12 shipped to a US address from some Ebay sellers. This seems to power my G60 just fine, plus I still have another USB power port for a Slacker Radio/MP3 player/Personal Media Player, etc.

Also, has anybody sprung for the Holster with Belt Clip
Part Number: 010-11212-01 yet?
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do...0029#productTab I have some Nite Ize http://www.niteize.com/pages/mobile-accessories cases now, but sometimes it is nice to have an extra one or two around just in case.

Also, thanks for the tip about multiple maps. We might be taking a Caribbean cruise next year and buying a map ahead of time for that might be pretty handy when walking around while in port.


Posted by: vs2

You can use any old car charger with mini usb. I am using the one of my old Motorola and it works great.

Right now Iam using this 3500 mah solar charger placed on the dash and the supplied cable directly into the G60's windscreen mount (drivers side up high) with the wire tucked into the pillar. Works great as a hands free device as close to drivers face and makes for a clean install and keeps G60 charged all the time.

http://www.amzer.com/accessories-de...sp?sku_no=83981


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by vs2
You can have many different maps on device just by renaming them. On the SD card you can only have one map image at a time--it is gmapsupp.img. On the device you can have gmapprom.img, gmapsupp.img, gmapsupp1.img, gmapprom1, gmapbmap.img and I think gmapoem.img.
Does this mean I can copy a map from my 775T and use it on my Nuvifone? That would be superb!


Posted by: vs2

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ic0nBoy
Does this mean I can copy a map from my 775T and use it on my Nuvifone? That would be superb!


If the map is 'unlocked' then yes.


Posted by: Jim1348

I downloaded the optional Garmin ringtones earlier today. I didn't think that is something I would ever do, but they seem to work just fine. I also learned a lesson from that. Don't ever have a multiple entries of the same contact. I had entered my wife's cell phone number more than once. When I was testing the ringtone I assigned for her I kept getting a different one than I expected. I then realized the error of my way, deleted the extraneous entries, and the ringtone worked just fine.

Also, for whatever it is worth, The Sydney Morning Herald has listed the Garmin Nuvifone A50 as one of the Top 10 mobile phones for 2010. It will be interesting to see if it will indeed be available during the first half of 2010.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

I think the A50 will be pretty nice
I was wanting Android before G60 so maybe having Garmin and Android would be a nice match. Can anyone confirm if pinch and zoom (or whatever you call it) works in the web browser? I really struggle with the G60 browser.

Sigh! Wish I could get tethering and other left-out options on my unlocked G60 (ATT).


Posted by: Jim1348

These articles and Garmin's own web page refer to "a powerful, multi-touch capable WebKit browser", so if I understand this correctly, that would be very "iPhone like", however, the first You Tube video mentions multi-touch, but that it will not be available for the browser!

On the other hand, their very own Garmin Blog states:

"Surf the web
With a powerful, multi-touch capable WebKit browser, the A50 allows users to browse the web at quick speeds and view streaming content. In addition, it automatically identifies location information embedded within web pages allowing the user to quickly navigate to the locations published on the world-wide web."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpipLPUa_pA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMMJ8D5uV-g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFQWAEb_mA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH9anjK_wd4

http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/...s-Nuvifone-A50/

http://garmin.blogs.com/pr/2010/02/...-smartphon.html

http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Gar...ne-pa_4425.html

In as much as this, too, shows Google Local Search functionality, I suppose US AT&T subsidized A50s would have to have this feature "sanitized for your protection"! For that matter, AT&T very well may disable tethering on this,too.


Posted by: kingstu

The FCC had an "unknown" garmin phone listing T-Mobile's 3G bands. When I think of how AT&T ruined the nuvifone by removing features and setting a ridiculous price and not even including a car charger, I really hope they don't get this phone. I'd rather pay more and get an unlocked, full-featured phone than what they did.


Posted by: Jim1348

I went to Phonescoop hoping to compare the Nuvifones, but they only have the G60 listed. I then went to PDAdb.net and it allows a comparison, but many of the features aren't listed yet.

http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by vs2
Take out battery
wait 30 secs
plug usb in until battery warning thingy comes up
with one hand hold down camera button (to second click) and vol up button
with other hand insert battery
hold power on and you should feel 5 vibrations and then a few second later computer should try to install a unrecognized device.

Nope - I never got any vibrations, let alone five. Did exactly what your steps said. Using Win7 Pro.
Any further ideas?


Posted by: kingstu

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
I went to Phonescoop hoping to compare the Nuvifones, but they only have the G60 listed. I then went to PDAdb.net and it allows a comparison, but many of the features aren't listed yet.

http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer


I noticed the changes from looking at youtube videos of the new A50 as well as looking at the official specs. Here are some highlights in no particular order.

The A50 has MMS support
The A50 has a capacitive touchscreen not a resistive touchscreen
The A50 has Exchange email support
The A50 has video recording and playback
The A50 has a slightly bigger battery
The A50 has support for T-Mobile 3G
The A50 supports Android marketplace to allow installation of apps
The A50 has pinch to zoom in its Maps and Photo Gallery
The A50 support cityXplorer Garmin maps
The A50 will be upgradeable to a higher version of Andriod (currently 1.6)
The A50 has a proximity sensor so hopefully the problem of moving the phone away from your face and having it be blacked out will be fixed
The A50 has support for Qwerty and other keyboards in Portrait mode.
The A50 come with a mount that lets you have portrait and landscape modes in your car
The A50 has junction view and lane assist (in some countries)

Basically the A50 is a GPS with a smartphone. It has google maps and google local search in addition to it's own POI and Maps. It still doesn't have any flash for the camera or a 3.5mm headset jack but hopefully the next model will and more.

I would love to get the A50 unlocked so I can use it with or without a sim. It would be great if the G60 car mount also works with the A50.


Posted by: Jim1348

Wow, thanks for the comparison. I had intended to do that as well, but sort of got sidetracked since there was a lack of specifications out there.

Do you also get the sense that this will have the ability to navigate, even without satellite signals, as long as it gets GSM signals then? I am still not clear what the difference is between assisted GPS and aided GPS, but I do get the sense that it will work in the absence of satellite signals as long as there is cell phone signals.

Ironically, none of the features are absolutely crucial for me at this very moment. Don't get me wrong, I am glad they are adding them, but MMS isn't something I use now on other devices. As far as the others, when the phone has been out for a while and the price comes down, much like the G60 did, then I will be more interested. Android will be nice, particularly if the Slacker Radio application is one of the choices. I do agree that a 3.5 mm jack would have been nice, though.

I wonder if tethering will be available?


Posted by: kingstu

It uses GSM towers to triangulate and help get a GPS fix but not sure if it will work without satellites for too long? Are you planning on navigating underground? It can navigate even without cell phone signals, which is what most Google Nav phones can't do. They claim to have 5 different ways to get a location fix so I'm sure that is their speciaty and it will be good for that.

Tethering, Internet Radio, and so many other things are available because it allows 3rd party apps on the Andriod platform. It will cost more but it will be able to do everything much better than the G60. And people can create new things for it.


Posted by: Jim1348

Well, I am not planning on navigating underground, but I would like both satellite and non-satellite navigation available. A couple of weeks ago my family and I flew from Florida to Georgia. We never left the airport since this was just a lay over, but since I couldn't get any satellite signals inside the terminal, it limited my device. Had I had the ability to get cellular telephone triangulation to fix my location, I would have still been able to use my Garmin maps.

I will have to check and see what 5 different ways to they get a location fix. I understand GPS satellite, GSM cellular triangulation, and wifi geolocating, but I wonder what other 2 ways they have?


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

A little off-topic, but I need help. I am able to have Bluetooth on (and discoverable) but for some reason am not able to add any devices. I press Scan and nothing happens. I have done a Restore and a Master Clear but still nothing!
Once BT is on, I have to restart the phone again for the BT icon to show up. But when I press scan again, nothing happens. I don't want to have to take the unit back to an ATT store as it is unlocked. Any tips/ideas to solve this?
Thanks


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

I was wondering if it would be possible to FTP (SFTP, SCP) into the Nuvifone like you can do with an iPhone.
I looked at my wireless router and found my IP address of the attached device and it showed the name "Montana". I have no idea what the password would be, but I did get a request to accept the digital thumbprint to connect to the device. Hmmn...now that would be interesting if someone could get into the phone. I used WinSCP by the way.


Posted by: Jim1348

There is also some discussion of the Garmin Nuvifone A50 on GPSPassion.com

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/...=106138&#929954


Posted by: kingstu

I didn't have any problem pairing my phone with mulitple bluetooth headsets. But I did notice that bluetooth and wifi didn't work together. I really am disappointed about that restriction. I need to fiddle more but adding a bluetooth keyboard and other things are not possible with the G60.


Posted by: vs2

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ic0nBoy
Nope - I never got any vibrations, let alone five. Did exactly what your steps said. Using Win7 Pro.
Any further ideas?


Pull the battery out then holding the phone in landscape mode plug the usb cable in. When you see a ? and no battery icon on the display put the battery in and (very quickly before phone starts to boot) hold down camera (all the way down) and vol. up. You should get 5 vibrations.

If you have a problem with phone not booting up properly then pull battery for 30 sec then attach usb. In about 10-15 min phone will go into Mass storage mode. Copy everything to a folder on PC. Delete everything on Nuviphone drive pull usb and phone will boot up normally. Do a master clear then add voices, photos, vehicles back on.

Iconboy you have a broken screen? If you can get another the screen it is very easy to replace. The phone comes apart easily.

If you use a screen protector thet requires a 'solution' to be sprayed on to the screen then be very careful as water may get into the phone.

After you master clear recalibrate the compass. Mine is always off about 20 degrees. The phone always thinks you are in Kansas after a master clear. After a master clear get a satellite fix straight away then wait about 30 secs and your timzone and local time will be corrected.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Thanks VS2. Can I delete ALL of Garmin folder? My Bluetooth goes on but absolutely nothing happens when I try and pair. I press Scan but no response. Should I try and delete all on the Garmin drive? I have seen at DrCell they charge about $149 to $199 for Garmin repair. Amazon are selling new G60s for $199 — is there a cheap place to buy replacement screens? Both ATT and Garmin can't help. If I can repair the wife's Nuvi that would be nice. Any online tutorials or documents on how to disassemble a Nuvifone? Thanks for any help.


Posted by: Jim1348

Quote:
Originally Posted by kingstu
I didn't have any problem pairing my phone with mulitple bluetooth headsets. But I did notice that bluetooth and wifi didn't work together. I really am disappointed about that restriction. I need to fiddle more but adding a bluetooth keyboard and other things are not possible with the G60.


Kingstu,

Do you mean that you cannot use a bluetooth keyboard at all or only when it is connected via wifi?


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Okay, getting a wee bit frustrated with Nuvifone right now. When I plug in the phone to charge, it switches the screen on. I put it off but after a few secs it switches on again. My lock setting is 1 minute.


Posted by: vs2

Yes you can delete everthing then re-boot. The device will remake the garmindevice.xml etc.

Probably better to get a new G60 than spend $150+ with shipping for a new screen. If you do take it apart remove the battery which exposes the two bottom torx bolts then with device screen down use your finger nail and lift out and up on the piece that goes accross the camera and slide your finger underneath and it will unclip. Do the same with the piece above the camera lens and this will expose two more bolts. Then the phone pulls apart quite easily. Remove tape and lift up in white cliip to remove screen from phone.


Posted by: kingstu

I don't believe that you can use a bluetooth keyboard at all with the G60. The available bluetooth profiles are whatever they allowed. One of the advantages of the A50 with andriod is that you can add apps to give you functionality that the device doesn't have at all. With the A50 you can get weather without paying the connected services $5.99 a month required for with the G60. There are so many apps for andriod that it just allows you to get your phone to do more. That is the benefit of a smartphone platform for the nuvifone. Windows on the M10 and M20 also let you do that but I like the Breeze UI of the G60 and A50 better than windows mobile.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Turns out that the constant switching on of the G60 was because there was a (possible) corrupt microSD card after I did a Master Clear. Not sure if it Master Cleared the card as well, but once I removed the card, the unit switched off and stayed off. I then reformatted the card - all okay now!


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

A guy on the G60 Facebook page said this to me about APAC firmware:
Quote:
No I cannot get [APAC] to work. I'm sure there is a way but I'm not that computer savvy. I do know the update looks at the firmware already on the phone when it boots and decides whether or not to update. I think the phone carrier (ATT) deliberately made it difficult. On garmin nuvi devices its simply changing the software number on the garmindevice.xml but the G60 is Linux.

Looks like we'll still have to tinker around some more. Wonder who the brave ones are?


Posted by: Spazmogen

Remove your MicroSD card.

Connect the G60 to the computer with the USB.

Copy every file you can find on the G60 over to a folder on your HDD.

Delete everything else but gmapsupp.img (that's your map) on the phone, then run the installer for the new firmware. See if that works. It may not, then just copy the files back to your phone if it didn't work out for you.

That is how I update the Nuvi650 each and every time I add new maps to it.


Posted by: kingstu

Here is some info about updating to the latest firmware for an APAC G60. Not sure if it will work on the AT&T phone but it looks interesting.Firmware Info


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by kingstu
Here is some info about updating to the latest firmware for an APAC G60. Not sure if it will work on the AT&T phone but it looks interesting.Firmware Info
Both vs2 and I have had problems trying to use non-ATT firmware. It doesn't work
We are hoping, waiting, searching and asking if anyone has successfully been able to update from ATT to APAC or other firmware. Here's hoping it won't take too long!


Posted by: Jim1348

Has anybody ran across any after-market accessories custom designed for the G60? I might me interested in an Otter Box, but I rather doubt that one will be designed for the G60. I might be interested in an extended battery, but I suspect that is rather unlikely as well


Posted by: kingstu

There is very little out there. I looked but except for a few rubberized cases I didn't find much. The best bet would be to look for something that fits a phone of it's size but then the special car connector would probably be obscured.


Posted by: Jim1348

So, who else here is using their Garmin Nuvifone G60 with T-Mobile?


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim1348
So, who else here is using their Garmin Nuvifone G60 with T-Mobile?
Still stuck on ATT contract I'm afraid. Been wondering if the grass is greener with TMob.


Posted by: Ic0nBoy

Quote:
Originally Posted by kingstu
There is very little out there. I looked but except for a few rubberized cases I didn't find much
I just got an email from Garimn and they have new accessories. Don't know if this would be of any help.




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