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Garmin and ASUS have teamed to develop GPS-enabled smartphones and their first offering is the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60. ASUS will continue to be the Original Device Manufacturer (ODM) for the Nuvifone brand of phones. In fact Nuvifone G60 was introduced an year ago as the Garmin Nuvifone. In its present avatar it will be launched in the first half of 2009.

The GPS functionality is not a surprise as navigation devices is Garmin’s core competency. Voice prompted turn-by-turn directions, millions of POIs, maps, quad-band GSM with 3.5G data connectivity, personal messaging, and more are features that are integrated together, which means that navigation functionalities are tied in with the core functionalities of the phone. Since location information does not exist in a segregated silo you can enjoy features such as mobile social networking. Given that the G60 is a renamed avatar of the original Garmin Nuvifone, one can assume that it will pretty much feature the same specs as the old model. So expect a 3.5-inch touchscreen, web browser, support for MP3/MPEG4, and built-in camera.

Both Garmin and ASUS are members of the Open Handset Alliance and apparently the handset will be based on the Google Android OS.

UPDATE: See – Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60 Features & Specifications Released [Press Release].