AT&T and Garmin International, a dealer in satellite navigation, have announced their intentions to usher in a new mobile navigation era with the introduction of the Garmin (News - Alert) nuvifone G60 navigation phone.

 

Garmin nuvifone G60 is a touch screen handset designed with a focus on navigation features. The navigation phone is also claimed to be the one of the easiest-to-use location experiences available because it is the only phone to fully integrate the GPS navigator with voice, data and mobile Web.

 

According to Michael Woodward, vice president of Mobile Phone Portfolio at AT&T (News - Alert) Mobility and Consumer Markets, personal navigation devices are already all about mobility and taking the Garmin experience everywhere with a mobile phone is truly compelling for customers who travel often.

 

Garmin’s nuvifone series navigation devices have LBS at its core and location information is added to everyday applications including email, SMS, photo sharing, social networking and more in order to enhance applications and share location information with others. It supports Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth devices and can also be used as a pedestrian or in-vehicle navigation device.

 

Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO said that nuvifone weaves location into nearly every facet of its functionality making it ideal for people who depend on location to navigate everyday life. The device features Garmin’s easy to use interface which makes navigation to a meeting directly from its calendar or contacts pages, or geo-tagging an email or photograph with a location stamp, more intuitive, useful and fun.

 

Customers who purchase a nuvifone will receive everything that they need to use the device as an in-car navigation unit including a dashboard and windshield mount.

 

The innovative ‘where am I?’ feature provides users with exact latitude and longitude coordinates, nearest address, intersection, hospital, police station and gas station with one touch of the screen. The nuvifone G60 also includes a three mega-pixel camera with auto-focus that automatically geotags images with an exact latitude and longitude reference of where the image was taken.

 

The device will be available on October 4 for $299 with a two year service agreement after $100 mail-in-rebate only for AT&T customers in the U.S. in AT&T stores and at their online site.