Bargain hunters looking for a new ultraportable this Christmas could do well to hold off until the new year, as ASUS CEO Jerry Shen has announced the company plans to launch an Android-based Smartbook in Q1 2010 that could be priced at around $180. ASUS were among the companies demonstrating Smartbook prototypes – based on Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor – back in June, but since then have downplayed their involvement with the format.
It’s hard to believe it is October already and the leaves are already falling off the trees. Another week come and gone and today I am back with another week in review for your perusal. We found out early this week that the Palm Pre is still headed to Verizon according to an insider. The alleged insider didn’t give any word on when exactly this may happen.
It’s only taken them a couple of years, but Garmin have finally announced a release of the nuvifone G60 in the US. As of October 4th the touchscreen GPS-centric handset will arrive on AT&T, priced at $299 following a $100 mail-in rebate and assuming you’re willing to sign two years of your cellular life away to the carrier.
Garmin-ASUS’ nuvifone has been a long time coming, and in fact if it’s the original you’re waiting for then you’ll have to hold on a little longer. If, though, you’re willing to make do with the nuvifone M20 – the collaboration’s Windows Mobile 6.1 model – then phoneArena’s review will be of interest. They’ve been putting the compact PND/smartphone hybrid through its paces, to see if you’re better off putting all your eggs in one basket or not.
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The Garmin-ASUS nuvifone M20 is tipped to arrive in Taiwan on August 19th, according to the Economic Daily News, in association with Chunghwa Telecom (CHT). The entry-level device in the Garmin-ASUS PND-phone range, the nuvifone M20 runs Windows Mobile and has a compact 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen and 3-megapixel autofocus camera.
Phone launch leaks a-plenty this weekend, as the Boy Genius Report scoops up a couple of interesting screenshots from Best Buy and AT&T. According to the retailer, whose plans for August 23rd have been snapped below, in a couple of weeks time buyers will have the choice of several anticipated devices, including the T-Mobile Samsung Gravity 2 and the Verizon Omnia 2 and LG Chocolate Touch.
A new Garmin PND , the nuvi 1690, has passed through the FCC [pdf link], and it seems to have learned some connectivity tricks from its nuvifone cousins. The nuvi 1690 includes not only Bluetooth but GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity, presumably offering real-time traffic downloads among other things.
Well another week has come and gone as time steadily marches on and like every other week here on SlashGear, it has been a busy one. Poor old Toshiba took the old adage “if you can’t beat them, join them” seriously on Monday and announced that it would be launching its own Blu-ray player by the end of 2009. That had to be hard to swallow for the execs who bet it all on HD DVD only to be defeated by Blu-ray. Also on Monday the slick HP Mini 5101 netbooks tipped up starting from $399. I’m not convinced we need another netbook on the market right now personally.
Garmin-ASUS have announced that the long-awaited nuvifone G60 touchscreen GPS cellphone will go on sale in Taiwan on July 27th, followed by a Singaporean and Malaysian launch in August alongside the Windows Mobile-based nuvifone M20. The G60 should then arrive in Europe and the US in the second half of this year, as previously reported, while the M20 will bypass the US altogether but hit Europe, again, in 2H09.
Garmin-ASUS intend to launch the nuvifone G60 by the end of 2009, with some markets expected to see the GPS-centric handset as early as August. That’s the latest news from Garmin’s regional director for Southeast-Asia sales, Hektor Tung, who has also revealed that the partnership plan to ditch their home-grown Linux OS after the G60 and move instead to Android.
Chrome OS: Waiting Is The Hardest Part…Though Necessary
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Hey, Premium Notebooks or Netbooks, Get the Basics Right!
SlashGear Japan
