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The Associated Press
DALLAS – (NYSE: T) plans to begin selling Garmin’s delayed GPS-equipped nuvifone in October.
The two companies say the will sell beginning Oct. 4 for $300 with a two-year agreement and a $100 mail-in rebate. The G60 is already on sale in parts of Asia.
Garmin Ltd. announced the nuvifone last year but it has been repeatedly delayed over technical issues and negotiations with wireless providers to carry the device.
The device will include the standard features of high-end wireless phones, including a Web browser and digital camera. But it can be mounted on a car dashboard to provide turn-by-turn directions and suggest nearby gas stations, restaurants and other places of interest.
Also Tuesday, said it would start selling the first phone from Motorola that uses Google’s Android software on Oct. 19.
The will cost $200 with a two-year contract, T-Mobile said. Buyers who aren’t already T-Mobile customers will have to wait until Nov. 2.
The Cliq is the first product to come out of a turnaround effort at Motorola Inc., whose cell phone division has been struggling since the Razr fell out of favor. Motorola is now focusing on making "smart" phones using Google Inc.’s Android software to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
T-Mobile already sells two Android smart phones made by HTC Corp. Sprint Nextel Corp. is releasing one, also made by HTC, on Oct. 11.
The Cliq comes with a touch screen and a standard "Qwerty" keyboard that slides out from its side. Motorola has added a layer of software on top of Google’s, to let users aggregate contact information from various social networks and e-mail accounts.
Small application "widgets" will show such information as your friends’ Facebook status updates on the home screen.
The Cliq also has a 5-megapixel camera, allowing for sharper images than most other phones.
