 |
|
|
|
|
Garmin announces world's first GPS handheld
|
|
|
|
By Larry Garfield, Thursday 9 January 2003  
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After years as a Palm OS licensee, Garmin has officially announced their first handheld. GPS isn't the only cool feature it offers, though. It also sets a few other Palm OS firsts.
GPS and navigation company Garmin has finally taken the wraps off of their long-awaited GPS-enabled handheld, and it does appear that good things come to those who wait. The Garmin iQue 3600 comes with quite an impressive array of features.
 | The iQue 3600 is the first handheld with integrated GPS, and the most RAM of any Palm OS device
|
The iQue measures 128 x 72 x 20.3 mm, slightly larger than a "standard" Palm OS device but still handheld-sized. It's most notable feature, of course, is the integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna that flips up from the back of the handheld. When folded flat into the back of the handheld the GPS radio deactivates to preserve battery life, and it reactivates automatically when raised into either of two fixed positions. Garmin's "Que" system delivers location awareness, electronic mapping, automatic route calculation, turn-by-turn voice guidance and map data interface to the iQue 3600. The included navigation software can read from the standard Palm Address Book application, so users can quickly tell the device "take me to Bob's from wherever I am." Garmin estimates that the iQue 3600 should offer accuracy to 20 to 30 feet, or less than 10 feet when receiving corrected GPS data from the Wide Area Augmentation System in the North American coverage area.
The rest of the iQue is equally impressive. The handheld runs Palm OS 5.0, and is powered by an ARM-based Motorola Dragonball MXL processor at 150 Mhz. Because map data is often rather large, the iQue ships with a whopping 32 MB of RAM, twice the amount available on any other Palm OS handheld. If the user needs even more storage space, it also includes a Secure Digital card slot. The iQue boasts a 320x480 16-bit color TFT display, well suited for maps and other complex images. Presumably Garmin is using the PalmSource High-Density screen API, although it is not using the Sony virtual Graffiti system. Garmin has said that they will be releasing an SDK for the virtual Graffiti area as well as the GPS receiver itself shortly to allow 3rd party applications to take advantage of location-specific information.
The iQue also includes a jog wheel for improved one-handed navigation, although it has only the standard two directional buttons on the front panel. There is also a vibrating alarm as well as the standard infrared port. The audio system is as impressive as the rest of the device. The iQue includes a one-button voice recorder as well as an mp3 player. Whether or not Garmin will release specs of their audio system so that 3rd party audio players can add support for other formats is unclear. It runs on an internal lithium-ion battery, and includes a travel AC adapter.
On the software side, aside from the usual Palm OS trimmings the iQue includes Garmin's own MapSource mapping software. The handheld includes one free unlock code for regional maps in North America or Europe, although additional maps appear to be extra. It also will ship with several third party applications and demo bundles, including an Astraware Game Pack, Documents To Go, powerOne Personal Calculator, StarCaddy, SplashPhoto, and Vindigo.
Garmin expects the iQue 3600 to be available in the second quarter of this year at a suggested price of $589 USD.
Additional pictures of the iQue are available on the following pages.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
iTunes-enabled Motorola RAZR V3im now available
11 May, EU Edition Take one Motorola RAZR V3i, add support for iTunes synchronization and voilá; you have the tune-toting V3im, complete with a 100-song memory cap, microSD memory expansion and more - now shipping. More...
» More Music phones | | |
| | Nokia N73, Sony Ericsson K610i and more hot 3G phones coming soon
11 May, EU Edition From high-performing multimedia specialists to light and nimble handsets; several hot 3G phones are due out shortly, among them Nokia's feature-packed N73 and Sony Ericsson's sleek K610i. More...
» More 3G phones | | This week's coolest gadgets
10 May, EU Edition Among the most coveted gear this week rests leather-clad ultraportables, Sony's new hard drive-equipped camcorder, GPS navigators supreme, two next-generation gaming consoles and more. More...
» More Most coveted gadgets | | Stylish Nokia 5500 Sport handset debuts
10 May, EU Edition The latest addition to Nokia's range of rugged phones arrives with an unusually stylish splash and dust resistant exterior, an integrated 3D accelerometer, text-to-speech technology and music playback. More...
» More Nokia phones | | Petite phones, massive memory
9 May, EU Edition Can't get enough storage, you say? Three brainiacs from Samsung along with offerings from Nokia and Sony Ericsson hold enough memory to store between one and two thousand MP3s. More...
» More Music phones | | Samsung SGH-X820 claims throne of thin
9 May, EU Edition Besting its own record, Samsung's SGH-X820 measures a mere 6.9 mm yet manages to pack a landscape high-resolution screen, 2 Megapixel camera, EDGE, stereo Bluetooth audio, TV out and more. More...
» More Slim phones | | Review: Nokia E61
8 May, EU Edition Jørgen Sundgot gets up close and personal with the Nokia E61 business phone, sporting a BlackBerry-like design with a thumbboard, landscape-oriented high-resolution display, 3G, Wi-Fi and more. More...
» More Business phones | | Slimline Qtek 8500 business phone revealed
8 May, EU Edition Boasting Windows Mobile 5.0, a 1.3 Megapixel camera, high-resolution display and microSD expansion, Qtek's clamshell 8500 is the slimmest business phone yet - and no heavyweight either at 99 g. More...
» More Business phones | | This week's most coveted phones
5 May, EU Edition Nokia contributes a 4 GB music phone and a thumbboard-toting BlackBerry killer; LG lines up a sleek and slim 3G phone; and O2 chips in with the brainy yet pocketable XDA IQ. It's been a good week in phones. More...
» More Most coveted phones | | BlackBerry clone business phones ready global assault
4 May, World Edition Business phones from veteran maker RIM have won the hearts and thumbs of road warriors everywhere; fresh entrants from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Palm want in on the action. More...
» More Business phones |
|
|
|
|
|
| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Archive