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ASUS posts

Gigabyte fixes iPhone sync issue with BIOS update

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 9th 2009 @ 8:47AM

The Intel P55 Express chipset snafu that caused iPhones to lose their syncing minds has now been remedied -- at least by one motherboard maker. Gigabyte has issued a BIOS update making things all hunky-dory between the phone and the mobo, putting your troubles to an end. The P55 is Intel's latest midrange chipset and orchestrates things for newer Core i5 / i7 machines. The other two P55 purveyors, ASUS and MSI, were also caught by the bug, and there are anecdotal reports of success with an ASUS BIOS update, but not official fixes as of yet. Given the competitive nature of this market, though, we'd be surprised if those two companies didn't quickly follow suit. All's well that ends well, right?

Read - Gigabyte Beta BIOS download page
Read - Update fixes iPhone sync problem

ASUS Android smartphone unveiling to be 'this year'

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 19th 2009 @ 7:42AM

It's short and sweet but we thought you'd like to hear the good news doled out by ASUS chairman Jonney Shih and CEO Jerry Shen at a local press meeting in Taiwan today. Shih says that the company's first Android phone will be "unveiled this year," not next as originally rumored. For a second, it makes you wonder what's going to happen to the OS underpinning the ASUS-Garmin nuvifone G60 -- then you remember that you weren't going to buy that phone anyway.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 review

by Darren Murph posted Oct 13th 2009 @ 3:38PM

Had the device you're peering at above come out just a few months later, it would've taken two full years to go from introduction to on sale. Thankfully, the good folks over at Garmin and ASUS (and Garmin-Asus, as it were) were able to get the nüvifone G60 out to AT&T before the holiday shopping season of 2009, but were they still too late? There's no doubt that this very smartphone had a lot of folks drooling in early 2007, but to say a lot has happened in the mobile realm between then and now would be doing the truth a grave injustice. The iPhone 3G has fallen to $99, a slew of Android handsets have hit the market and dedicated PND (portable navigation devices) have found themselves in the bargain bin. Oh, and some pretty fantastic GPS software has managed to land within Apple's App Store and the Android Market. In other words, competition couldn't possibly be hotter, and considering that the specifications haven't been updated on this $299 device since it was originally announced, you're probably wondering if it even deserves a chance. Read on to find out the answer.

Gallery: Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 unboxing and hands-on

Continue reading Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 review

Rumor: Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60 to run $300?

by Laura June posted Sep 27th 2009 @ 3:46AM

While several shipping dates have come and gone, we're still hopeful of seeing Garmin's nuvifone in the flesh and on the street at some point in the future. If you've forgotten (and nobody would really blame you), the HSDPA, quad-band handset will boast GPS (of course), WiFi, Bluetooth, plus a full browser. The G60's been available in Asia for some time now, and while a confirmed US launch has been much anticipated, no pricing has ever been announced. Rumors now abound that the device will carry a $300 price tag on contract, running about $550 without. Of course, it is just a rumor -- and one that we hope is off base, too.

[Via Navigadget]

Both flavors of Garmin-Asus nuvifone coming to AT&T?

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 20th 2009 @ 7:33AM

After years of wrong turns, it looks like Garmin-Asus's nuvifone has finally found its way to a US provider, with two separate sources claiming the nav-enabled handset will be coming to AT&T, and soon. This falls in line with earlier indications that it would be making a slight left turn onto American streets in Q4, and will mark the end of a tortuous journey to retail. Both the G60 with its homemade OS and the Windows Mobile M20 are said to be inbound, meaning you'll still have a choice to make even if you choose one of these. No confirmation from AT&T just yet, naturally, but we'll keep you posted.

Read - Garmin-Asus M20 Heading to AT&T
Read - Garmin-Asus G60 Heading to AT&T

Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 launches in Taiwan, Windows Mobile and all

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 19th 2009 @ 5:05AM

Following last month's launch of the proprietary OS'd G60, Taiwan's now playing host to the Windows Mobile-based M20 from Garmin-Asus, the joint venture's second model. Local carrier Chunghwa will be carrying the phone, which features HSDPA, a VGA display, 3 megapixel cam, and comprehensive navigation capabilities that earn it the Garmin name -- but it turns out they'll also be launching the iPhone 3GS and Hero in the next few days, a situation that effectively defines the phrase "hostile competitive landscape." Best of luck, Garmin-Asus -- given the Duke Nukem-esque delays you've encountered in your bumpy road to retail, you need all the luck you can get if you want to turn a profit any time soon.

AT&T's upcoming handsets include BlackBerry 9700, Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 9th 2009 @ 6:54PM

This "pre-launch" list of upcoming AT&T phones leaked out today, and it's pretty interesting -- in addition to the BlackBerry 9700, it also features the illusory Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60, which finally looks like it'll be coming to the US just a short 18 months after first being announced. Other notables include the HTC Tilt 2 and something called the HTC Pure, which Boy Genius Report says may be a variant of the Snap. No Android or webOS on this list, sadly, but hey -- the nüvifone is coming. Can you feel the excitement?

Garmin-Asus nuvifone finally coming to America in Q4 (or so they say)

by Darren Murph posted Aug 7th 2009 @ 4:32AM

With Garmin-Asus' nüvifone G60 already on sale in Asia, it makes sense to hear that said smartphone will soon make its way over to North American soil. Of course, it also made sense to think that this thing would be launching on AT&T about forever and a day ago, so we're not holding our collective breath just yet. At any rate, Garmin recently made abundantly clear on a quarter-end conference call that the GPS-infused handset is in the final testing stages with an undisclosed amount of US carriers, and if all goes well, it'll hit the streets in Q4. What's crazy is that every last specification remains unchanged from when it was announced back in January of 2008; meanwhile, Apple has shipped two new iterations of its iPhone, Android has blown up significantly and even Motorola and Palm have seemingly resurrected themselves from the grave. Knowing all that, will anyone even bother to show up to snag one in "just a few months?"

Garmin-Asus confirms nuvifone G60 for sale this month in Taiwan, M20 soon after

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 24th 2009 @ 3:36AM

Is this really happening? Are we all collectively in some sort of lucid, dreamlike state where Garmin-branded cellphones flow like water, or is this the real deal? Correct us if we're wrong, readers -- but if we're reading this press release correctly, Taiwanese folks will have a crack at Garmin-Asus' nuvifone G60 come the 27th of this month, just a few days from now; Singapore and Malaysia will have theirs meanwhile by the end of August, and Europe and the US are "on schedule" for the second half of the year (we hesitate to associate the phrase "on schedule" with this product, but we'll let it slide this time). If WinMo is more your cup of tea, the M20 will be coming to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia in August as expected -- the US isn't on the roadmap for this one, but Europe should have it later this half. These phones have taken so long to arrive that they'll be fighting an uphill battle against irrelevance -- but with the reality that handsets will be all but replacing dedicated portable nav units in the coming years, it's a play that Garmin's gotta still be eager to make nonetheless.

Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60 spills loads of Linux-laced screenshots

by Darren Murph posted Jul 23rd 2009 @ 5:51PM

Yeah, we've seen our fair share of glimpses at Garmin-ASUS' nüvifone G60, but with the Linux-based phone just weeks away from shipping over in the Far East, these last minute looks are becoming all the more tantalizing. A reviewer over in Malaysia managed to spend a bit of quality time with the handset, and while he's still waiting for his official review unit, he managed to snag a litany of screenshots that gives us a fantastic idea of what to expect from a user interface perspective. We have to say -- we kind of dig the whimsical look at a glance, but it makes us wonder just how serious of a smartphone this thing really is. With Android already out, does this UI look like it has the chops to compete? Hit the read link and let us know.

[Via GPSTracklog, thanks Rich]

Garmin-ASUS nuvifone M20 and G60 shipping to Singapore in August

by Darren Murph posted Jul 17th 2009 @ 9:33PM

After a patently absurd amount of delays, it actually feels like the Garmin-ASUS nüvifone tandem is approaching a proper launch. Whether or not anyone actually cares anymore, however, remains to be seen. Across the sea over in Malaysia, one particularly lucky soul seems to have stumbled upon both the Linux-based nüvifone G60 and the WinMo-powered nüvifone M20, and he claims that both handsets will be shipping en masse to the region "within 30 days." Best of all, that totally jibes with what we've heard directly from Garmin today, which has informed us that the smartphone will be in Singaporean stores in August, with a few other Asian nations seeing it in late July. Now, if only North Americans could look forward to the same...

Garmin-Asus G60 slated for August launch, will be last non-Android Linux phone for the couple

by Tim Stevens posted Jun 16th 2009 @ 8:28AM

What's that, you're still holding your breath waiting for the G60 release? Breathe, child, breathe, it's still going to be a little while before you can get your nav on with this celly. Obviously it didn't make the first half of the year as initially planned, but the Garmin-Asus partnership is now saying that the phone will still arrive at its retail destination before 2010, with some places seeing it in just two months time. Why the delays? Apparently its custom flavor of Linux is at least part of the problem, leading the corporate couple's marriage counselors to suggest a move to Android for all future, non-WinMo handsets -- devices that, contrary to earlier reports, will also launch before the end of the year. So, G60 in August, or potentially even hotter Android nav phone a few months later? Decisions, decisions.

Garmin-Asus set to launch first Android phone in Q1 2010

by Donald Melanson posted Jun 3rd 2009 @ 3:34PM

Garmin-Asus isn't exactly doing a ton of talking about it just yet, but PC World is reporting that the company has confirmed that it plans to release its first Android-based smartphone "no later than the first quarter of next year." An Asustek exec reportedly further added that the device could even come a bit earlier, but unfortunately didn't have anything to say about a potential price, or anything about the phone itself, for that matter. Of course, as you're no doubt aware, Garmin-Asus already has a Linux-based phone in the form of the G60 (pictured above), but it's not clear if that proprietary OS will continue to co-exist alongside Android, or if it'll get ditched in favor of Android. If it doesn't, Garmin-Asus will have quite a few balls in the air at time, since the company is already pretty firmly committed to Windows Mobile as well.

[Via PhoneArena]

ASUS P565 apparently available, unboxed

by Ross Miller posted Apr 24th 2009 @ 8:49PM

Lazarus be praised! The last time we heard about ASUS' P565 was back in February, when we mourned its sad and supposed demise. Turns out that's not the case, as we've now got a hands-on with the GPS / PDA phone from Polish site ASUSPDA, who claims (at least via machine translation) that it's been on sale for several months. The plethora of product / unboxing / interface pics look mighty legit, and as for the impressions, the reviewer seems very quite fond of it. Compliments are given for its general performance and design, though he does note the Glide interface isn't as seamless as you'd expect with a 816MHz processor inside. If you're interested in finding out for yourself, it looks like you can order the GSM / WCDMA-enabled device from Qbit for around $566.

[Thanks, Jackob]

Read - Unboxing
Read - Product page

Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 to rock LiMo, launch in 1H 2009

by Darren Murph posted Apr 17th 2009 @ 5:16PM

We've been waiting on pins and needles for confirmation, but it looks like an all-too-vague Reuters report actually is referring to the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60. After a senior company official noted that a "Linux-based operating system" would be used in one of its two smartphones, we pinged Garmin directly to cut through the mystery and get down to the meat. What we were told was this: "The Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 has a proprietary Linux-based OS, and we're still working towards delivering the nüvifone G60 in the first half of 2009 in limited markets, which haven't been named yet." Of course, the tandem is quickly running out in months in that window, so we're pretty jazzed to be all up on top of an imminent release. Now, if only we knew where those patience pills made off to...

[Via Boy Genius Report]