Garmin and Asus have announced a strategic alliance ahead of the Mobile World Congress and have selected the oft-delayed and rebranded Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 as their first new model to launch during the aforementioned expo on the 16th of this month.
The company also plans to launch several other GPS/LBS oriented models with the nuvifone expected to launch during the first half of the year.
The nuvifone was Garmin’s first attempt at releasing a high-end mobile phone with its trademark GPS capabilities, but was constantly plagued with delays involving carrier testing related to visible hardware and software issues when demonstrated to the press at trade shows, sometimes to the point of not functioning at all.
It remains to be seen if the partnership will produce a working product as Garmin confirmed that ASUS was the hardware partner for the first version of the nuvifone announced last year and has decided to enter into a vested agreement with the manufacturer.
