Garmin's Nuviphone promises to wed GPS and cellphone with finesse and flair. It's the talk of town, a mid-week surprise: a company with a bankload of credibility in a nearby technological niche muscling in on the cellular game.

Well, perhaps not so surprising that we forget the last time such a thing happened.

"Has iPhone met its match?"

asks ZDnet. "Garmin hits iPhone directly with Nuviphone," says

Electronista. iPhone, iPhone, iPhone: Nothing demonstrates Apple's impending dominance of the sector better than the fact that it's already the journalist's favorite metric for anything new that comes along.

The Nuvi will be a touchscreen slab-style handset with a 3.5"

display and serious GPS-centered chops. Think of it as geolocation matured and properly integrated into the smartphone experience. A suite of software stocked with millions of interesting locations will be packaged with it, and WiFi, Bluetooth and a 3G modem (using the HSDPA

standard) will keep the data flowing no matter where you are or what you're doing. Expect the browser to be desktop-caliber, with solid productivity apps and capable media playback.



Despite the beastly specs that must be under the hood, Garmin's keeping mum on the details. It won't be released until the fall, so it's not unreasonable to assume that development is still underway.

As shown, it lacks a few of the iPhone's distinctive features, such as multitouch and good design.

There'll be no SDK, which means third-party software will be either be corporate-approved or unlicensed hacks. But both phones have strikingly similar dimensions.

There's no word of price or carriers, either, though HSDPA means

AT&T (or, conceivably, T-Mobile). Garmin might sell them unlocked, but will certainly aim for subsidies to take the bite out of what's going to be a chunky tag: it's too brutal and utilitarian to be a Prada-like fashion item.

If nothing else, the Nuviphone marks part two of an emergent trend: new players from outside the clique bringing their own beer. Apple brought the mobile industry's first pleasurable user interface and the genuine technological innovation that makes it work. Garmin hopes to bring GPS that's more than a disabled afterthought.