The launch of Garmin's much vaunted but oft delayed nuvifone has been postponed once again.

First announced in 2007, the nuvifone has been beset by many delays and despite being scheduled for launch by Q2 2009, Garmin are now claiming the release announcement will not now take place until late 2009 and cannot commit to a firm release date.

Where Garmin's announcement of a connected, location aware smartphone raised eyebrows back in 2007 and excited investors, mere mention of the device now raises eyebrows for rather different reasons.

I have commented here before that the frequent delays and broken promises of the nuvifone project suggested it would never see the light of day as a retail product.

The latest delay must be the final nail in its coffin, connected smartphones are ubiquitous in the marketplace, the prospect of selling a device such as this to network carriers is a difficult one and without such deals the cost of the device SIM free becomes prohibitive.

Garmin need to admit this is a project that has gone as far as it can and move on, as any potential customers of a nuvifone have done long since.

www.garmin.com

Comments Posted by jeffreylebowski on Wed May 13, 2009 9:24 pm Point of order, first announcement was in Jan 2008.   Posted by Darren on Wed May 13, 2009 9:34 pm I stand corrected, I had it noted as Nov 2007 so not a year off but incorrect none the less. Darren Griffin