More on Garmin-Asus alliance

I just finished listening to the Garmin webcast re: their partnership with Asus, and here is what I garnered:

• A second nuvifone model, in addition to the G60, will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress beginning February 16 in Barcelona
• Several more models will be announced in 2009
• They will release phones on different operating systems, to appeal to various customers; expect to see Android, Windows Mobile and perhaps their own custom Linux OS
• I take this to mean that the partnership will include Android models and that neither company will be releasing smart phones under their own brand
• Cost reduction and time to market were major factors in the alliance
• The alliance gives Garmin a partner with deep mobile telephony experience
• They believe they will be able to get phones to an attractive price point (for people focused on navigation!)
• There will be a strong focus on an intuitive interface, something Garmin clearly excels at
• 2009 will be a transition year in which they will not see high volumes
• Generally, turn-by-turn navigation will be included and not subject to monthly fees; other location based services may be
• It sounds like maps will be on board and not delivered over the air; I wonder if the carrier contract will include quarterly upgrades
• The companies will share distribution based on geography
• I also learned that Asus is pronounced A-Zeus

That's it!