Garmin's nuvi 900T: Combo Mobile TV, Navigation Device for Italy
OLATHE, Kan., March 4 / -- Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), today announced the nuvi 900T, a personal navigation device (PND) that combines cutting edge navigation features with DVB-H mobile television. The device is being co-branded with wireless carrier 3 Italia -- the Hutchison Whampoa Group's Mobile Media Company -- and will be available exclusively in Italy.
"The nuvi 900T is the ultimate device for those who want to mix business with pleasure," said Dan Bartel, Garmin's vice president of worldwide sales. "The new nuvi 900T can play live, streaming digital television and music files. But at its core, the device remains a robust and full-featured navigation device that's straightforward enough for anyone to use."
Using the DVB-H format, video TV content is provided exclusively by La3 TV, the Mobile Digital TV provider of 3 Italia. Each unit comes with a six-month free subscription to La3 TV content as well as access to pay per view offerings. 3 Italia launched La3 TV -- the first Mobile Digital TV based on DVB-H technology in the world, broadcasting the entire FIFA World Cup 2006 on a mobile exclusive basis in Italy. 3 Italia's Digital Mobile TV customers can watch news, sports, movies and entertainment content through an array of digital channels, including Sky, Mediaset, Rai and the "in-house" produced channels La3 Live and La3 Sport.
The nuvi 900T features a bright, 4.3-inch WQVGA color touchscreen display, and can serve as a brilliant picture viewer (with photo navigation capability) and has optional travel guide features as well. Users can also play MP3 audio files, audio books from Audible.com, and pre-loaded games. The nuvi 900T boasts front-firing stereo speakers and a removable lithium-ion battery.
For hands-free phone calls, the nuvi 900T can be paired with compatible phones using Bluetooth wireless technology. Users can find and dial phone numbers (specifically supported phones can even access their history log of received, missed and dialed calls) or nuvi's points of interest database (hotels, restaurants, stores and more).
The nuvi 900T also includes Garmin Locate(TM), which answers age-old questions of a driver's current location or the location of his vehicle in a crowded parking lot. At any time, with a single tap of the screen, drivers can display their exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. Additionally, the unit automatically marks its last known position every time it is removed from the mount.
Negotiating busy highways with the nuvi 900T is easy, thanks to a lifetime traffic subscription that helps drivers avoid gridlock and adjust routes accordingly. The nuvi 900T is also pre-loaded with safety camera data that can be updated free of charge for 30 days.
The nuvi 900T comes pre-programmed with highly detailed road maps of Europe. At startup, users are presented with Garmin's intuitive "Where To?" and "View Map" welcome screen, allowing for quick searches of addresses or millions of points of interest like restaurants, hotels, attractions, gas stations, and more. Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide drivers to
their destination, announcing streets by name along the way. If they miss a turn, nuvi automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track.
The nuvi 900T will be available exclusively in Italy in July 2008. Visit www.garmin.com/ for more information and pricing.
About Garmin
Garmin International, Inc. is a member of the Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) group of companies which designs, manufactures, markets, and sells navigation, communication and information devices and applications -- most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin is a leader in consumer and general aviation navigation and its products serve the automotive/mobile, outdoor/fitness, marine, and aviation markets. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin's virtual pressroom at www.garmin.com/pressroom or contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200. Garmin, and nuvi are registered trademarks, and Garmin Locate is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.
About 3 Italia
3 Italia, the Hutchison Whampoa Group's Mobile Media Company, is the leader of the UMTS market in Italy with over 8 million customers thanks to a wide offer of multimedia, video communication and internet services, in addition to entertainment, music, information, cinema, sport and Mobile TV. 3 Italia acquired the national license as digital TV operator in 2005 and launched the first Digital Mobile TV based on DVB-H technology in the world the following June. 3 Italia has established itself on the cutting-edge of third generation mobile technology development by launching the first HSDPA commercial offer in Italy and implementing HSUPA to access broadband in mobility with data transmission speeds up to 7.2 Mbps in download and 1.4 Mbps in upload. In June 2007, 3 Italia launched X-Series, the first all-inclusive offer that extends several of the core applications and features of the broadband Internet to third generation mobile handsets: Instant Messaging, e-mail, browsing, Web searching, shopping, VoIP and photosharing directly on the videophone. In November 2007, 3 Italia and Skype launched 3 Skypephone, the first mobile handset exclusively dedicated to VoIP for the mass market. For more information: www.tre.it/, www.la3tv.it/, 3xseries.it/ and www.3skypephone.com/. Contact: Gian Marco Litrico, External and Media Relations Director, Tel. +39.02.4458.1, gianmarco.litrico@h3g.it
Source: Garmin International Inc.
CONTACT:
Ted Gartner of Garmin International Inc.
+1-913-397-8200
media.relations@garmin.com
or
Gian Marco Litrico
External and Media Relations Director of 3 Italia
+39.02.4458.1
gianmarco.litrico@h3g.it
Web site: www.garmin.com/
http://www.3skypephone.com/
