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It’s a cell phone - no, it’s a GPS unit!  Actually the new nuvifone from AT&T Wireless and Garmin are both of those things and more.  The unit integrates Garmin’s popular GPS service with voice, data, and web browsing services, all in a sleek 4.4 x 2.3’ package with a 272 x 480 WQVGA touchscreen.

The device cam be used as an in car or pedestrian navigation unit with turn by turn directions.  It also offers one touch navigation from contacts or email and a safety feature that tells you where you are and directs you to the nearest police station, gas station or hospital.  It can even remember where you parked your car.  No more wandering parking lots at the mall or sporting events.

“The nuvifone weaves location into nearly every facet of its functionality making it ideal for people who depend on location to navigate everyday life,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “The nuvifone has Garmin’s easy-to-use interface, so navigating to a meeting directly from its calendar or contacts pages, or geotagging an email or photograph with a location stamp, is intuitive, useful and fun.”

The nuvifone also offers a full HTML browser with built in navigation features.  Just touch a location and it will show you how to get there.  A full QWERTY touchscreen keyboard makes emailing and texting easy.

Other features include a 3MP camera with auto focus and geo-tagging, the ability to use voice, data, and navigation at the same time, Bluetooth, WiFi andn 4GB of on board memory with up to 16GB additional memory available via the MicroSD slot.  It also functions as a music player with MP3 playback.  The 1200mAh battery is said to offer 4 hrs of talk time and up to 250hrs of standby time.

The nuvifone will be offered exclusively by AT&T and be available on October 4th for $299 after a $100 rebate and with a 2 year contract.  An additional feature, which AT&T is calling Nuvifone Connect Premium Services and includes weather, fuel price updates, movie times, and traffic updates, is available for $5.99 a month.

Read [Yahoo! Finance]