Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 Preview

Software:

The Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, however the manufacturers have made some personalizations and improvements. They affect mostly the home screen, as well as the binding of the phone book, organizer and messaging with the navigation. As a whole, the personalization pack is decent and even penetrates basic functions like phone contacts and settings. All told, the interface of the nuvifone M20 brings pretty much the same functionality as Acer Shell, but is far less spectacular.



The home screens host shortcuts and some of them show small digits notifying you of missed events. Icons are removed by dragging them to the recycle bin and if anything, the thing is accompanied by a nicely looking animated effect. There are shortcuts to three major phone functions at the bottom of the screen – calls, search and maps. The first unifies the phone dialer, contacts, call register and your favorite contacts with pictures (no more than 21). The basic data about contacts like names, home, mobile and work telephone numbers are entered via personalized menu, but the relevant tabs for additional details (address, picture, ringtone etc.) come with the standard Windows Mobile list interface that´s just as unhandy as ever. The search function allows access not only to various navigation functions, but your contacts as well.



Fortunately, Opera Mobile is preloaded and we must say it´s quite better that Internet Explorer. The device also supports Wi-Fi and HSDPA 7.2Mbps, which means surfing the web at higher speeds.




GPS:

The manufacturers tried to modify the interface and make it relevant to navigation.  Calling up maps from within the calendar, messaging and phone contacts is a neat idea, especially if address details have been entered into events and contact entries.



The navigation software delivers some really interesting functions, aside from the pretty standard “calculate the route from point A to B”. The Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 can help you find your way home, show you interesting places nearby, like hotels, restaurants, gas stations etc. grouped in 16 major categories, remembers your findings, provides information about road junctions, plus you can filter results and make the list of results more manageable. The function called Ciao! lets you share your location with friends and gives access to local information like flights, news and traffic information, but only works in certain areas.



You get a free map on registering the phone, but you will have to buy any other you may need here. There is nice voice navigation and we must say we just fell in love with the British English voice pack.