Would you buy your mobile phone from a satnav specialist? The answer seems to be why not? That's certainly the approach being taken by Garmin, whose Garminfone is now being offered by T-Mobile in the United States.

Its clever trick is that although it looks much like a normal mobile phone, if you swivel it to landscape orientation and slot it in into a windscreen bracket, suddenly it's just like a free-standing navigation device.

It's a Google Android-based four-band 3G phone, supporting the usual range of features expected in a modern mobile (GPRS, mobile email, instant messaging, push support and a 3 megapixel camera). It has a nice clear 3.5in HVGA 320 x 480 pixel display, and boasts 4GB of flash memory plus 256 MB of SDRAM and 256 MB ROM. It also accepts microSD cards via a memory slot.

Then on top of all this, it has fully-integrated satellite navigation capabilities, including voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, estimated arrival time, and automatic re-routing round hold-ups. Garminfone also supports 'junction view with lane assist'.

 

You have to be prepared to accept the Google Android operating system, which is still a minority choice, though it is gradually picking up new converts. And you do get Microsoft Exchange sync, plus various Google applications.

The phone is actually produced as part of an alliance between Garmin and computer manufacturer Asus. It's not the first phone from Garmin, but it's possibly the one that makes the idea of a fusion product look a tad more plausible than it's ever looked before.