As of now, the nuviphone is a phone in search of a carrier. No partnerships were announced, and the company has yet to officially announce the 3.5G technology that's used inside of it, although Engadget reports that the quad-band phone actually uses HSDPA. Users should expect it in the third quarter of 2008 at an undisclosed price.

The phone mimics the Apple iPhone in that it has a touchscreen interface that takes up the majority (but not all) of the phone's surface area. The phone contains a camera of unspecified quality. But as one might expect from a manufacturer like Garmin, the centerpiece of the phone is the true GPS functionality.

And GPS is the keystone technology. If the phone is inserted into its docking cradle, the nuviphone instantly turns on hands-free call capabilities, according to Garmin. Pictures taken with the onboard camera can be instantly geotagged with a specific latitude and longitude.

The nuviphone also includes handy features such as a "Where am I?" capability that instantly locates the user on a map, complete with local gas stations and shops. A similar feature also pegs the location of the cradle when the phone is removed, handy for finding a car in a crowded parking lot.

The nuviphone also includes Web browsing capabilities. Garmin said that it had worked with Google to include Google Maps and search capabilities, letting Google serve as an updated point-of-interest database. Users can enter a search term like "coffee shop" and receive results oriented around a user's location. Photos, moreover, can be uploaded to Google's Panoramio application for tagging and storage.

So what's missing? Multimedia, messaging, and third-party applications apparently. Yes, the nuviphone supports MP3 and MPEG4/AAC playback. Furthermore, the Garmin Online service provides updated sports scores, traffic, et cetera. But there's no hookup to any music store, which may turn off some users. Messaging seems limited to SMS and email, with no apparent ties to Yahoo Messenger, AIM, or even Google's limited Gmail chat service. It's also not clear how Web pages will be formatted, or even what OS is being used -- a key question if users want to be able to download third-party apps.

Still, Garmin's move is a gutsy move, and one that will force companies like TomTom to respond. On the other hand, one can also see Garmin being forced into a play like this, what with the number of GPS services that have begun to appear on cell phones.