Garmin Asus G60 Cell Phone First Impressions Review - Software
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Marianne Schultz Published on February 16, 2009 Comment on this |
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OS
The G60 is running a Linux-based operating system that is currently closed to 3rd-party developers. It appeared to be snappy and responsive in our short time with the G60, though we can't help but hope that some other functionality will come to it through the Garmin-Asus collaboration or an authorized 3rd-party developer to enable such things as video playback and more organizer capabilities in the form of notes and tasks applications.
One of the G60's menus
Home Screen
The G60's home screen is a bit different than what you typically find on cell phones. There's no pretty wallpaper picture taking up most of the screen and no room to show any organizer information like upcoming appointments. Instead, you are presented with 3 large icons to get you to the main functions of the device - the phone, the map search function to find a destination to which to navigate, and a link to go quickly to the map. On the right are smaller icons to get you to your contacts list, the email and text messaging applications, and more if you scroll down.
Across the top is the cellular signal and battery level information you expect to find, along with a GPS satellite indicator and the time.
The G60's home screen
Extensibility
As previously mentioned, the G60's operating system is a closed one and there's no word on any 3rd-party developers that will bring additional applications to the device to increase its functionality. While this kind of closed environment can often lend to a device's stability without a bunch of other applications that may lack rigorous development and QA to muck it up, we'd frankly prefer some extensibility, given the limited organizer and multimedia capabilities of the G60.
Browser
The G60's web browser can be used in both portrait and landscape mode, though landscape mode will offer the most pleasant experience with full HTML sites, of course.
The G60's web browser
Other Software
Of course, the G60's killer function is navigation and it looks exceptionally familiar if you've ever used a Garmin GPS device before. Most of the phone's functions focus on this, offering live traffic alerts, business listings, weather information, local events, movie theater location, and more using its built-in GPS capabilities. The G60 is truly a device aimed at a frequent traveler, or those who are directionally-challenged, who wants to carry one less device with them as they head on their merry way. Of course, many other phones offer GPS features as add-on features, but the G60 comes with this out of the box.
The G60's navigation software
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