Garmin teams up with Asus for Nuvifone series

On Wednesday, Garmin and Asus announced a strategic alliance to develop and distribute co-branded GPS-enabled smartphones to be known as the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone series.

This includes the original Garmin Nuvifone, which was announced over a year ago but which still has yet to hit the street, and will now be re-branded as the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60.

The partnership isn't a strange one, considering that Asus has been working on the original Nuvifone for over a year as the ODM (original device manufacturer). Both companies still plan to ship the Nuvifone G60 in the first half of 2009. In addition, Garmin-Asus said it will offer several Nuvifone models this year — all of which will continue to focus on GPS and navigation features, though it was not clear whether they would run the Google Android operating system.

In fact, Garmin-Asus plans to introduce its next device at the Mobile World Congress, which runs 16-19 February in Barcelona. CNET will be there, so we'll keep you updated with the news, photos and video. We're hoping that the company will have a definite release date for the Nuvifone G60, as well as confirmation that the phone will be sold in Australia.