Awaited with curiosity by lots of mobile users, Garmin's nuvifone (the company's first mobile device that incorporates phone-related features) will not hit the market this year, as initially announced by the Kansas-based navigation device manufacturer.

In a press release issued today, which mostly refers to Garmin's second quarter financial results, the company states about the nuvifone, "While we had hoped to have carrier launches in the fourth quarter, we have found that meeting some of the carrier specific requirements will take longer than anticipated. We remain pleased with carrier interest in the device and are working toward making necessary design changes to meet their requirements. We anticipate launching the product during the first half of 2009."

Well, there goes a device that could have been a serious competitor for Apple's iPhone 3G and the other high-end touchscreen handsets of 2008.

According to recent reports, the nuvifone will not be entirely manufactured by Garmin. Instead, it will be the result of a collaboration between the Kansas company and the Taiwan-based Asus, known for delivering good-quality Windows Mobile smartphones and Pocket PCs.

Announced back in January, the nuvifone is conceived as a hybrid between an advanced GPS navigation device and a smartphone. It will not run on Windows Mobile (in case you're wondering), but on a Garmin proprietary Operating System.

Among the features of the nuvifone, we must mention a 3.5 inch touchscreen display of unknown (yet) resolution, GSM and 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi, full HTML browser, email, Media player and - needles to say - advanced GPS and navigation capabilities. The nuvifone will also pack a photo camera, but its Megapixel count was not announced.

Garmin nuvifone's dimensions have not been revealed. However, the device seems to have about the same size as Apple's iPhone, which is a good thing.

The retail price of the nuvifone is said to be of around $500 (320 Euros), but we have to wait until 2009 to be sure of that.