Twelve months ago we were talking about how the Garmin Nuvifone might soon be coming to AT&T. But after a planned Q3 2008 launch, first delay, formation of Garmin-Asus, and the announcement of the G60 and M20, we have only depressing news to report: The Nuvifone is delayed yet again.

As mentioned above, Garmin planned on launching their Nuvifone in the 3rd Quarter of 2008 and the initial delays meant – we thought – that they would be launching in early 2009. We understand that delays can happen but this is now just getting downright bizarre. For a phone that has gotten public appearances and press releases to be delayed for 1.5 years you have to wonder what in the heck is going on – don’t you?

Here are a few of the possibilities:

• The phone has more bugs than a rotting corpse
• An underlying patent war is holding it back
• Garmin and ASUS can’t agree on terms
• Every time they “update” the phone it sucks in comparison to what is available on the market in relative terms and they can’t catch up

Here is what the company had to say about the delay:

Garmin president and COO Cliff Pemble said, “Smartphones are complicated and bringing one to market that’s built totally from the ground up on a custom Linux platform is not an easy task.” The company said it is in the testing phase of the certification process and said cellphone carriers remain very interested in the product.

Will the Nuvifone ever launch? All the excitement and luster are gone… consumers and critics will only suffer through so many delays until they lose interest.

[Via Twice]