Garmin Asia Pacific marketing director Tony An has purportedly stated that a “bunch of new handsets from Garmin powered by Google’s Android platform are set to ship sometime in the second half of 2009″. While this is the only news we have regarding functionality, you can be sure they will include at least as many features as the nuviphone as well as some top-notch GPS functionality. Apparently, the manufacturing process will be contracted out to a compant like HTC, although no specific word on which company is yet available. More news is sure to come on this one.

EDIT: Not so fast, says Garmin. Apparently a statement is being worked on right now to debunk the claims made by DigiTimes this morning. So much for getting our hopes up. We’ll keep you posted when the statement is released.

EDIT 2: Wired seems to have picked up the story as well and is still spinning it as confirmation from Garmin that an Android phone is in the works, although it’s not clear whether they are aware of Garmin’s reaction to DigiTimes’ post. Engadget seems to have the story straight, stating:

The company says that “the story contains a number of inaccuracies in both sales figures and product rollout schedules,” and while it does say it has “an Android-based phone under development,” it also reminds us that Nuvifone won’t be it; instead, Garmin’s first modern entry into the world of telephony will be based on a proprietary build of Linux, as was originally planned.