As a daily user of a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx , I’m convinced it’s only a matter of time before Garmin handhelds become absorbed within cell phones. While there will always be a market for handhelds, it will likely dwindle as cell phones evolve and incorporate navigation technology.
Garmin has already foreshadowed the demise of handhelds with its introduction of Garmin Mobile . For $10/month, this service appears to transform any modern mobile phone into a navigation device (using cellular signals to acquire coordinates instead of GPS).
It seems GPS is being integrated into mobile phones similar to (once independent) mitochondira being assimilated into more complex cells.
Fortunately for Garmin, the potential opportunities relating to location-based services far outweigh the (relatively minor) losses in the handheld GPS market.
Its obvious Garmin will remain at the forefront in both navigation hardware and software; it appears to be in a good position to take advantage of the growth in both the GPS microchips (embedded in cell phones) and the services/software market.
Tags: Garmin · GPS · location-based-services1 Comment
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Why would somebody want to pay a monthly fee when they can save up and buy a GPS device. Only a fool would think this is a good idea.