TomTom and Garmin working on mobile handsets?
Two giants in the navigation world, TomTom and Garmin, are both rumored to be working on a mobile handset. The two are no strangers to portable devices, with the fruits of their labor found in many a handheld/dash mounted GPS system. The move towards actual handset production, however, would mark a significant jump from tradition. Could they pull it off? Perhaps, though we’ve seen this sort of thing fail miserably before. The best case scenario would have them farm out actual design and production to a third party (*cough* HTC *cough*), leaving the OS/Software side of things on their plate. If they actually tried to pump out the handsets themselves…all hell could break loose. It’s unclear whether the two are working in competition with each other, or whether this is a joint effort. We all know that a little teamwork can do amazing things. Now what to call it…the GarTom? TomTom-In…
Do you think it will have GPS?
really though, I’ve always thought of the GPS to be an extra not a foundation to build from. I’d say they were onto something if there weren’t already a handful of phones already using GPS.
I guess what i’m trying to say is what are they going to bring to the table that hasn’t already been delivered?
I’d like to see a Radar Detector/GPS. They need to contact Escort and make that happen. I’ll buy one.
I would LOVE if they made a device, licensed the Palm OS, and got HTC to make it. I would probably cry out of joy.
These two, especially TomTom, have been coming out with tons of new products. This idea sounds pretty good. If these two are making it GPS would have to be involved, right? Either way, I don’t plan on getting rid of the ONE XL any time soon. That thing has been a life saver for me!
Daniel: didn’t they already do that with the iQue® 3600?
Garmin has already tried this, back in 2000. Their phone was clumsy compared to the devices already in the field, and they made the mistake of first making analog devices rather than digital.
Also, don’t expect Garmin to outsource. Ever. You’ll be right far more than you are wrong. The company actually did their own IPO without a legal firm; they do their own advertising.
(says a former Sprint PCS employee who interviewed Garmin for a MBA project …)