[tmurphx5]

"Steiner says K2 marks the first time Garmin is using an operating system other than its own. He says the switch to an operating system by software firm QNX was necessary for the telematics company to become “a lot more scalable.”

"Besides its relationship with Chrysler, Garmin also is the telematics supplier to Suzuki and it recently inked a pact with Mercedes-Benz. Its products in models from those OEMs are available globally; India and Russia are two markets where Suzuki sells its SX4 model with Garmin’s embedded telematics system.

Roughly half of Garmin’s revenue comes from its automotive business, including embedded and portable devices. Garmin also supplies infotainment and navigation systems to the aviation, marine and motorcycle sectors, counting Bombardier, BMW, Harley-Davidson and Honda Gold Wing as customers."

Garmin Official: NHTSA Guidelines Could Create Worse Behavior | Politics content from WardsAuto

[howarmat]

Cool to see. BB needs alot more QNX licensing to get any real money since they usually dont get much but the more the merrier!

[bluetroll]

Love it. Hopefully this partnership leads to more Garmin apps available on BB10.

Posted via CB10

[donmateo]

I love my Garmin in my car, hopefully improved BB10 connectivity goes with this.

[m1a1mg]

Interesting. Garmin is building a nav system for Mercedes Benz. I'd have to wonder if that is working with QNX.

[jordandrews90]

Hmm, wonder if this goes well BlackBerry will switch to Garman from TomTom for BB10

Posted via CB10

[Asmooh]

Would be nice!

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone using CB10

[notfanboy]

"Steiner says K2 marks the first time Garmin is using an operating system other than its own.

This is misinformed. The Garmin iQue family of products used Palm OS.

[SuperionMaximus]

Hmm, wonder if this goes well BlackBerry will switch to Garman from TomTom for BB10

Posted via CB10

Garmin is without a doubt a better software company then TomTom and their Nav Systems tend to be more user friendly.

However, Garmin is not a mapping company and typically buys its map data from Nokia. TomTom owns Teleatlas and produces it's own mapping data. Google and Nokia are the other big suppliers of map data. Just like Apple, BlackBerry competes with Nokia and with Google, so just like Apple, BlackBerry was left with one choice - TomTom.

That said, a closer software partnership between Garmin BlackBerry would be great. But I suspect that this is just a licensing deal for Garmin to use the QNX Car infotainment platform 2.

I'd love to see BlackBerry buy Garmin down the road to really bolster their QNX Car platform as Garmin really does have some serious automotive software cred.

[kfh227]

Garmin is without a doubt a better software company then TomTom and their Nav Systems tend to be more user friendly.

However, Garmin is not a mapping company and typically buys its map data from Nokia. TomTom owns Teleatlas and produces it's own mapping data. Google and Nokia are the other big suppliers of map data. Just like Apple, BlackBerry competes with Nokia and with Google, so just like Apple, BlackBerry was left with one choice - TomTom.

That said, a closer software partnership between Garmin BlackBerry would be great. But I suspect that this is just a licensing deal for Garmin to use the QNX Car infotainment platform 2.

I'd love to see BlackBerry buy Garmin down the road to really bolster their QNX Car platform as Garmin really does have some serious automotive software cred.

Would it make sense for Blackberry to buy Garmin?

Actually, with Blackberry trying to get more into infotainment centers, isn't there a conflict of interest of sorts with Blackberry and Garmin? I'd assume that QNX is not just a "wholly owned subsidiary" that operates independently.

[m1a1mg]

Would it make sense for Blackberry to buy Garmin?

Garmin market cap is around $7B. So, probably not.

[andrew1953]

i use a Garmin Edge 200 on my road bike and mountain bike for obtaining/storing data from my rides. i also use the Allsport app from Blackberry on my 9800. Hopefully there will a really good GPS app I can get for my Q10 when Optus Australia release them 1/7/2013. I think Garmin make useful good products so it would be good if they put an app on BB10 phones. a Garmin app works on my Note 2 really well.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

[tmb2013]

I'd love to see BlackBerry buy Garmin down the road to really bolster their QNX Car platform as Garmin really does have some serious automotive software cred.

Jesus Mary and Joseph.

It would be Garmin doing the buying, but why let facts interfere with a fantasy?

[AluminiumRims]

I don't think this will lead a lot of $$ for Blackberry smartphones. The subsidiary of QNX is independent and the money should go to QNX only, which is not a bad thing. However, this is a good thing for Blackberry as it makes it easier for Blackberry to ensure that machine 2 machine communication works for more devices and services around it.

[SuperionMaximus]

Jesus Mary and Joseph.

It would be Garmin doing the buying, but why let facts interfere with a fantasy?

Why would it be Garmin doing the buying? Garmin relies heavily on it's stand alone Sat Nav business for income which is a dying market. BlackBerry and Garmin currently have about the same market value but BlackBerry has much more potential for growth actually owning the software that companies like Garmin build their products on top of and the NOC to manage OTA and M2M transactions.

5 years or so down the road, BlackBerry, if their plans meet with any form of success will be a software giant and a dominant M2M services company and may very well look to buy out a company like Garmin to bolster it's own offerings.

[h20work]

Why would it be Garmin doing the buying? Garmin relies heavily on it's stand alone Sat Nav business for income which is a dying market. BlackBerry and Garmin currently have about the same market value but BlackBerry has much more potential for growth actually owning the software that companies like Garmin build their products on top of and the NOC to manage OTA and M2M transactions.

5 years or so down the road, BlackBerry, if their plans meet with any form of success will be a software giant and a dominant M2M services company and may very well look to buy out a company like Garmin to bolster it's own offerings.

Actually Garmin is a major player in the aviation industry, which is a very high margin market, as well the marine industry. I'm a Garmin distributor

[h20work]

Garmin was an absolute nobody a few years ago. They knocked down their major competitors with an easy to use interface and reliable hardware, Raytheon is now an "also ran".

If a small company from Kansas can kick some a$$ through innovation, bbry surely can as well.

[RECOOL]

Its a good step forward one less competitor and 1 more QNX advocate.I think its good news for everyone.

[Playbookjoe]

Does it help us get a gamin app at all?


Posted via CB10

[Saiga]

Its a good step forward one less competitor and 1 more QNX advocate.I think its good news for everyone.

This is good news for BlackBerry, but it could have been much better news.

Look at the Garmin Monterra. It is a outdoor handheld GPS that runs a phone OS and phone apps. Garmin decided to put a phone OS on one of their GPS units, but they didn't choose to licesne BlackBerry 10 for the Monterra. They went with Android. I think that BlackBerry 10 running on the Monterra would have been even better news for BlackBerry.

Typed on my Dev Alpha C, Posted Via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Mapping is one of the MAJOR Apps that most all smartphone owners use on a regular basis, so owning or having a major stake in a company that provides mapping data makes sense. Of course just look at the most popular apps in App World and you will see that Google Maps is something that there appears to be a demand for... which is a comment of the native mapping services on BB10.

But it appears that Garmin is also a competitor, that don't just do the mapping systems in cars, they also provide the whole infotainment system... so not sure how their using QNX will work?

[UZA_Dave]

This is misinformed. The Garmin iQue family of products used Palm OS.

What about this also?
Introducing Monterra: New Garmin Outdoor Handheld with Android OS � Garmin Blog

[m1a1mg]

Actually Garmin is a major player in the aviation industry, which is a very high margin market, as well the marine industry. I'm a Garmin distributor

Yeah, Garmin may lose the GPS battle to smartphones in cars, maybe. But no one of sound mind will use their smartphone to navigate an aircraft.

[m1a1mg]

Mapping is one of the MAJOR Apps that most all smartphone owners use on a regular basis, so owning or having a major stake in a company that provides mapping data makes sense.

Garmin doesn't create the map data. They buy it.

[h20work]

Yeah, Garmin may lose the GPS battle to smartphones in cars, maybe. But no one of sound mind will use their smartphone to navigate an aircraft.

We do use iPhones and androids for marine navigation though. A lot of nice apps that have navigation charts and the ability to sync to the on board electronics. Raymarine has a remote control app and also the ability to use a tablet as an additional display. I bug them on a regular basis to support bb.