You had to know it was upcoming, folks. It’s been thrown out there that Garmin and ASUS – the duo that brought us cell phones for instance T-Mobile’s Garminfone, the A10, the Nuvifone, and more – will not be renewing their contract once it expires in January of 2011. This follows mumbles that the launch of the Garminfone was a commercial and critical failure, over and above other mobile phones beneath their joint umbrella across Europe and North America.
The stratagem to mingle phone and GPS made sense back when this partnership was first inked, but the market has changed so significantly since then. As the smartphone market grows quicker than we could’ve hoped for, innovation knows no limits and knows not how to slow down. Google’s own Android comes pre-installed with one of the most comprehensive maps and navigation suites you can find, and many of their competitors either do the same or offer maps and navigation via download.
And while Google Maps doesn’t provide the same experience as what Garmin-ASUS’ products does – installed maps for data-independent navigation – there are many options in the market that offer that fine unconventional for a much cheaper price than what you’d have to pay for a latest phone.
So the prospect of a GPS handset becomes unfruitful, because all smartphones are now GPS phones. At this instant, if Garmin wants to take benefit of the flourishing smartphone market, their only choice will be and should be to get their applications up into app stores for every foremost mobile operating system.
They already have a head start with Android, so don’t be surprised to see them making their way to the market sometime next year. As for ASUS? Well… I guess they go back to a healthy peripheral strategy and churning out more PCs that no one ever hears or cares about since the introduction of the Eee
No comments:
Post a Comment