Garmin gadgets get "Buddy Beacon"
- TAGS:Buddy Beacon, Garmin, GPS, uLocate
- IT TOPICS:Mobile
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- GPS giant Garmin is teaming up with a company called uLocate to add the "friend-finding" service, Buddy Beacon to Garmin GPS devices. The alliance enables GPS-based "social networking." Users will be able to update their Facebook profiles with current location, for example.
The exact Garmin devices supported and the full list of social networking sites were not announced.
Hopefully, future Garmin products will enable convenience, not just social networking egotism. For example, it would be great to be able to push one button to get turn-by-turn directions to wherever your friend is.
Also: It will be interesting how privacy is protected once a (presumably) huge number of devices are using Buddy Beacon. There's already enough anxiety about social networking stalking without the publication of physical location.
Still, this partnership appears to be a nice fit. I'm looking forward to trying real products, the timing of which were also not announced.
Here's the release.
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