RIM Buys Dash

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Categorized | Announcements & News

Posted on 04 June 2009 by Joel McLaughlin

RIM has acquired Dash Navagation for an undisclosed amount of money/stock. This is thanks to Boy Genius Report, PhoneScoop and Engadget.

To refresh everyone’s memory, Dash is the company who makes the cellular connected GPS that Wayne loved to hate and that I kind of liked. Hopefully some of the software that they used will make it into the Blackberry.

One interesting tidbit is that Dash used Openmoko to power it’s device. So could RIM bring Openmoko back from the dead?

This post was written by:

Joel McLaughlin - who has written 491 posts on Gear Diary.

Joel is a system admin for a local college in Columbus, OH. While he loves Linux and tend to use it more than anything else, he will stoop to running closed source if it is the best tool for the job. His techno passions are Linux, Android, netbooks, GPS, podcasting and Personal Media Players.

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http://www.s-consult.com/index.php Wayne Schulz
I’ll be surprised if RIM keeps pushing GPS via this device. What I think they probably bought is the technology to share traffic data. Imagine if all those GPS equipped BlackBerry users were able to report their speed and traffic conditions.
I don’t see how a company can market a GPS (which are now commonly below $200 and falling weekly) which includes a cellular connection. They either have to eat the connection fee or charge — both unlikely to be popular.
Instead I bet that RIM will use the technology in their own BlackBerry Maps to gather traffic conditions and maybe even take a stab at location sharing.
It was reported elsewhere that Dash had laid off 65% of their workers. I just think this was a technology acquisition and I can’t see them bringing a free-standing dashboard GPS to market.