Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), announced this week that it has acquired MotionBased Technologies, LLC; a privately-held developer of Web based applications for GPS devices that operates www.motionbased.com. MotionBased Technologies will continue operations as a division of Garmin International, Inc., a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd.
"We are very pleased with this acquisition because it complements our strategy to penetrate the fitness market," said Dr. Min Kao, Garmin's chairman and CEO. "The MotionBased web application is popular with Garmin customers. Since MotionBased.com was launched in 2004, over 11,000 GPS users have registered for access, and they have logged approximately 140,000 individual outdoor activities to the site."
MotionBased Technologies, headquartered in Sausalito, California, is recognized for processing GPS and other data (e.g., heart rate) for performance analysis and online mapping for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. This web-based subscription service complements Garmin's fitness and outdoor devices, such as the Forerunner 201 and 301, Edge 205 and 305, Foretrex, and eTrex. Following an outdoor activity using a Garmin GPS unit, customers connect their device to a computer and upload the data to MotionBased where they personalize and categorize each activity.
The MotionBased service is used by customers to analyze the data to calculate time, distance, speed, elevation, and heart rate. MotionBased displays this information through charts, illustrations, reports, and a variety of map representations including street, photo, topographic, and elevation maps as well as the popular Google Earth service to visualize their activity. Users can replay their workout using media controls as they watch themselves move along the mapped route coupled with an elevation profile. Each activity stored in a personal online digest is also added to the TrailNetwork - a growing database of routes created by the MotionBased community. Members use the TrailNetwork to seek out new activities in their region, to find popular routes while traveling, or to engage in "virtual races" with other MotionBased users.
"We are elated to join forces with Garmin and integrate the MotionBased web application into Garmin's core fitness and outdoor product lines," said Aaron Roller, MotionBased's co-founder and CTO. "By working together as a team and sharing technologies, MotionBased and Garmin will further expand the way athletes prepare, participate, analyze and share their outdoor activities using GPS and the Internet."
