uLocate, the location-based application provider, has teamed up with Garmin to push its Buddy Beacon feature that allows you to find your nearby friends. It works in reverse, too - your friends can find you as well. This was all built on WHERE's Buddy Beacon network, developed by uLocate, so Garmin's involvement simply provides another device on which Buddy Beacon can be used.
A select few of Garmin's current and future GPS devices will be enabled with Buddy Beacon so that Garmin users can connect with friends and share their location, along with their status. Since WHERE is already integrated with a number of existing social networks, updating your location and/or status through a Garmin-enabled device can broadcast this information across your other profiles where you've activated WHERE's service, including Facebook.
As Garmin creates standalone GPS devices, there is some overlap between Garmin's capabilities and those found on other devices like the iPhone, so integrating with social networking and providing ways in which people can use Garmin'sGPS devices to connect with each other offline means that Garmin is increasing its value and moving towards the support of a more inclusive ecosystem for the use of its devices.