Archives - All Points Blog: "Nuvi Service Scares Me"

All the hype is coming for CES later this week. One tidbit in one corner of one PR suggests that the company wants us to pay for the privilege of location-based spam: Garmin will offer a location-based coupon service for its Nuvi, "a portable GPS navigator, traveler's reference, and digital entertainment system, all in one." Says an article in the company's local paper: "Garmin also is planning to show off a new location-based coupon service for the Nuvi. The company Tuesday announced a deal with Entertainment Publications to offer an electronic coupon book that notifies users of nearby merchants that accept coupons."

From the PR:


With data provided by Entertainment Publications, the world's leading provider of value and savings, the Garmin SaversGuide is the first geo-coded "coupon book" that notifies users of merchants near their current location where they are eligible for a discount such as restaurants, hotels, stores, dry cleaners, movie theatres, and auto repair shops. Subscribers will receive over 45,000 discounts from participating businesses in 160 markets across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Users can save 20% off dining, shopping, and services (up to $25) and up to 50% off at participating hotels.


I suppose one could offer this is simply the next generation of those city "entertainment books." It'll be interesting to see if this offering has uptake.