Garmin just purchased ActiveCaptain

[Cotemar]

Garmin just purchased ActiveCaptain.

Garmin® acquires Active Corporation, Developer of a leading electronic marine database | Garmin Newsroom

Garmin acquires Active Corporation, Developer of a leading electronic marine database
Thursday, May 11, 2017 10:06 am CDT
SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland & CASTINE, Maine

"Garmin is a technology leader among boaters of all types, and we are looking forward to working with them to make ActiveCaptain even more robust and global"
SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland & CASTINE, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) today announced that it has acquired Active Corporation, a developer of crowd sourced rich content for boaters, marketed as ActiveCaptain™.

ActiveCaptain is a community-based, electronic marine database that contains near real-time information about marinas, anchorages, local points of interest, and marine hazards – most of which is user-generated – for cruising and sailing destinations around the world. The database boasts more than 250,000 users and can be accessed via web browser or a variety of mobile applications.

“There is really nothing else out there that compares to the depth and breadth of the ActiveCaptain database,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin president and CEO. “Mariners rely on ActiveCaptain to make their voyages better informed and more enjoyable, and we are delighted to add this technology to the Garmin portfolio.”

“Garmin is a technology leader among boaters of all types, and we are looking forward to working with them to make ActiveCaptain even more robust and global,” said Jeffrey Siegel, co-owner and co-founder of ActiveCaptain. “Garmin has extensive engineering and cartography capabilities that will allow ActiveCaptain to be deeply integrated into their product offerings.”

The founders and sole employees of ActiveCaptain, Karen and Jeffrey Siegel, will become employees of Garmin International. Financial terms of the acquisition will not be released.

For over 25 years, Garmin has pioneered new GPS navigation and wireless devices and applications that are designed for people who live an active lifestyle. Garmin serves five primary business units, including automotive, aviation, fitness, marine, and outdoor recreation. For more information, visit Garmin's virtual pressroom at garmin.com/newsroom, contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200, or follow us at facebook.com/garmin, twitter.com/garmin, or youtube.com/garmin.
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[bstory]

I make good use of ActiveCaptain but I have a Raymarine plotter so can't use Garmin charts. I hope ActiveCaptain will still be able to be used independently.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by bstory

I make good use of ActiveCaptain but I have a Raymarine plotter so can't use Garmin charts. I hope ActiveCaptain will still be able to be used independently.

You and me both.

It could be GOOD, or it could be VERY BAD.
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[a64pilot]

Better question is what will be the cost of the monthly subscription?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Better question is what will be the cost of the monthly subscription?

That would be EVEN WORSE than BAD.
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[jbinbi]

I love Garmin stuff, too bad my boat came with B&G, if I had a choice I would have went Garmin.

If Garmin can add some plotting / routing features to the AC interface on the web it would be fantastic. I use AC to look up marinas/anchorages all the time, if you could actually plot the course, and then export it, that would be a great feature.

OTH, just read the brewers newsletter that said all brewers marinas are now in the dockwa app, so there is still competition. Interesting times.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

That would be EVEN WORSE than BAD.
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I have never seen Garmin give anything away, have you?

[Dymaxion]

If there is any subscription fee imposed, will people still keep contributing as freely?

[pete33458]

Originally Posted by Dymaxion

If there is any subscription fee imposed, will people still keep contributing as freely?

not me.

[Kenomac]

We have a small Garmin chart plotter which is only used to display AIS targets. The Charts started at €450 for just the western Med, Four years ago I said forget it. Why pay those prices when Navionics is so much less for the same thing.

Nothing good will come from this.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I have never seen Garmin give anything away, have you?

You have a point here.

This may not go well for us cruisers.

[a64pilot]

I was surprised there was not a letter from AC in advance explaining the sale.
They of course may not be allowed to comment

[mcm]

Look like potential bad news for the Yachtsman, my experience with garmin was real frustration, like Nobeltec they were forever "improving " the product, more expense for the consumer stuff you had was out of date. I'm sure they paid a pretty penny for the ownership, Jeffrey could have started his own subscription service if he wanted.

[Tkeeth]

Flir doesn't allow anyone to get too far away from them either. It may be that if Garmin begins to see larger market share etc. of products due in part to the integration of "social" or live feedback, that Raymarine may introduce something similar. With the expansion of internet affordable access I would love to see a live gps plotter. Short term it is a killler, long term it will split the users and provide partial data at best. Of course how many of us pay the monthly for live sat radio or weather anymore? It may just have to be a value added product.

[a64pilot]

On the Garmin thing, I love Garmin products as they are incredibly intuitive, you really don't need a manual.
Company I work for are Garmin dealers, and as such I can get an Employee discount that is less than what the dealer cost, screaming deal.
However I went B&G myself this time as I don't like how fast Garmin Orphans equipment, seems about the time the shine has worn off you call Garmin for something to find out its no longer supported.
Interesting company history though, I have watched them for many years with aviation "stuff". They bought out UPS GPS systems that had been Apollo, and bang they were into aviation and since then have taken off, seems they often acquire companies / products.

Two guys, Garmin is a mix of their names, story is they worked for Bendix / King in Kansas and tried unsuccessfully to get King into GPS navigation, King wouldn't listen so they started their own company.
I don't know how true this is or not, good friend of mine used to work with Gary in Kansas at Bendix / King so I got this second hand, but he is a reliable guy, doesn't stretch the truth