First I want to explain why this is urgent:

I want to file a comment on PLC/BPL to the EU Commission
(see http://tinyurl.com/lmm3 and http://tinyurl/nkt0 , if
you live in the EU, you should file one too) and the deadline
is on 1st of October. So I really would like to have this
information as quick as possible!

What I am wondering is if the Garmin Rino

http://www.garmin.com/products/rino/

has directly or indirectly been influenced by APRS, or
if otherwise it could be said, that amateur radio has
led to or enabled the creation of this product.

Background: I want to argue that amateur radio not only
carries out purely technical experimentation, but also
experimentation into usage models and patterns, which can
lead to commercial products and business models. IMHO
this is a good argument for ham radio, especially in
europe, where wireless companies are hurting from dot.com-
style bidding-sprees for 3G frequencies/licenses, and no business
models or uses for these services are to be seen.

If you've got similar examples in recent times, I would
be interested in these too.

Thanks in advance! I will post a pointer to my text after filing.

/ralph oe5arp -- Followups directed to rrap