BlackBerry selling a new device - but it's not a phone

BlackBerry Ltd. found a customer for its fleet-tracking device, taking a first step into the crowded market for monitoring cargo trucks and trains.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company will install 500 units of the BlackBerry Radar on trailers owned by Oakville, Ontario-based trucker Caravan Group. The Radar is a box that sticks on the back of a tractor-trailer container and frequently updates its owner on the trailer's temperature, location and whether the door is open or closed. A spokeswoman for BlackBerry declined to say what the deal was worth.

The Radar is part of Chief Executive Officer John Chen's campaign to find ways to take the company's existing patents and expertise and apply them to new industries. Still, the market is crowded with well-established companies like Orbcomm and Fleetmatics Group. Telecom giant Verizon Communications agreed to buy Fleetmatics last month for $2.4 billion.