When I switched over to the iPhone I was shocked to see that I was not able to download some sort of navigation software, coming from the Blackberry world this was very disappointing. Needless to say I was very excited when AT&T/Apple finally started to allow GPS navigation apps for the iPhone. I am not positive about this statement but I believe Navigon was the first big company to release navigation software for the iPhone.
I noticed that Navigon had a lite version in the app store but I was unable to download it. I then contacted them and asked if they would release another lite version or allow me to test out the application. I was contacted a few days later and was given a chance to test out the application. I have to say I am very impressed with this applictiaon.
After a week or so of testing I compiled a list of questions I saw in reviews and added in some of my own to see where this app is going. I have recieved an update to the application. I will install this and update this post if any of these questions have been addresssed.
Will there be traffic integration? (Would be nice to know about accidents on the roads)
Yes, we have plans to launch a real-time traffic feature for our iPhone app later this year. However, at this point we don’t have an exact launch date yet.
GPS doesn’t seem to lock on sometimes is this a known issue?
Usually, the integrated GPS receiver of the iPhone works well. In isolated cases issues with the GPS positioning and the GPS signal have been reported and this could have different reasons:
Wrong positioning of the iPhone in the car. Like with every portable navigation device, the iPhone should always have a free view to the sky
Metalized thermally insulated windshield
Usage of design or protective covers (while using our NAVIGON Software please avoid using covers since these influence the reception of a GPS signal)
Should all of this not match your situation, we’ve experienced that a soft-reset of the iPhone is something that helps. Your saved data and information will not be deleted during this procedure. Apple describes the process as follows:
Hold the standby button (the On/Off Button on the top right side of the iPhone) and at the same time the HOME button for at least 10 seconds until the Apple-Logo appears. After that the iPhone will boot up again.
In very rare cases where even the soft-reset doesn’t work, it can help to backup and restore the data on the iPhone in order to reorganize the memory of the phone.
Can we just search POI without selecting the category?
Yes, you just have to select “all categories”, then you can search for a POI without selecting a category.
See a listing of directions? (Route preview?)
Currently, it is possible to display the entire route graphically (just click on the map and then on the “show route” icon in the lower right corner). However, a textual list of turn-by-turn-directions is not included. NAVIGON has developed a feature called NAVIGON MyRoutes that learns from individual driving habits. Based on that data, it provides three different route choices after entering a destination. These are displayed on a map with distance and EST for each route, so the user can select which one he prefers. The NAVIGON MyRoutes feature might be something that we will make available for the iPhone with an update.
Can there be an icon that tells if we have GPS lock. I found it cumbersome that I would have to hit start nav then cancel out of the simulation menu, and keep doing that over and over again.
Our app does show a red bar on top of the screen if there is no GPS reception available. And there is actually a way to avoid having to tap on the screen over and over again. If you have entered an address and there is no GPS reception available, you can just wait until the signal becomes available. It is just important to not press “cancel”. The route is being calculated automatically after GPS reception is sufficient and the “Simulate/Cancel” buttons will disappear.
Any plans to allow users to upload their own voices?
That is an interesting idea but as of now there are no concrete plans.
Dash had a great concept link up the gps units so they could share traffic info.
NAVIGON will offer real-time traffic updates for the MobileNavigator on the iPhone in the future. At this point, we are unable to disclose any further information about the specific implementation of this feature, but I can tell you that we are considering a wide variety of options.
Would be nice to be able to use the internet to search for POI, this way it would never be outdated.
Currently we offer the POIs which are integrated in our NAVTEQ map database. An integration of e.g. Google POIs is definitely in discussion and might be something to come at a later point, but we don’t have any concrete plans to announce right now.
How often will the app be updated?
The first version includes the latest maps available. For further updates, users will have access to NAVIGON’s standard map updates at attractive prices. However, at this point, we don’t have specific pricing and timing for the map updates.
Europe : TomTom have released their popular GPS software for the iPhone 3G.
The application features IQ Routes, which are unique to the iPhone TomTom version. IQ Routers enable TomTom to calculate the time a journey will take based on the experiences of other TomTom users. This improvement leads to drivers reaching their destination 35% faster than before.
The software also features a safety camera database for 11 countries, ensuring you don’t get caught out!
Additional features of the software include:
Automatic re-routing
Landscape and Portrait switching
2D and 3D maps
Available in 18 Languages
Touch gestures
Point of interest search capability
The TomTom iPhone app is available for 99.99 euro with a map of Western Europe or for 69.99 euro with a region of Europe. It can be downloaded from the TomTom site or from the iPhone app store.
Qik the free service that lets cellphone users with 3G and video capture capabilities to live stream the video has been available on almost mobile platforms, except the iPhone (you probably know the reasons).
Today Qik released its version for iPhone 3G S, available in Apple App store. However, in this version Apple has limited its capability of live streaming. So consider this app is merely a video upload service. You can set up for immediate uploading when you stop recording. Geo-tagging is also supported.
The app initially can only be used on WiFi network, but Qik is working on getting the approval for 3G as well.
Want a free iPhone 3GS? Of course you do, everyone does. Well Waze, the awesome new iPhone application that provides free turn-by-turn navigation and crowd-sourced traffic reports, is holding a contest that gives 50 lucky winners (1 per state) the choice of a free Android MyTouch 3G or an iPhone 3GS. Here’s how.
Download Waze
Send a Waze Road report
Keep Waze on until you arrive at your destination
One random person out of the 100 unique road reporters wins
Rules:
Must be registered with a valid email
1% chance to win if you’re one of the first 100 road reporters in your city
The top 5 most frequent Waze reporters in the first 10 states get a bag of goodies
Spread the word so your state reaches 100 reports faster. It increases your chances of winning.
TuneWiki, the next generation social media music player, has passed half a million downloads for iPhone, less than a month after its July 13th iTunes app store debut. Making it one of the fastest growing independent apps in iPhone App Store history! This impressive benchmark comes after a succession of accomplishments for the iPhone app, including reaching #5 on the US free music app download list within a day of its debut. With the largest licensed database of music lyrics, global music maps, social TuneWiki Blip Technology—which allows users to post their current song selection to Facebook or Twitter—and the ability to run in the background, TuneWiki has provided iPhone users with the functionality they have been waiting for in a music player. The first 30 days of iPhone downloads:
USAA was one of the first banks to launch an iPhone application and according to the New York Times an updated version will be launched this week that lets you take a photo of a check with the iPhone and have it deposited to your account.
This really is not that big of a surprise for those of us USAA members who deposit checks since we have been able to scan checks in and have them deposited automatically for a couple of years.
This updated iPhone application should be a faster and simpler solution than having to scan in the check’s front and back.
“The app is pretty much done – we’re just working on translating it into a bunch of languages,” Facebook developer Joe Hewittwrote tonight on Twitter.
That means that shortly, we’ll have access to the much-improved app which is scheduled to have features such as a News Feed that is more like the one on Facebook’s site, the ability to “like” items and a new customizable home screen. More importantly, it will also have video support for the iPhone 3GS, something which Hewitt threw-in at the last second, unexpectedly. And perhaps best of all, the app will have the ability to manage events, finally.
I recieved an e-mail this morning for an app called FaceHack.
Here is the descritpion of the app from the developers:
What Facehack does is that it lets you create a Facebook profile picture with special effect (making it looks like a popup) and create a buzz on your profile. Facehack also helps you post the new profile pic directly to Facebook, saving you the time and effort to do it on a computer.
Waze, which has already been available for Android, has finally made its debut in the iPhone App Store. The application offers real time maps and traffic information based on “the wisdom of the crowds”. Here’s how the developers describe Waze:
Waze is a free social mobile app that enables drivers to build and use live maps and real-time traffic updates for a better daily commute. Waze is 100% user-generated, and drivers can easily update each other on traffic, police traps, road construction, sped cams, hazards and more. Waze also provides turn-by-turn navigation and rerouting options as conditions on the road change. The more people use Waze, the better the map and driving directions get, so get involved in building your area’s driving community today!
Waze
Waze is 100% free. Which is very nice for a turn by turn navigation app since most are above 50 dollars in the app store.
