NaviGadget

ALK Technologies just announced recently that their CoPilot Live GPS navigation system is now available for Android phones. You can already grab it from Android Market for your HTC Magic, HTC Dream or the new HTC Hero – for only $35.

With CoPilot the maps are stored locally on the phone, rather than relying on wireless internet which can be quite slow at times. However there are still some “Live” which utilizes the mobile Internet connection such as real-time traffic alerts, 5-day weather forecast information and a new location sharing service called CoPilot LiveLink.

Here are some features of CoPilot Live for Android:

• Scrolling menus and maps supports touch screen gesture recognition
• Turn-by-turn voice directions
• Widescreen portrait or landscape mode
• CoPilot LiveLink location sharing
• Direct dialling to POIs, location sending via text and photo navigation
• Safety camera alerts with free database updates

It’s only been a few weeks since the new iPhone 3.0 operating system has been released and we already have a handful of GPS navigation system applications available/ or soon to be released. Let’s recap what we have so far:

TeleNav
Also known as AT&T Navigator this app is developed by TeleNav. Free to install, $10/month.

Navigon
Only European version of Navigon is out Costs $95. Works with no internet connection (maps are local). No monthly fee.

TomTom
TomTom is the biggest name in Europe when it comes to sat nav. They demoed their app with the release of iPhone 3GS but still no news from them.

Gokivo
Gokivo is from Networks In Motion. They have a lot of experience in this just like the rest of the names up here. $1 to install, $10/month for subscription. Here’s a review that says it doesn’t work so well.

Sygic
Sygic urrently available for South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand) for $80 and Australia + New Zealand for $65. No monthly fee.

Are we forgetting anyone? Also if you’ve been using any of these apps get in touch with us to get your review published here – even if it’s just a paragraph.

First the trailer:

Check out the new HTC Hero which was just made official yesterday. It includes a GPS receiver and comes Google Maps, and Google Street View already installed. If that’s not enough for GPS navigation system replacement you can always download your own application.

HTC Sense is the name of the operating system – developed by HTC – built on top of the Android platform.

And here are the specs:

• Processor: Qualcomm MSM7200A, 528 MHz
• Operating System: Android
• Memory
  • ROM: 512 MB
  • RAM: 288 MB
• Special Features
  • G-sensor
  • Digital Compass
• Display: 3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320×480 HVGA resolution
• Network:
  • HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz
  • Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Device Control: Trackball with Enter button
• GPS: Internal GPS antenna
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP
• Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
• HTC ExtUSB: (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Camera: 5MP color camera with auto focus
• Audio supported formats: MP3, AAC(AAC, AAC+, AAC-LC), AMR-NB, WAV, MIDI and Windows Media Audio 9
• Video supported formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 and Windows Media Video 9
• Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
• Capacity: 1350 mAh
• Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• Weight 135 grams ( 4.76 ounces) with battery
• Dimensions (LxWxT) 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ( 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches)

TeleNav is one of the biggest names when it comes to providing GPS navigation software for cell phones. Not to be left out of the GPS navigation app race for the iPhone they just released their navigation app for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

Re-branded as AT&T Navigator, the application will be free to download and install but will require $10/month subscription fee.

As expected TeleNav will offer the usual for their iPhone app such as free automatic updates, voice and visual directions, speech recognition, traffic updates, 3D maps, 10 million business listings, and more.

Two weeks ago we talked about iPhone GPS navigation system from Navigon called MobileNavigator for iPhone. Back then we didn’t know about how much this iPhone app would cost. Now that’s two weeks behind us and the application is already out on iTunes we know it is going for $95. However that’s the MobileNavigator Europe because the North American version of MobileNavigator is still not released.

Even though the U.S. version is still not out it is quite interesting to see Navigon and Gokivo beat TomTom to release their software. After all TomTom was the one to be featured during the launch of iPhone 3GS.

Anyhow, the price is $95 like we just mentioned and this will be an introductory price valid until June 30th. And still no news about monthly rates. It looks like Navigon is trying to lock in some customers before TomTom’s iPhone GPS app make its first appearance.

See the iTunes App Store description… read »

GPS navigation applications for the new iPhone 3.0 are popping up all over the place. After the Navigon and TomTom, the latest is Gokivo Navigator.

Gokivo is made by NIM (networks in motion) and is already available for 99 cents at the App store. Of course that’s not all – if you want the full navigation functionality you’ll have to subscribe to their service for $10/month.

Gokivo does Yahoo local search, can provide voice prompted navigation, and real time traffic information.

It can sync with bluetooth to your car’s audio to and also let you control your music so you can remain using the GPS navigation application while getting directions.

Oh, and one more thing – you can shake your iPhone to get alternate routes. That’s a first :)

Read more about it at Gokivo.

We had already talked about this new phone as the HTC Snap S522 back in April and we were suspecting it would be carried by T-Mobile.

Well all that is true now that T-Mobile has officially announced the device as T-Mobile Dash 3G.

This is a 3G enabled smartphone, that offers Web browsing via T-Mobile’s high-speed network and Wi-Fi. The operating system Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1, features a full-QWERTY keyboard, trackball, and of course integrated GPS for location-based services. It can sync with Microsoft Outlook too.

Wait for July to get your hands on the T-Mobile Dash 3G.

Samsung has officially unveiled the Samsung Jet S8000. Samsung Jet S8000 is a smartphone with multi-task manager and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, so it is good to go for the corporate world.

Samsung Jet S8000 has a stunning 16M WVGA AMOLED display that measures 3.1″ and has a 800MHz processor. Combined with the built-in GPS receiver you can be sure that Samsung Jet S8000 will deliver great GPS navigation experience. If only we knew which navigation software would be on the device.

It has 5MP camera, built-in GPS as we just mentioned, DNSe & SRS Sound Effect technology, and DivX and XviD video support.

Here are some features and updates for Google Maps on Android:

• you can search Google Maps for Android using your voice
• understands American, British, and Australian accents
• improved our business listings to include content such as store hours, prices, ratings, and reviews
• you can now get directions using public transportation in over 250 cities
• Google Latitude issue that caused background location updates to periodically stop now fixed
• Street View is no longer its own map mode. You can now check out Street View directly from any search result where imagery is available

Samsung Omnia Pop has just been released by Softbank in Japan. In addition to featuring a GPS receiver it also has a 3″ screen with 800×480 resolution. That means get ready to leave your GPS navigation system at home.

Here are some other features:

• 5MP camera
• micro SDHC card slot
• W-CDMA and HSDPA network support
• 1Seg TV tuner
• Bluetooth
• Weight: 111.4 grams
• Dimensions: 111.2×50.9×13.1mm

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