i have found that the 3GS with compass is pretty reliable however its not perfect but works well from my cup holder in my Pickup Truck (through the Roof of my cab)
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Navigon Offers Full-Featured iPhone GPS Navigation for a Single Upfront Fee
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i have found that the 3GS with compass is pretty reliable however its not perfect but works well from my cup holder in my Pickup Truck (through the Roof of my cab)
Very coolio and it's a good start, but the download is hefty at 1.3GB and doesn't include Text-to-Speech?
I watched the advert on youtube the video showed (well sounded) text to speech on turnoffs etc
kinda surprised that Landscape mode was only shown in the last 10 seconds of the video (key feature for me!!)
The gps software does not need (and probably doesn't use) the internal compass. What if the phone is tilted toward the driver to see (like it will be most of the time) that would mess up the compass. GPS units don't need a compass.
He was referring to the gps chip being inadequate - which I disagree with. It appears to be inadequate in the Maps application, but the Navigon/Tom Tom software will lock onto the signal unlike the Maps app.
GPS units work by averaging samples over time to increase their position fix accuracy to the levels you see. As a result a lag time exists before your position tracks to an abrupt change like making a turn.
Street navigation devices deal with this reality by using a heuristic of bounding your "position" to the roads or other likely travel surfaces, aka the calculate a virtual position. Additionally they may assume you are traveling on the course you set out so they will track turns even without an updated position that say that may have taken place. Street navigation devices with accelerometers and/or compasses can further improve on this virtual position calculation by seeing that you really are making a turn despite the GPS position information not being fully in agreement with having made such a turn.
Navigation software on the iPhone can implement the same virtual position calculations since they have the benefit of digital map information (can understand surfaces of travel) and access to compass and accelerometers.
I don't think the Maps application built-in into the phone attempts to do any type of travel surface bounding hence you can get what you report.
you forget that for every sale they are losing 30% (i think its 30%) of the profit to Apple on every sale.. thats a ", zero packaging costs, zero manufacturing costs" in my honest opnion.... i wouldnt want to try and use this app on a 3G its GPS was fairly unreliable and could only place me within about 100+ feet or so.. (fairly in accurate in todays day and age) the 3GS is quick and really accurate and updates fast.
mapfiles are large esp when they are offering North america in 1 program???
garmin only offers Regions if i remember correctly
IE: if your west coast you get 4 provinces (canada here) and not the eastern side??
correct me if im wrong
i guess the point i was trying to make is that the 3GS seems to work alot better than me 3G phone and google maps will FOLLOW my blue dot when the compas is turned on...
Yeah, but I am speaking compared to retail prices when you buy a Garmin/TomTom/etc. In that case, best buy or target or whoever is pocketing some figure close to 30% (or whatever the markup is - 30% is on par for electronics). So it really still is an apples to apples (no pun intended) comparison. However unlike those stores, the app store doesnt require shipping, packaging, much if any marketing, physical hardware to design/manufacture/warranty... and so on.
I will still stick to my prior assessment - Navigon is likely making a huge margin on this thing, which is thier right to do so. I think $100 is unreasonable and wont buy it. I doubt I am the only one. Wonder if they dropped the price in half if they would sell more than double the amount? My guess is yes.
And to the earlier comment - I see what your saying about all in one functionality, however for those few times you have to take the GPS with you... the iphone gps/gmaps does a perfectly fine job of getting you there. As for theft, well, outta site out of mind. I throw mine in the glove box - if they find it there the person had already broke into my car anyway
Just my opinion.Perhaps their memories are affected by reality. No one except horny, spoiled college students really want to go to Mexico, right? Mexico can't even keep it's OWN "citizens" home.
wow....
this gets my vote for most ignorant macrumours post ever!!
please, stay in the states and keep perpetuating the stereotypes of Americans
I'm not buying without more reviews, but this is the one I've been waiting for!
Now.... which 1GB of music do I not need
I accept the price. The dataset and software, not the GPS receiver chip, is the main thing you're paying for when you get a GPS system.
And I already have my phone dashmounted anyway
Now.... which 1GB of music do I not need
I accept the price. The dataset and software, not the GPS receiver chip, is the main thing you're paying for when you get a GPS system.
And I already have my phone dashmounted anyway
he's the one missing of beutiful places! I hope he does not work for any goverment services becouse we would be screw
I don't think a data plan would be required, since all the map data resides on the device. You'll miss out on any online features (provided you're not connected to Wi-Fi/Mi-Fi) such as upcoming traffic and live gas pricing, etc.
I think I'll be okay with losing 1.3GB on my 32GB iPhone 3GS. I can't even fill the damn thing up yet as it is.
I'll like the fact the my wife and I share all my iTunes purchases on our iPhone 3G/3GS, so basically I'm getting two navigation devices for the price of one. Couldn't do that with AT&T's TeleNav.
I think I'll be okay with losing 1.3GB on my 32GB iPhone 3GS. I can't even fill the damn thing up yet as it is.
I'll like the fact the my wife and I share all my iTunes purchases on our iPhone 3G/3GS, so basically I'm getting two navigation devices for the price of one. Couldn't do that with AT&T's TeleNav.
I believe you DON'T since the maps are loaded onto the iphone, and the GPS uses real GPS if you have a 3GS
Thats what we do which is definitely a bonus.
As for filling up the iphone, I hardly keep any music on the iphone since most of the time I either stream using last.fm or pandora, or simplify music straight from my mac at home.
So, I already paid for the phone that has the compass, the GPS, and map features. So I'm paying $100 for a software pack that gives me pretty turn by turn directions. Why wouldn't I just buy a TomTom for $100? Sure, I like the idea of automatic updates, would have come in handy for that highway in St Louis that doesn't exist anymore, but I'll wait for something a bit cheaper.
Primarily it would be the convenience factor of having one less device to keep track of. I have a standalone TomTom Go 720 right now, but I'm currently planning on switching to just using the TomTom software with my iphone 3gs when it comes out.... one less device to plug in and keep charged is a perk in my mind (not to mention having one central device with addresses/etc. rather than keeping two devices updates).
Obviously if that isn't important, there's plenty to be said for a standalone GPS unit. I really don't know what the point is though - you could say that about any number of potential apps, and you could have said it about the TomTom or Garmin software made for Windows Mobile phones or Palm OS Treos.......
Yep, $70 for one purchase on iTunes.
Up to 5 devices to share iTunes apps and music. Me, I have 4.
At 5 devices, that makes it as low as $14 for a GPS device.
That beats any standalone device!
Yeah, but I am speaking compared to retail prices when you buy a Garmin/TomTom/etc. In that case, best buy or target or whoever is pocketing some figure close to 30% (or whatever the markup is - 30% is on par for electronics). So it really still is an apples to apples (no pun intended) comparison. However unlike those stores, the app store doesnt require shipping, packaging, much if any marketing, physical hardware to design/manufacture/warranty... and so on.
I will still stick to my prior assessment - Navigon is likely making a huge margin on this thing, which is thier right to do so. I think $100 is unreasonable and wont buy it. I doubt I am the only one. Wonder if they dropped the price in half if they would sell more than double the amount? My guess is yes.
And to the earlier comment - I see what your saying about all in one functionality, however for those few times you have to take the GPS with you... the iphone gps/gmaps does a perfectly fine job of getting you there. As for theft, well, outta site out of mind. I throw mine in the glove box - if they find it there the person had already broke into my car anyway
There are several things here that you are not appreciating.
1. Margins on GPS standalone units are closer to 15% at retail than 30%. With the "loss leader" $99 and $149 units the profits are close to zero as the retailer is hoping you buy something else to make up for it (driving foot traffic with loss leader).
2. The risk to Navigon with this is huge. You have to look at how many man hours they put into a project like this vs. what the chances are that the app gets rejected/delayed by Apple vs. how many units sold. This is the kind of calculation that you are not taking into account but which any company will do before having 10 programmers spend almost a year (cost $1M or more with benefits, taxes, etc) developing an application like this. They might determine that they expect to sell 30,000 copies of this application and need to price it accordingly to cover all of their overhead. Your silly portrayal of their overhead as "zero" just because it doesn't ship in a box is simple ignorance.
3. Navigon has to pay for those pretty maps you get when you download the device. Typically they will pay a price for the map data to one of the two big companies that provide this data. It is not free!
Bottom line, if you think it's too expensive don't buy it. If noone buys these types of flagship apps then they will cease to exist and we will be stuck with crummy/slow/inaccurate mapping with the google maps application, which has no turn by turn direction support, etc.
It's NOT What you think !
I have had G-Maps from day 1 and I love it. It does everything this does and it is VERY Accurate . G-Maps only covers halve of the US and it is 1.2 gig's .
Navigon covers the whole US ans more at 1.3 gigs's
something does not add up !
I have had G-Maps from day 1 and I love it. It does everything this does and it is VERY Accurate . G-Maps only covers halve of the US and it is 1.2 gig's .
Navigon covers the whole US ans more at 1.3 gigs's
something does not add up !
"G-Maps"? What do you mean?
If you are talking the built-in in Maps application that is backed by Google maps then it does not do the same things that this software does (Maps application can do some similar things but it far less capable).. For one the Maps application only has map/route information as long as you have data network access. It doesn't track your location against your route in any automatic fashion. It doesn't give you active turn by turn directions. It doesn't do travel surface analysis, etc. like is needed for a true turn by turn navigation device.
This software has map information so it can function in real-time without the need for a data network, etc.
nahh hes talking about a app called G-maps that look like a toy. just search at the app store
My thought exactly.
$70 / 2 = $35 each (even better if you have more phones). I don't think you'll find two standalone units for that price.