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So I emailed Navigon about US navigation...

B

bbplayer5

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 13, 2007
3,135
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As to when it will be out etc...

I get this reply lol... I am not even sure I understand why I would have to ask Apple when Navigon is going to make a US version of its own application??? Not to mention it doesnt make much sense.



Dear Mr. *****

Thank you for your inquiry.

The iPhone application is directly and only through Apple sold and supported. Please contact the Apple Store with requests for this application. Navigon is generally no information to give.

Sincerely

p.p. Karsten Mewes
--------------
NAVIGON Support Team
E-Mail: support.us@navigon.com

If you have further questions, please attach previous e-mails
 
if the support centre is located near the headquarters in germany, english is unlikely to be her first language

as to when it will be released, it is unlikely support staff for such a large company (ie not just a few devs) will know anything about it

also, please read this (from wikipedia)
"On May 4, 2009 Navigon announced that they will cease North American sales. According to CEO Egon Minar: "Due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing we have decided to withdraw from the PND business in North America for the time being. We are however not closing down our Chicago office which will continue to serve our automotive and mobile phone businesses in North America."
 
Well their press release about their iPhone app suggests that they are planning to release one. See here:

A regional* map version for the time limited rate of 49,99 Euro follows very soon. From July on, the regional full version will cost 69,99 Euro in the App Store
Click to expand...
...and the regional footnote is as follows:
*Country specific map material first for Europe, then "DACH" (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), UK (first step), BeNeLux, Nordics, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy (second step), later on: North America and then Australia.
Click to expand...
According to their twitter feed, they have actually now released the first and second steps - so North America should be next. No indication of quite when though unfortunately.
 
It blows my mind that a company in financial trouble like they apparently are, is waiting to release to millions of potential buyers in the US.

Thats unreal.
 
bbplayer5 said:
... that a company in financial trouble like they apparently are,...
Click to expand...

I'm not sure it says they are having financial trouble, just that "Due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing", ie not financially viable for them. It also mentions PNDs (personal navigation device?) which would possibly suggest this impacts hardware sales and not software like an app.
 
LostLogik said:
I'm not sure it says they are having financial trouble, just that "Due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing", ie not financially viable for them. It also mentions PNDs (personal navigation device?) which would possibly suggest this impacts hardware sales and not software like an app.
Click to expand...

I hope so... The software looks great.
 
bbplayer5 said:
I hope so... The software looks great.
Click to expand...
It is pretty good.

I think the difference between US and EU nav is minimal for an iPhone app, the distribution etc is all handled by apple so it is very easy to sell this in the US, just need to change the maps
 
bbplayer5 said:
It blows my mind that a company in financial trouble like they apparently are, is waiting to release to millions of potential buyers in the US.

Thats unreal.
Click to expand...

They're not in financial trouble - they're simply afraid of the competition in the US. In Europe, prices for pretty much everything are much higher, so naturally, they have bigger margins here. Navigon apparently don't believe they can be profitable (enough) in the US with the extremely slim margins there.

I believe they're just being fair to their European customers - many American companies charge massively more in Europe for the same products (just look at Adobe, for example) so that they can cross-subsidize and make up for the low margins in the US. This behavior unilaterally favors US customers - apparently Navigon is favoring European customers. It's poetic justice, I guess.

Peter
 
This app is all i want in the near future! lol... Im holding off on buying a GPS for this reason.
 
I've watched some videos of the Eurpe version, and it looks very good. Right now I think I will get this one over the TomTom app, hope it comes out soon.
 
Hold up ATT?

wildbillwn said:
Maybe Navigon has submitted their app to apple and they are waiting for apple's approval.
Click to expand...

I think At&t is holding things up if were waiting on Apple. Trying to get their subscription subs up first. Just my opinion.
 
Apple/ATT is not holding this up. The developer has stated that US is not in their first two waves of releases.

I'm guessing that they have not yet submitted it to the app store.

The unfortunate part is that Europe is getting Navigon and Sygic before the US....
 
i find this absolutely unreal. And trying to get an answer you can understand from Navigon is like pulling teeth. The lady in contact keeps stating that its Apple putting it out... Like the company she works for doesnt actually make the product.
 
bbplayer5 said:
i find this absolutely unreal. And trying to get an answer you can understand from Navigon is like pulling teeth. The lady in contact keeps stating that its Apple putting it out... Like the company she works for doesnt actually make the product.
Click to expand...

She's more worry about whether Navigon leaving the US PND market will mean that CS support jobs like hers will be eliminated. Even in the best outcome, there will still be some job cuts --- it's just whether it's big or small job cuts.

I find it absolutely unreal that people have nothing to do except to bug AT&T store employees about rumors of new iphone launches before Apple announced a single thing. That people visits macrumors 10x a day, get some latest information and then criticize how the AT&T store staff for their lack of knowledge.
 
I have a navigon....

I'll stick to Garmin, they are much better for the USA. The Navigon was great while we lived in Germany but pretty much blows here.
 
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