NAVIGON is a well known car navigation manufacturer and has now released Mobile Navigator for Android. NAVIGON Mobile Navigator was released before also for the IPhone and Windows Mobile smart-phones. There are several navigation applications out now for Android but none of them can be used on a regular basis. From the optical impression NAVIGON could be the first software for serious or semi-professional purposes.
There are special promotional prices for the market release: The regional version for Germany, Austria and Switzerland costs 49,95 Euros and the europe edition 74,95 Euro. You can use the “Try & Buy” option, which allows you to test the product for 30 days without obligations.
But you have to be very careful. There is an online / offline (on-board) Version of Mobile Navigator – and guess what they do have the same name. So it is not easy to see which version is installed on your android device. You should also check about the versions 2.0 vs. 2.5. You can easily check about online/offline version by running Mobile Navigator in flight mode.
The online version of NAVIGION Mobile Navigator requires a permanent data connections and you should be aware of:
- route finding and calculation is done on a central server and not on your device.
- for routing a permanent data stream is send from the server to your device (~ 1,2 MB for 100km routing length)
- this can lead to heavy costs to your provider if you don’t have flat rate or a special data product.
In my opinion online navigation on a smart-phone will not shortly replace offline or on-board navigation where you have all your data on the device and you are not constrained by mobile Internet coverage (At least if you want to find your way also on more remote places).
So what is your opinion about Mobile Navigator? Can it be used as replacement of traditional car navigation or is it only a nice alternative or supplement? Which navigation software do you use on Android (Copilot & Co …), or will you wait for TomTom or Skobbler for Android?
Download NAVIGION Mobile Navigator here.
Google (maps) Navigation is pretty good for android – it has almost all features like turn-by-turn nav, spoken street names, etc.. not sure if anyone needs a third party navigation software for android.
Maybe for offline navigation?