Smartphone GPS shootout: Google, Ovi, and Verizon go head-to-head
It wasn’t long ago that getting somewhere required a map on paper. You know, something you bought or that came groaning out of your tired old printer. GPS navigation units made those maps obsolete, but now they too are under threat. With smartphones invading pockets everywhere it’s no surprise that their next assault would be on the dashboard, early volleys shaking up financial markets worldwide. That was just the beginning of a shock and awe campaign that will leave no automotive interior untouched — and hopefully no driver unsure how many miles until the next Dunkin’ Donuts. Google Navigation was the first to really shake things up, while Nokia’s Ovi Maps is a more recent addition to the battlefield and the latest VZ Navigator, 5.0, lets Windows Mobile and BlackBerry users join the fray. We’ve taken this sampling of the best built-in smartphone navigation options (the set of paid add-on options for iPhone is a beast we’ll be taming later), learning which you should trust to get you to where you’re going and to dodge construction and traffic on the way there. Read on for a turn-by-turn exploration of each option’s highs and lows.
Gallery: Smartphone navigation
Continue reading Smartphone GPS shootout: Google, Ovi, and Verizon go head-to-head
Smartphone GPS shootout: Google, Ovi, and Verizon go head-to-head originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Nokia’s Ovi Maps headed to Windows Mobile and Android? (update: no way)
Put your skeptic hats on kids ’cause we’ve got a juicy one for you. When Greig Williams, Nokia’s General Manager for South East Europe, was asked by the German language Die Presse whether Ovi Maps would be coming to Android and Windows Mobile he responded very simply, “That will be the next step.” Well then, that’s pretty clear… but as much as we’d like to believe it, we simply can’t pin our hopes to this statement alone.
Remember, Nokia’s motivation for making its Ovi Maps service free was to sell more handsets; not handsets from its competitors but high-margin smartphones from Nokia in an effort to boost its profits. And unless it can pump out the Android version before Google Navigation goes global, there won’t be much motivation to download a presumably fee-based (it certainly won’t be free) Ovi Maps on the platform unless Android users are willing to pay to have Nokia’s localized maps on the device instead of downloading them over the air as the Google offering requires. Besides, is Nokia really going to dedicate staff to Android development when its more advanced Ovi Maps still aren’t available on its much touted Maemo MeeGo mobile computing platform? Not likely. Regarding “Windows Mobile,” well, 6.x’s days are numbered and getting Ovi Maps approved on Windows Phone 7 might not ever happen in light of Microsoft’s own efforts with Bing navigation. Of course, Greig offers no dates, and on a long enough time line anything is possible. We’ve already contacted Nokia for clarification and will update you just as soon as we hear back.
Update: Nokia just got back to us with an unsurprising response: “have spoken to Greig and he absolutely didn’t make that statement. As I understand it, this has now been, or in the process of being, taken down by the De Presse journalist at their site.” So much for that.
Nokia’s Ovi Maps headed to Windows Mobile and Android? (update: no way) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Garmin and TomTom cling to profits, hope
As everyone knows, Garmin and TomTom have their backs against the ropes in a fight to remain relevant in an age of free GPS turn-by-turn navigation on smartphones (thanks Google and Nokia). While dedicated personal navigators are almost always superior to their converged competition, the gap has certainly narrowed such that it’s become difficult to justify another device when an increasing number of people already carry a fine navigation device in their pockets. But that’s just gut instinct talking, where’s the hard evidence? Certainly not speculative stock prices. A good place to start is in forward-looking financial statements like the one Garmin, the leading navigation device maker in the US, just issued. Gamin says that it expects competition to cause prices to decline by about 10% in the personal navigation device (PND) industry putting pressure on margins, and thus profits, in 2010. It also sees flat or slightly declining revenue over the same period. Fortunately for Garmin, it has a diversified product offering that includes the Nuvifone. However, Garmin admits to being disappointed by sales of the handset that “won” our Editor’s Choice award for Worst Gadget of the Year.
Things aren’t all doom and gloom, though. Garmin has a pair of Nuvifones in the chute including the Android-powered A50. And its Q4 results of $1.43 per share easily beat analyst expectations of 95 cents a share. Even TomTom surprised many last week with a 1% increase in Q4 revenue and net profit of €75 million compared to a €989 million loss a year ago. So there’s some hope left for the dedicated PND market… but not much.
Filed under: Cellphones, GPS
Garmin and TomTom cling to profits, hope originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
FT (TomTom), Reuters (Garmin) | Email this | Comments
Google blocks hacked Navigation from international use
We were sort of hoping Google would turn a blind eye to the Android hackers who’d enabled Google Maps Navigation for use internationally, but it appears we’re just hopelessly optimistic: El Goog’s shut Navigation down outside the States. The changes are apparently “anticipated,” and the hackers in charge are hard at work getting around it, so there’s hope yet — and at some point Mountain View is going to have to actually launch Navigation abroad for real, so this all just seems a bit petty.
[Thanks, Ace of Spades]
Google blocks hacked Navigation from international use originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Google Maps Navigation makes trip across the pond, thanks to some hackery
Apparently us Yanks have been spoiled by the warm embrace of Google Maps Navigation, forgetting that our friends in the UK don’t have the same luxury. Leave it to Electricpig to connect worlds, finding a somewhat hack-induced way to bring the app upgrade to British Android 1.6 devices. Instructions are pretty easy, so if you’re game, don your DIY hat and click over.
Update: As indicated, the gang at xda-developers forum have been doing this for some time now. Consider the tutorial provided here as very straightforward and easy to follow — anyone with an Android 1.6 device would be remiss not to give Navigation a shot now.
Filed under: Cellphones
Google Maps Navigation makes trip across the pond, thanks to some hackery originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
Android Community | Electricpig | Email this | Comments
Google Maps Navigation hacked for extra-American use
Guess what, prospective Milestone owners, the Droid’s one major advantage over its Euro cousin has just been coded out of existence by those proactive, un-American XDA Developers. The free Google Maps Navigation service, whose US announcement was so shocking as to decimate the stock prices of satnav purveyors Garmin and TomTom, has now been ported to work outside the land of the free as well. Not only that, but you can use the app on other Android devices, meaning your old G1 can get a breath of fresh air for absolutely free. That is if you don’t count the time it takes you to learn how to insert all the code properly and the risk of bricking your device in the process. But we know our readers eat iron nails for breakfast and fashion elegantly optimized code before lunch, so we expect all of you to be using this by day’s end, you hear?
Google Maps Navigation hacked for extra-American use originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Gadget Venue | XDA Developers Forum | Email this | Comments
Google Navigation hacked onto T-Mobile G1 (updated)
var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Google_Navigation_hacked_onto_T_Mobile_G1′; It’s always a good sign when a device-specific product release becomes the focal point of the XDA development community: it means you’ve got a winner on your hands. Not that anyone ever doubted the intense demand for Google’s new turn-by-turn Navigation introduced exclusively on Motorola’s DROID. No more. Brave souls have now tweaked the original code to run on the original Android device, the HTC G1 running on T-Mobile. Anecdotal reports suggest that it’s working great — a good sign that we’ll see a cooked ROM unveiled just as soon as feverish fingers can package the new code.
Update: Photographic evidence has arrived. Enjoy.
[Thanks, Alex H.]
Filed under: Cellphones
Google Navigation hacked onto T-Mobile G1 (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments