Need to find your way?
You probably have a cell phone in your pocket that can help you with navigation. But will your cell phone do the job clearly and conveniently, or should you still consider using a dedicated GPS device?
I ran five navigation alternatives through the day-to-day challenges of guiding me along my way: smartphone navigation apps for the Apple iPhone and the Google Nexus One, variations of the TeleNav server-based navigation service for smartphones and standard phones, the Garmin Nuvi 265WT GPS device, and the two-way connected TomTom XL 340S Live GPS device (two-way connected devices provide access to live traffic info and to up-to-date local fuel prices, weather, and Google local search).
So how do you choose the right GPS device?
Which approach is best for you depends on your circumstances and your tolerance for compromise. Dedicated GPS devices have several advantages, including larger screens, no monthly fee, and continuous availability. Moreover, a dedicated GPS product is better for people who conduct calls and navigate at the same time; most smartphones interrupt navigation to handle a phone call. Today you can get an acceptable dedicated device for less than $200, but that’s still more than you’d pay to use your existing smartphone. If you have a smartphone already and you rarely need help finding your way, buying a navigation app for the phone makes a lot of sense. But you’ll lose the use of your phone for most other purposes while you use it for navigation, and you’ll have to cope with a smaller screen.
If you’re allergic to monthly bills, you won’t be thrilled by server-based navigation systems or by two-way connected devices, both of which charge $10 a month for data services. Server-based navigation doesn’t impose any up-front costs, but the service is limited and can be a hassle to use with a no-frills phone. Two-way connected GPS devices cost $200 or more, but offer many more features than server-based systems.
Smartphone: iPhone
The iPhone gives users instant access to a navigation system that offers many of the features of dedicated GPS devices (including the live traffic and weather information that two-way connected devices deliver).
The iPhone’s built-in Google Maps app can provide directions, but it lacks interactivity and turn-by-turn directions. That’s why, to maximize the iPhone as a navigation device, you need a specialized navigation app.
In order for the iPhone to get a clear signal from GPS satellites, it needs to sit in a cradle on your car’s dashboard or windshield. Basic mounts cost $30, but specialty mounts can improve the iPhone’s performance as a navigation device. Both Magellan (for $130) and TomTom (for $120) sell mounting docks that provide power, an amplified Bluetooth speaker to serve as a speakerphone and to issue audio directions, and an auxiliary GPS receiver to complement the iPhone’s GPS chip and improve signal reception. But when you add the cost of the mount to the cost of the app, the total expenditure approaches what you’d pay for a dedicated device with a larger screen.
The app I tested, the Magellan RoadMate 2010 North America ($60), includes many features that Magellan provides on its personal navigation devices, such as the Maestro 4700. Although RoadMate 2010’s screen layout is similar to that of dedicated GPS versions of the software, the display and button sizes are optimized for the iPhone. To store the location of your vehicle, you simply touch a car icon–great for finding it later in a big parking lot. And you can navigate to contacts in your iPhone or store up to 24 favorites in One Touch locations.
Unlike its competitors from ALK Technologies, Navigon, and TomTom, the Magellan iPhone app does not include Google local search. (You can search through the iPhone’s browser, of course, but doing so requires you to leave the navigation app.) It doesn’t provide live traffic information either, though this capability may come soon in an in-app upgrade, according to the company.
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Prices for iPhone navigation apps range from $25 to $80, but they don’t require any monthly subscriptions; so far, all of the upgrades released for such apps have been free.
Navigon’s My Region version ($25) is the cheapest on-board navigation application available for the iPhone, but it restricts you to choosing maps for approximately one-third of the United States (a full complement of maps costs $80).
Smartphone: Android
Hardware tested: Google Nexus One
Navigation app tested: ALK CoPilot Live 8 Price: $30
Like an iPhone, an Android smartphone carrying navigation software can guide you, with certain limitations: An incoming call will interrupt navigation until you are done talking, and you’ll have a tough time viewing the phone’s directions unless you buy a mounting dock for it.
But you may not need a separate navigation app, depending on the version of Android that your handset uses. Android 1.6 includes a version of Google Maps that provides text-to-speech, turn-by-turn directions. And unlike the basic Google Maps implementation that the iPhone 3GS uses, the one built in to Android 1.6 moves your routing map with you to keep your position on the map.
To deliver maps and street views, however, Google Maps must maintain a 3G or Wi-Fi network connection. If you should lose your data connection, you lose your navigation.
Available from the Android Market, a dedicated navigation app stores data locally on your smartphone, so you have access to navigation information even if you drive out of 3G range (you will, however, lose live traffic updates, local fuel prices, and the extended capabilities of Google local search).
CoPilot Live 8 lets you navigate to an address, a point of interest, a contact, a point on a map, an intersection, a location defined by GPS coordinates, or one defined by a geotagged photo. The program’s voice-recognition capability simplifies data entry, and you can choose from four route options (quickest, shortest, no expressways, or economical)–a feature that Google Maps doesn’t offer.
Overall, CoPilot Live 8 performed well on the Nexus One. At times the touchscreen response within the app felt a little sluggish; but CoPilot calculated my route in two-thirds of the time Google Maps did, and in approximately one-seventh of the time the Garmin Nuvi took. The navigation experience resembled that of a dedicated GPS device, though I missed the larger screen and menu layout of the latter.
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Server-Based Navigation
A standard cell phone using a cloud-based navigation service can provide good turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation. But with some handsets, the hassles involved may outweigh the benefits.
The software needed to connect to a cloud-based service comes preinstalled on many cell phones. To activate the service, you pay your carrier a subscription fee–typically $10 per month or $100 per year for unlimited usage.
The main advantage of “cloud-based” navigation is the constant automatic updating of maps and points of interest. And because the maps reside on the service’s server, using these live features doesn’t tax your phone’s memory or CPU. But since the route calculation and tracking occur remotely, away from the phone, many services require a constant data connection for navigation. Your handset acts as a dumb terminal that displays the graphics the remote server sends.
Because the Bold’s AT&T Navigator 2.0 downloads the entire route–including surrounding map data–onto your handheld, it can supply directions even when you lose your data connection. On my test route, I continued to receive turn-by-turn instructions despite driving out of data coverage and missing multiple turns. The TeleNav service on the Samsung Highlight couldn’t navigate without a data connection.
Voice directions on the BlackBerry were full and often gave compound instructions when turns followed in close succession. The Highlight’s service seemed to be trying to issue compound instructions, but often the second part cut off after “and then”; it also left off many street suffixes, neglecting to say “Parkway” or “Street.” The BlackBerry’s service was more explicit in announcing highways, too. It said to enter “Route 3 East”, whereas the Highlight’s service said only “Route 3.”
The services I tried on the Samsung Highlight and the BlackBerry Bold provided a good text-to-speech navigation experience, but the AT&T Navigator service on the BlackBerry did better, thanks to a more powerful platform and new software and features. To see what services are available for your phone, consult the feature matrix and the list of supported devices at TeleNav’s site.
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Dedicated GPS Device
You can save money by using a smartphone instead of a dedicated GPS device for navigation, but you may not save much. For less than $200, you can purchase a dedicated device with a 4.3-inch screen–the most common size for such devices, and significantly larger than the screen on any smartphone–treated with an antiglare coating that makes reading text on it easier than reading the material on a phone screen. Even better, you can make a phone call and obtain directions simultaneously. And you may not have to pay for an ongoing subscription (though real-time traffic data may involve a recurring fee).
Dedicated devices do have a few drawbacks, though. A GPS app on your cell phone may download updates over your data connection; but with a dedicated GPS unit, you must download updates on your PC and then load the data onto your device. Also, whereas updates for phone apps are usually free, manufacturers of dedicated devices often charge for updates.
The $170 Garmin Nuvi 265WT that I tested came equipped with a 4.3-inch, 480-by-272-pixel-resolution touchscreen that I found easy to read, even in direct sunlight. Some entry-level models come with 3.5-inch screens; more-expensive models may have 4.7-inch, 5-inch, or 7-inch screens.
The Nuvi 265WT offers access to a database of 6 million points of interest, searchable by name or category. Many categories have subcategories to help you refine your search. You can search for points of interest in your current location, in a different city, or along your route.
Garmin ships the Nuvi 265WT with complete Navteq maps for the United States and Canada, and as part of the deal you also get free lifetime traffic updates.
The Nuvi 265WT’s Bluetooth phone interface–a premium feature–won’t read the contacts stored in your cell phone, but it will dial points of interest directly. In my informal tests, both incoming and outgoing calls sounded good on it.
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Each of those products carries a 4.3-inch screen. Similar products with 3.5-inch screens cost less. Garmin’s Nuvi 265T ($160) is identical to the 265WT except for a smaller screen; likewise, the TomTom One 140S ($130) is essentially a 3.5-inch version of the XL 340S. Magellan’s RoadMate 1340 ($150) closely resembles the 1445T–and also has a 3.5-inch screen-but lacks a traffic feature.
Two-Way Connected Device
A two-way connected GPS–known in the technology industry as a portable navigation device, or PND–makes sense only if you need connected services such as weather data, advanced traffic updates, fuel prices, and Google local search, and if you can’t use a smartphone to get the information. Connected GPS units are more expensive initially than other dedicated GPS devices, and they require you to pay for a monthly data subscription.
Standard GPS devices, which get traffic information from signals broadcast by commercial FM stations, can only receive data. Connected GPS models can initiate requests for data as well as receive it. Such two-way communication supports real-time traffic updates, weather information, and local fuel prices. Some two-way products can also identify scheduled movie showtimes at nearby theaters, as well as airline flight arrival and departure information. In addition, you can use Google local search to identify and obtain addresses for restaurants or stores that aren’t included in the GPS device’s points-of-interest database.
The XL 340S Live’s fuel-prices feature lets you select a fuel grade and then search for the cheapest source nearby or in a wider area. Alternatively, you can search by price area-wide, by distance, or by cheapest price along the planned route. I checked local fuel prices along my route as I drove, and the TomTom-reported prices appeared to be up-to-date.
Google local search supplements the TomTom device’s internal database of 7 million points of interest, letting you search near your current location, within a city, or in another location. If you choose ‘another location’, you can use any of the Navigate To search options, including home, address, favorites, recent destinations, points of interest, current location, point on a map, GPS coordinates, or the position of the last stop. When you select a point of interest that Google local search suggests, you can add it as a favorite, show the location on the map, or navigate to it.
If you aren’t already paying for a smartphone with an associated data plan, the XL 340S Live might make sense for you. But consider the long-term cost before you commit to it or to any other two-way connected GPS unit.
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In-Dash Car Navigation
GPS technology is advancing so fast that, in four years, today’s state-of-the-art navigation system will likely be a dinosaur at trade-in time.
Still, in-dash units have several advantages, including larger screen size, superior reliability, and more-secure installation in your car. They offer tight integration with an in-car Bluetooth speakerphone, storage capacity for your music, and voice-recognition controls. They may also tie in to the car’s speed and direction sensors, ensuring that you’ll retain basic navigation functions even if you lose your satellite connection.
Another option is to buy an aftermarket in-dash system, though such systems usually require professional installation.