Navigon’s gearing up for tomorrow’s big day by updating its, erm, Navigon and StreetPilot Onboard apps. The refreshed software adds support for the iPhone 5‘s new 4-inch display as well as baking in public transport listings to Cupertino’s presently underwhelming mapping offering. It’s also gaining the promised “last mile” function to record the location of your car when finishing your journey on foot, sparing you the embarrassment of getting lost in the multi-storey lot when you return. The company’s offering a $10 discount on its apps if you pick ’em up before October 3rd, while the in-app purchase of Urban Guidance has been reduced from $5 to $3 for the same period.
Update: We’ve had a note from Garmin to say that while Navigon update is now available, StreetPilot Onboard has been slightly delayed.
Apple’s free iOS 6 update pushed out to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners yesterday, has already begun provoking strong reactions from users, with the homegrown Maps app singled out for most criticism. Replacing Google Maps on the iPhone 5, Apple’s version has won praise for its eye-catching “flyover” 3D mapping and slick integration with iOS as a whole, but also come under fire for patchy and inaccurate data.
The mounting tensions between Apple and Google are believed to be the root cause of Google Maps’ being replaced, with Apple looking to control its own navigation experience instead of preloading its rival’s software. TomTom and OpenStreetMap have provided the underlying data on top of which Apple built its own interface. However, the usefulness of that data is in question today.
Much of the frustration appears to have come from international users, rather than those in the US, with Apple’s mapping data and satellite imagery for locations outside of the US coming in for criticism. The software suffers from out-of-date points of interest, the BBC reports, with some towns in the wrong position geographically or missing altogether, and search results prompting unlikely suggestions for straightforward queries.
TomTom has denied culpability, pointing out that it’s up to vendors like Apple who license its data to add “additional features to the map application such as visual imagery” and describing its mapping content as only the “foundation” of any service. Google has invested significantly into collecting its own location data, for instance dispatching Street View vehicles around cities to gather street-level photography.
Although there’s no way to avoid installing Apple Maps as part of iOS 6, and no option to reinstall Google Mpas from iOS 5, there are several third-party alternatives on offer. Some are available via the App Store, with ZDNet flagging up a soon-expiring deal of a year’s free Telenav premium service (the offer runs out by the end of the week), while others can be accessed via the browser.
Google Maps itself can of course be found at google.com/maps, but another solid option is Nokia Maps, which was launched as an HTML5 option for iOS and Android users earlier this year. Accessed at m.maps.nokia.com, it includes turn-by-turn navigation for cars, mass transit, and pedestrians, including optional audio guidance, satellite view, live traffic data, and more.
If you’re determined to stick with iOS 6 Maps, however – which also includes turn-by-turn navigation, for the first time in the native iOS mapping app – it’s worth remembering that you can report incorrect locations via the map itself and help Apple refine its data that way. Apple told SlashGear after the iPhone 5 launch last week that it expects third-party vendors to deliver mass transit guidance for users, at least initially.
Unhappy with Apple’s own Maps app? Happy with iOS 6 in general? Or holding off from upgrading until any early bugs have been ironed out? Let us know in the poll below, and then head over to our iPhone 5 review for more details.
Earlier today, we brought you the news that Google was planning to launch a Google Maps update for Android to coincide with the launch of iOS 6. In iOS 6, Apple has cut Google out of the loop, instead opting for a Maps app of its own, so it makes sense that Google would want to launch an Android update around the same time that Apple released iOS 6. The only problem was that when Google announced the update, it didn’t give us a specific time for release.
That time is apparently now, as the update to Google Maps for Android has gone live on the Google Play Store. One of the big features in this update is that Google Maps will now sync your search queries and previous maps over multiple devices. This means that when you search for a location on your Android phone, Google will suggest locations and direction data that you’ve previously searched for, allowing you to pull up maps and get directions quickly. Of course, for this syncing to work, you’ll need to be logged into your Google account while searching and have web history enabled, but those are kind of no-brainers in this case.
Users can also access their map and directions history by going into the “Search” or “Directions” tabs in My Places. In addition to giving you the ability to quickly pull up your map history on mobile devices, this Google Maps update also brings a new way to zoom with one hand: just double tap the screen, hold your finger down, and then slide it across the screen to zoom.
In the grand scheme, these features aren’t groundbreaking, but they will certainly have their uses. Making it easier to bring up previous maps and direction data will be considered a godsend by those who hate typing on a small smartphone screen, and these new features complement the “always moving” society we live in nicely. Expect to hear more about Google Maps soon, because with new competition on the scene, you can bet that Google wants to make Maps the best app it possibly can.
While Google Maps may have found itself on the outside looking in on the just-released iOS 6, it’s got a fresh update for Android devices that makes sure any locations you’ve searched are right at your fingertips. Rolling out now in Google Play, it includes results from your search and directions history (whether on your phone or on a PC that you were logged in to) whenever you start a new search, and in the search or directions tab under My Places. The other tweak noted in the changelog is the ability to zoom with just one finger — double tap the map then hold down your finger and slide. There’s no word specifically on what’s in store for Apple’s hardware but the final line of the blog post mentions improving the Google Maps experience across all devices — draw your own conclusions from that.
We’ve all been there: drunk, flat phone battery, lost and unable to find a cab. While usually the only solution is to sit on the sidewalk and weep, if you were wearing Dominic Wilcox‘s new No Place Like Home GPS shoes, you’d be able to make it home by just looking at your feet. More »
TomTom has been continually upping its navigation game, what with its partnership with Apple in iOS 6 and the HD Traffic 6.0 upgrade and requisite Android app announced this summer. Far be it from the Dutch service to rest on its mapping laurels, though: it’s now poised to take on Uber and other players in the taxi-hailing world. Last week, The Next Web reported that the company acquired the taxi-fetching app maker TXXI in an effort to roll out a TomTom cab-booking service, and today the site reports that the theory is now confirmed. Speaking with TNW, TomTom said it indeed bought TXXI to “help develop tools to support the taxi market,” with initial efforts focusing on Amsterdam. Last month, the company began a trial program in that city to let restaurant and hotel guests order a taxi from a mini-kiosk called the Taxi Butler. On the cab side, there’s the so-called Taxi Assistant, a TomTom-branded device which alerts drivers to incoming requests. No word on whether the company will eventually introduce mobile apps, but we’d say it’s a pretty safe bet.
If there is one thing you can’t say about Google’s mapping team, it’s that they are a lazy bunch. Update after update puts paid to any of that kinda talk, and again, here’s another example — navigation for Android is now available in nine more countries. It’s the Middle East and North Africa that get the attention this time, with Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE and Saudia Arabia all getting the update. The service comes complete with Arabic voice search as well as “search along route” for routes to near-by POIs that won’t take you the long way round. You’ll need Android 4.0 or above if you want in on the action, but it’s available now for those that do.
A prototype weed-seeking automaton could change the way seven billion humans eat, as well as help to end industrial agriculture’s reliance on toxic herbicides and itinerant labor. More »
RWC Japan has rolled out two new Android-powered Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs). Dubbed as the RM-XRAD700TV and RM-XRAD700WP, both PNDs are powered by the Google Android 4.0 as its operating system. These gadgets provide a 7-inch display with a 800×480 pixel resolution, a 1.2GHz Cortex A5 dual core processor, a 512MB of RAM, an 8GB of storage capacity, a microSD/SDHC card slot, an HDMI-out, Wi-Fi and a GPS navigation. The RM-XRAD700TV has a digital TV tuner, while the RM-XRAD700WP features a waterproof IPX5 body. RWC Japan will release the RM-XRAD700TV and RM-XRAD700WP later this month for 29,800 Yen or around $382 each. [Kakaku]
You don’t have to wait for an FAA rethink to use your iPad on an airliner below 10,000 feet — if you’re part of an American Airlines crew, that is. As of this month, the air carrier is the first cleared by the FAA to use iPads in the cockpit at every point during a flight. The program starts just with Boeing 777 pilots at first, but it should eventually grow to save $1.2 million in weight-related fuel costs per year across the airline, not to mention a few trees and the strain of 35-pound flight bags. American is confident enough in the tablet switchover that it plans to stop handing out any paper updates to its charts and manuals as of January, just days after its entire fleet gets the regulatory nod for iPads at the end of this year. We just wouldn’t anticipate Android or Windows tablet rollouts anytime soon. American isn’t opposed to the concept, but it’s only promising that slates beyond the iPad will be “evaluated for use” if and when the FAA applies its rubber stamp.
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