Garmin makes navigation hardware. Navigon makes navigation software. And now, it seems, these two star crossed lovers are getting an arranged marriage, with a subsidiary of Garmin to acquire the privately owned German Navigon. The deal includes custody of Navigon’s earlier kids – the iOS and Android mobile navigation apps. [Navigon]
Remember Bada? You’d be forgiven for forgetting. As a quick reminder, Bada is Samsung’s own proprietary mobile OS that came with their Wave handset last year. Well, turns out they’re still pushing it, and are partnering with Navigon to provide a free satnav app to Bada phones in Australia.
When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Tab at IFA back in September, they made a big deal about the fact it would double as a satnav out of the box using Google Maps’ Navigation software. But Google doesn’t offer turn by turn navigation software for Australia yet, so it’s good to see that Samsung has partnered with Navigon to offer Navigon mapping on the Galaxy Tab, straight out of the box.
Now that iOS4 is out of the door, most apps need a quick update to support multitasking. TomTom’s first with a multitasking navigation app, but CoPilot and Navigon have both shown off what to expect from theirs too.
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Navigon – long one of our preferred navigation apps here in the US – is showing off how their latest update will take advantage of iPhone 4 multitasking. Sure, it’ll be fun to have Pandora on while I browse, but this I can actually use.
The next time your satnav steers you off a cliff and you follow it, at least your friends and family will be updated on your demise through Facebook or Twitter. So long as your satnav is actually the iPhone running Navigon’s MobileNavigator app.
It was sadly predictable, especially after the exact same thing happened last October when Google released their free turn-by-turn navigation. Cheer up though TomTom and Navigon – at least you’ve got iPhone apps, right? Oh. [Yahoo Finance via TechRadar]
I hope you didn’t drop a whole heap of coin on a proper satnav application for your iPhone – turns out that in Australia, using your smartphone as a GPS navigation device is illegal.
Regular commenter and tipster poedgirl actually forked out the coin for both Australian navigation iPhone apps currently available on the App Store. Then she reviewed them. And the results aren’t quite what I expected…
If you checked out the Lite version of Navigon’s satnav app and want to, you know, actually use the GPS chip with the software, Navigon is today launching the full version of their Australian mapping app. But you should definitely pick it up before August 15.
