Garmin announces StreetPilot, its first iPhone navigation app
Garmin International has been the leader in automobile GPS navigation for many years, but has been a no-show in the iPhone navigation app arena. Both TomTom and Magellan, also big players in the GPS nav field, have had iPhone apps for years.
In a "better late than never" move, Garmin today announced the availability of the Street Pilot (US$39.99) app for iPhone. The app takes advantage of many of the features of the Garmin nüvi navigators. Maps are always up to date, since they're downloaded directly from Garmin's servers, and the software includes real-time traffic updates, speed limit information for major roads, an integrated local search for points of interest, integration with the iPhone contact list and the ability to place calls directly from a search listing.
Street Pilot takes advantage of iOS multi-tasking and also includes controls for the iPod app. One nice feature is the ability to get current weather conditions and forecasts from the app. Maps are displayed in either 2D or 3D views, and the app switches easily between portrait and landscape orientations.
Having been the owner of a Garmin nüvi for several years, I've been waiting for the company to come out with a product to compete with the many other iPhone navigation apps on the market. It looks like the wait is over.
[via BGR]
