G-Map
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G-Map East and West for iPhone updated with text to speech
When the latest G-Map app covering navigation in the U.S. and Canada was updated with text to speech, it didn't make owners of the older East and West [iTunes store links for each] versions too happy. Now that has been corrected, and both iterations of the U.S. $24.99 app have text to speech, iTunes integration, and the ability to resume navigation automatically after a call. Traffic will be added soon to both apps as an in-app paid update. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Canada version has been pulled from the app store. According to the company: 'we found a critical issue in the new update of G-Map US & Canada. In order to protect our current users, we have no choice but to temporarily pull the app from the App Store. We already corrected the problem and re-submitted the G-Map US & Canada for approval. Please allow us a few more weeks to serve you. We will do our best to minimize any inconveniences that might occur to you.' All the G-Map apps have been reasonably priced, but a bit buggy which has not pleased buyers. I'm working on a holiday buyers guide for nav software for the iPhone, but the whole landscape will change radically if Apple approves the free Google nav app with turn by turn directions and photo realistic rendering of routes. The app is shipping in the new Android 2.0 phones, starting with the Verizon Droid, which is scheduled for release tomorrow.
Another turn by turn app with voice for the iPhone
Many months ago I received a review copy of G-Map for the iPhone. It had its own maps and turn by turn directions, but no voice guidance, and North was always up. Apple was limiting nav apps at that time, and I had real trouble with G-Map. I couldn't load it on my iPhone. It kept locking up about halfway through the process. Extensive back and forth with the developers in Japan came to nothing, so I gave up. Finally, last April, my colleague Steve Sande was able to load it, and reviewed it for TUAW.Now, with iPhones having new hardware and new software, G-Map [App Store] works and is certainly a competitor to the subscription-based AT&T app. You buy G-Map in one of several editions. G-Map West, at US$34.99, covers the Western States, and G-Map East covers, you guessed it, the Eastern U.S. It is also priced at 34.99. It gets a bit tricky, because some states like Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin are split. If you travel all around those states you will probably want both editions.There is also a California edition for $19.99, and one at the same price for New Jersey and New York. Versions for Canada and Europe are coming. All the G-Map modules require iPhone software version 3.0.So how does it work? Pretty well, but with some caveats. It's accurate at getting your position. The voice directions are quite audible, especially compared to the distorted AT&T app. The on-screen display gives you your speed limit, distance to your next turn, distance to destination and time to destination. It also plots major intersections in a very detailed 3D view, which is helpful. This works in the largest 185 metro areas.Another plus is that all the maps are on your phone. If you slide out of AT&T's service area the maps are still there; in contrast, the Telenav-based AT&T Navigator app will not work if you don't have data coverage, as the maps are downloaded on-demand.There are some downsides. The POI database is pretty thin in smaller towns. From Southern Arizona it couldn't find the Phoenix Airport. It probably would have found it when I was closer, but even a POI search didn't bring it up. As I was sitting at a long established car wash, it said no car washes were nearby. It did better with restaurants, banks, and hospitals. Like the AT&T app, there is no landscape mode, and you can't get access to your address book, which is just plain silly. It looks like the database, which comes from Navteq, has some errors, as do all such systems. Navigating to a restaurant, G-map reported it was on the left, when it was actually on the right. Unlike the AT&T Navigator, G-Map has no real time traffic, but it does provide info from Navteq's traffic statistics to predict trouble areas. Even with some weakness, G-Map is a worthy competitor to the AT&T iPhone app. If you have the room on your phone (G-Map West is 824 MB), you can navigate without worrying about cell network access.It's cheaper than a monthly subscription would be over time, although there is no word when maps will be updated and what the cost will be. If the G-Map developers clean up the POI database, and add a lot more to it, I think they may sell a lot of apps. As it is, for getting to places where you know the address, it works about as well as the AT&T Navigator at a fraction of the cost. Of course more choices are coming, including the much discussed TomTom app, so you may want to wait it out and see what other offerings come along.Here are some screen shots that show some of the major features:%Gallery-67530%
XRoad G-Map iPhone navigation map gets reviewed, patted on the back
While the world waits for a tried-and-true navigation app from Apple, XRoad is taking advantage of the situation by offering up its G-Map app in the interim. Kicking Tires decided to take the new software for a spin, and while the map quality took a pretty harsh beating, the overall offering was highly praised. More specifically, not every street name was present during testing, meaning that you had to rely implicitly on the turn-by-turn instructions if you weren't familiar with your surroundings. Outside of that, however, it seemed to nail all the important points. Accuracy, routing, ease of use and design were all smiled upon, and it seems critics gave the street name snafu a bit of a break with the hope of future updates solving the issues. If you're still a touch hesitant to drop your hard-earned cash, give that read link a gentle tap.[Thanks, Ronald]
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XRoad G-Map app brings bona fide navigation to the iPhone
At long last, iPhone users who have grown increasingly frustrated by using Google Maps as their primary navigational tool can find relief... sort of. Available right now in the App Store, XRoad's G-Map application requires no internet connection whatsoever in order to function; rather, it packs oodles of maps into a 932MB package that covers most of western America and a few sporadic locales on the east. We're a bit baffled (and angered) by the not-at-all-comprehensive coverage, but we suppose we can expect updates to patch the gaps in the near future. It provides most of the same amenities you're used to seeing on real-deal GPS units, including POI editing, memo capabilities, location searching, etc. A word of caution, though: early reviews don't seem too stoked about it, so you may want to gloss it over good before hitting your card for $19.99.[Thanks, Karel]%Gallery-39999%
