Navigon with a Glympse icon showing in the lower right; note the countdown clock showing on the icon that tells you how much longer your location sharing lasts before shutting off.

Garmin has teamed up with Glypmse, the temporary location sharing App that allows you to transmit your location on the way to a destination. It’s a great way to send your location to someone you’re traveling to see, whether it’s a night out, or a weekend trip. Don’t worry, the location sharing is temporary, and you set that up before you send the notification. Glypmse is one of my favorite location based Apps, and it’s good to see them team up with Garmin.

This new feature is available on the Garmin StreetPilot Onboard App (the one with the maps resident on your mobile device), and Navigon’s mobile Apps.

Right now, Garmin is also offering a 25% off sale through the iTunes store and Android Marketplace. Prices for these Apps vary from about $25 – $45 depending on map coverage needed (East/West US to All North America)

More information and Press Release after the jump……

Glympse Partners with Garmin to Provide Location Sharing for StreetPilot® Onboard and NAVIGON®Apps

Partnership Provides Consumers with Complete Location Experience – Mapping, Directions and Sharing Whereabouts

SEATTLE and SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland– December 18, 2012 – Glympse, Inc., the mobile technology company that pioneered temporary real-time location sharing, today announced a new partnership with Garmin Ltd., the global leader in satellite navigation, to provide location-sharing capabilities for Garmin StreetPilot Onboard for iPhone® and NAVIGON for iPhone and Android®. The new feature is available through a free update via the App Store and Google Play. Both apps are now being offered for 25 percent off throughout the holidays until January 7, 2013.

With the addition of Glympse, Garmin StreetPilot Onboard and NAVIGON users across the globe can easily share their location from within the app while they navigate to their destination. The integration provides consumers with a complete location experience – access to top-of-the-line directions and maps with the ability to instantly share location in real-time with friends and family.

“Working with Garmin, we’ve been able to turn navigation into a social and connected experience,” said Bryan Trussel, co-founder and CEO of Glympse. “Maps, directions and sharing one’s location go hand-in-hand, and by partnering with Garmin we are able to provide their substantial user-base with the added value of sharing their whereabouts.”

The new StreetPilot Onboard and NAVIGON apps integrate Glympse directly into the mapping and navigation feature set. Users simply click on the Glympse icon in the sidebar, select any recipient, and then choose for how long to share their location – from a few minutes to a few hours. Garmin’s apps will now be able to direct users to their destination while simultaneously sharing their location with friends or family.

“We believe sharing location is a natural fit with our existing technology, and we are thrilled to provide our users with the ease and additional location-sharing benefits that Glympse provides,” said Joern Watzke, vice president mobile phone business at Garmin Wuerzburg GmbH. “Glympse is the perfect location-sharing partner and integrates seamlessly into our apps to let users share their location with friends and family.”

Garmin’s StreetPilot Onboard and NAVIGON apps provide premium turn-by-turn navigation for smartphones, helping drivers find their way and safe time and money. Features include onboard maps, lane guidance, speed limit warnings, real-time traffic and public transit routing, among many others.

Source: GpsLodge
Read more here:Garmin and Glympse Team Up on Apps

Navigon is adding a street view capability to its iPhone App, letting users get a view of exactly where they are going for many of the medium to larger cities that are covered by Google’s Street view capability. While the whole street view feature in the Google ecosphere has created a bit of controversy over its privacy concerns of a truck driving by, catching people doing things they don’t want you to see, the feature should prove useful to wayward navigators who need help recognizing where they want to go. The new feature will be available later this Spring.

On the Android side, Navigon users will be able to access Active Lane Assist capabilities, offering an animated view of the upcoming turns. They will also be able to use a Navigon widget that allows them to see turn by turn instructions right from the home screen. The widget allows you to ignore the map and just see the turning instructions, a kind of advanced, and concise level of navigation (see below).

Source: GpsLodge
Read more here:Navigon iPhone App Gets Streetview, Android Gets Lane Assist

Wireless week has a review of the Navigon MobileNavigator for the iPhone and has come to the conclusion that companies with expertise in the area are well suited to commanding higher prices over the current crop of free navigation out there. The Navigon MobileNavigator is one of the more advanced iPhone Apps out there with available ($25/yr) realtime traffic provided by Inrix, and available 3-D contour maps. These aren’t exactly TOPO maps like you have on you handheld GPS, but instead maps that offer a little bit of texture to see some, hills, dips and valleys.

Check out the Wireless Week Review – not deep on details, but a good opinion piece on what’s important about the Navigon App and a reasonable “outsider’s” point of view on the GPS space.

Source: GpsLodge
Read more here:Navigon Mobile Navigator for iPhone – “Price Justified”

Navigon has announced a new way to get their iPhone navigation – Mobile Navigator with regional maps. Don’t need the whole US? Why pay for it is the idea. The limited mapset comes at a limited price – Navigon Mobile Navigator with MyRegion for $25; additional regions are $13. The US is divided up into three regions: Eastern, Central and Western – and they all download to the iPhone upon purchase, but you only get access to the region you bought. Need another region – buy it in the App, and get access immediately.   

Navigon MyRegion is a full featured application with turn-by-turn directions, Google local Search, Reality view of the road ahead, and optional Traffic-live, an add-on that grabs some pretty sophisticated traffic feeds and renders a very accurate traffic picture for you.

• U.S. East map: AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, IN, KY, MA, ME, MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WV
• U.S. Central map: AL, AR, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, OH, OK, SD, TN, TX, WI, WY
• U.S. West map: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY

Available at iTunes (iTunes Links):

MyRegion East

MyRegion Central

MyRegion West

Full Press Release Below…..

NAVIGON AG, a world-leading provider of mobile navigation solutions, today announced the launch of NAVIGON MyRegion in the Apple App Store. NAVIGON MyRegion is a customizable version of NAVIGON’S popular iPhone navigation app, MobileNavigator, with regional map access for the East, Central or Western U.S. It is the first iPhone navigation app that lets users upgrade to additional regions within the app and on the go, providing cross country navigation at choice. The total U.S. map is downloaded upon purchase of the first “MyRegion,” which allows activation of additional map regions via a seamless In App Purchase from the application. NAVIGON MyRegion delivers the same premium feature set currently available in the North American version, MobileNavigator, and each version will receive the same updates. Access to the first region is available an introductory price of $24.99 (normally $29.99) until April 12th with no hidden charges or additional monthly fees. Each regional map can be accessed as an In App Purchase for an introductory $12.99 (normally $14.99) MobileNavigator with map access for all of North America (including Eastern, Central and Western U.S. as well as Canada) is available for $79.99.

“NAVIGON MyRegion gives our customers the power of choice to only access the areas they use, enabling a customized and tailor-made navigation experience at a price built for all budgets,” said Gerhard Mayr, NAVIGON vice-president worldwide mobile phones and new markets. “At the same time we are providing our customers the peace of mind of being able to upgrade to additional regions and cross country navigation later on, independent of additional downloads.”

NAVIGON MyRegion includes all the features and capabilities as MobileNavigator 1.4 plus NAVIGON MyRoutes. This new feature will be added to MobileNavigator North America via an upcoming update to 1.5.0 due this spring. NAVIGON MyRoutes is an industry first feature that learns from the users driving style to provide customized and better route recommendations. The feature also offers up to two alternative routes clearly displayed on a map including ETA, distance and driving time. This lets user choose the route that best serves their individual situation.

NAVIGON MyRegion offers a familiar, yet streamlined user interface that offers intuitive visual feedback and readily accessible connected features, which takes the efficiency of mobile navigation to new heights. It is the most feature rich navigation solution for the iPhone and transforms the Apple phone into a premium navigation device. NAVIGON MyRegion provides turn-by-turn directions independent of a cell or wireless signal, since the full map material is saved on the iPhone. It is the only iPhone navigation solution that includes Google Local Search, Reality View™ Pro, branded in-route POI’s, seamless in app iPod controls, enhanced pedestrian mode, NAVIGON MyRoutes, and Traffic Live in one application. Traffic Live provides crowd sourced real-time traffic information to calculate better routes that avoid congestion and get drivers to their destination faster. The feature is available as an in app one-time purchase at a promotional price of $19.99 until April 12th (normally $24.99).

NAVIGON is dedicated to delivering premium navigation software for multiple mobile phone platforms. The company recently launched MobileNavigator for Windows Phone and announced an application for Android phones.

Source: GpsLodge
Read more here:Navigon MyRegion- Regional iPhone Navigation at a Great Price

Navigon continues to innovate in rapid fire fashion with some big enhancements to their iPhone platforms announced today. Some may shrug off the social networking thing, others will love it if you use Facebook or Twitter. The big innovation here is the move to start customizing routes based on outside factors, like your driving habits, patters and time of day. The MyRoutes feature starts down the pathway of some very sophisticated planning of routes that go way beyond “Fastest”, or “Avoid Toll Roads”.

Connection to Facebook and Twitter: A simple icon tap posts users current position, destination, and ETA without navigation interruption.

Panorama View 3D: True 3D in-map views obtained from NASA’s height and terrain data enable intuitive orientation of surrounding environment, and what lies ahead with digital landscape elevations, shadows, and geographic images. Panorama View 3D is integrated in-map, independent from the phone’s data connection. The Panorama View 3D feature will be available via an In App Purchase.

NAVIGON MyRoutes: Analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each.

Full press release below……

More at Navigon for the iPhone

NAVIGON AG, the leading provider of mobile phone on-board navigation, today announced a significant update for MobileNavigator, the most feature-rich navigation app available on the iPhone platform. Extending comprehensive functionality, the update adds three innovative features: in-app Connection to Facebook and Twitter, Panorama View 3D with 3D terrain views powered by NASA data, and personalized route delivery via NAVIGON MyRoutes, an intelligent direction provider. NAVIGON is showcasing the update prior to its launch in spring at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, February 11-13, booth #575.

“NAVIGON, an industry first to launch an on-board navigation app on the iPhone platform, remains ahead of the competition by consistently delivering first to market, full-feature updates. Apple’s App Store is ideal for delivering our latest innovations to our users,” said Gerhard Mayr, vice-president worldwide mobile phones & new markets, NAVIGON. “The upcoming fifth version not only redefines routing capabilities on the iPhone platform but also integrates social media connectivity, and outstanding, reliable 3D environment views.”

Further enhancing the proficient iPhone connectivity capabilities, MobileNavigator allows users to broadcast current position, destination and ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) to favorite social media outlets, Twitter and Facebook, without navigation interruption. The easy access in-app icons seamlessly launch and the Twitter feature automatically limits input to the maximum 140, and provides a character countdown.

Complementing the elegant iPhone UI, Panorama View 3D delivers 3D map views through digitized cartography rendered from NASA’s height and terrain data. The full 3D view delivers an accurate depiction of surrounding environment, and what lies ahead with digital landscapes that include elevations, shadows, and geographic images. Panorama View 3D is integrated in-map, independent from the phone’s data connection.

NAVIGON MyRoutes takes personalized route recommendations to a new level with intelligent, customized direction planning. The feature analyzes individual driving data and designs customized routes. Up to three choices with distance and ETA are clearly displayed in-map for each. One primary recommendation based on the user’s driving habits, the day of week and time of travel is provided and the additional two alternatives provide options to choose a preferred route.

MobileNavigator transforms the iPhone into an inclusive navigation device that relies on the GPS receiver, independent from a cell or wireless signal, to provide the most feature rich on-board navigation application. MobileNavigator offers a familiar, yet streamlined user interface that offers intuitive visual feedback and readily accessible connected features, which takes the efficiency of mobile navigation to new heights. It is the only on-board iPhone navigation app available that includes Google Local Search, Reality View™ Pro, branded in-route POI’s, seamless in-app iPod controls, enhanced pedestrian mode, Traffic Live, and soon in-map social media connectivity in one application.

NAVIGON is dedicated to delivering premium navigation software for multiple mobile phone platforms. The company recently launched MobileNavigator for Windows Phone and announced an application for Android phones. According to the latest market data from Canalys, NAVIGON is the industry leader of on-board/perpetual navigation solutions for mobile phones in the U.S. with a market share of 23 percent.

Version 1.5.0 Feature Highlights:

Connection to Facebook and Twitter: A simple icon tap posts users current position, destination, and ETA without navigation interruption.

Panorama View 3D: True 3D in-map views obtained from NASA’s height and terrain data enable intuitive orientation of surrounding environment, and what lies ahead with digital landscape elevations, shadows, and geographic images. Panorama View 3D is integrated in-map, independent from the phone’s data connection. The Panorama View 3D feature will be available via an In App Purchase.

NAVIGON MyRoutes: Analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each.

Pricing and Availability

MobileNavigator is available for $89.99 in the Apple App Store and is equipped with maps of North America from NAVTEQ®. Special Macworld promotion: MobileNavigator for $69.99 and one time in-app purchase Traffic Live for $19.99 (regularly $24.99) from February 5-15. Panorama View 3D will be available via an In App Purchase for $9.99.

Besides being available for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, the NAVIGON app also runs on first-generation iPhone or an iPod Touch. Additional accessories are required for GPS navigation on these devices.

For more information, please visit: www.navigon.com/iphone.

Source: GpsLodge
Read more here:Navigon iPhone: New Version – Great Updates

Navigon, an early mover on the iPhone App platform, and the market share leader for on-board persistent navigation Apss, has announced that they are going to be launching a Navigation App for the Android and Windows Mobile platform. The very full featured program will include a lot of the key attributes to make up a serious offering in the product including: Pre-loaded on, board maps, text to speech (says road names), Reality View and Lane Assist to help in navigating complex intersections, 2D and 3D views, automatic Day to Night brightness settings, auto Portrait/Landscape switch, and more.

I have to say that just as Navigon exited the US market for stand alone GPS devices, their interface was starting to roll, eliminating some of the real rough spots. While they still maintain an overseas business for standalone navigation devices, their approach to the iPhone App market has been ferocious with upgrade after upgrade, and strong price moves to keep them well positioned in the market. Should be interesting to see how they move in the up and coming Android market. The Android product will be available this Spring, while the Windows product is available now at a special $69 price at PocketGear.

ANDROID

NAVIGON, the leading innovator in the global navigation market, today announced an upcoming release of its on-board navigation application, MobileNavigator, for Android mobile phones in North America. Expected availability in spring 2010, MobileNavigator brings premium navigation features and experience from its well-received iPhone application. This, in tandem with the Windows phone platform announcement today, marks three major smartphone navigation solutions available in 2010 from NAVIGON.

“For over 16 years NAVIGON has been a leader in the development and deployment of exceptional navigation technology, which we now utilize for Android phones,” said Michael Roach, NAVIGON’S president for the Americas. “With a rapidly expanding user base, Android provides an exceptional platform for premium navigation capabilities. MobileNavigator seamlessly delivers an excellent on-board experience comparable to standalone personal navigation devices, without having to purchase, carry and use multiple devices.”

MobileNavigator relies on the devices’ GPS receiver as well as the pre-loaded maps and critical data providing full function navigation capabilities when a cell signal is not available. Off-board navigation, in comparison, is dependent on a cell phone connection to download map and routing data. Therefore, no cell signal renders navigation useless or interrupted until a connection is re-established. According to the latest market data from Canalys, NAVIGON is the industry and market leader of on-board/perpetual navigation solutions for mobile phones in the U.S. with a market share of 23 percent.

NAVIGON’S hallmark navigation features for Android include Reality View™ Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant and Day & Night Mode. NAVIGON’S sophisticated and elegant map views including branded POIs along the route are also included. The NAVIGON solution is equipped with maps of North America (US, Canada, Hawaii and Puerto Rico) from NAVTEQ®.

Key features of the NAVIGON MobileNavigator for Android phones:

Pricing and Availability

Expected in Spring 2010, the application will be available for a one-time fee.

WINDOWS MOBILE

NAVIGON, the leading innovator in the global navigation market, today announced a North American version of its on-board navigation software for Windows® phones. MobileNavigator converts Windows enabled phones into navigation devices comparable to stand alone solutions.

Following the successful launch of its iPhone navigation app, MobileNavigator, NAVIGON now expands its smartphone offerings in the North American market with the launch of a Windows phone application. “Navigation on smartphones is growing at an exponential rate and NAVIGON is committed to our promise of delivering premium navigation software for several mobile platforms in North America,” said Michael Roach, NAVIGON’S president for the Americas. “Our long standing experience points out on-board navigation, such as ours, is the preferred and most reliable way to navigate.”

On-board navigation saves the total map material on the device and relies on the GPS receiver as well as the pre-loaded maps making it fully functional when no cell phone signal is available. Off-board navigation, in comparison, is dependent on cell phone connections, and must constantly download map data. Therefore, no cell signal renders navigation useless or interrupted until a connection is made. In addition, users often have to pay subscription fees for off-board navigation and are forced to subscribe to data plans, which can add further monthly costs. According to the latest market data from Canalys, NAVIGON is the industry leader of on-board/perpetual navigation solutions for mobile phones in the U.S. with a market share of 23 percent.

“Microsoft is pleased to see NAVIGON bring its on-board navigation software to Windows phones,” said Jason Lim, director of ISV and developer experience at Microsoft. “Simply put, MobileNavigator makes it easy for people to find their way at any time while using a Windows phone.”

The Windows phone software includes many of NAVIGON’s hallmark navigation functions not found in other systems such as Reality View™ Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant and Day & Night Mode. It also features NAVIGON’s sophisticated and elegant map views including branded POIs along the route.

Key features of the NAVIGON MobileNavigator for Windows phones:

The NAVIGON solution sells for $89.00 and is equipped with maps of North America (US, Canada, Hawaii and Puerto Rico) from NAVTEQ®. It will be available for a promotional price of $69.00 until February 14, 2010 at Pocketgear.com and Smartphone.net within the next week; with more retailers to follow.

Source: GpsLodge
Read more here:Navigon Announces Navigation for the Android and Windows Mobile Phone Platform