AndNav2 is a new GPS navigation app for Android phones that uses publically available streetmap data.
Using data from OpenStreetMap (think Wikipedia, then think maps. Then hopefully think a bit more accurate) and the G1’s built in compass will give you turn-by-turn directions in Germany, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Austria & Ireland.
A useful feature comiong in the next point release is the ability to plan routes and save them to SD card so you can navigate without a data connection - handy in areas with poor reception.
There is no service in the USA at present - mainly due to AndNav not being able to afford a server. They are open to donations if you fancy giving them a hand. the whole project looks like it is being run on a shoestring, and what they have achieved so far is pretty impressive. Hopefully they will raise a bit of cash and the service could really take off.
It’s interesting how the BlackBerry is evolving from its roots as a corporate email device. One of the biggest drivers right now, if you’ll pardon the pun, is its capabilities for satellite navigation, courtesy of built-in GPS or Bluetooth receivers. I tried the Vodafone-branded app in my BlackBerry Curve the other day, and was hugely impressed.
Now Garmin wants in on the BlackBerry GPS action, announcing that its Garmin Mobile app will be coming to BlackBerry devices in Europe this September, having already rolled out in the US. It’ll cost around £90, and will offer local traffic and weather, as well as the usual directions and points of interest.
It’ll face stiff competition, of course, both from those operators like Vodafone who are preloading GPS apps, and also from rival companies like 3DVU, which announced plans to launch its own Navi2Go app for BlackBerrys earlier this week.
One thing that Apple’s iPhone 3G has been criticised for is the lack of turn-by-turn driving directions, despite having built-in GPS. It’s been suggested that Apple isn’t letting application developers launch driving directions apps, or that the iPhone’s GPS isn’t up to the task, but the AppScout website claims both are not true, after talking to Apple product head Greg Joswiak.
So why hasn’t anyone (Apple or others) released a driving directions app for the iPhone 3G? Joswiak was hardly forthcoming, blaming “complicated issues” and promising that “It will evolve… I think our developers will amaze us.”
As it stands, although the iPhone 3G’s GPS can be used for some pretty innovative location-based apps (keep an eye on the social networking category on the App Store for some of these), it’s lagging behind handsets from the likes of Nokia and BlackBerry, which ship with fully featured satnav applications.
Live in London, Berlin or Madrid? Got a Nokia phone with GPS and some spare time?
Then Nokia needs your help. Nokia’s Beta Labs are trying to improve the @Drive’ satnav add-on for Nokia Maps and are looking for test users who drive in those three cities who wouldn’t mind helping them conduct some tests.
In return you get, “an opportunity for you to influence the development of the car navigation feature for the next software release” which is all well and good but hopefully you might get a tshirt or something nice as well.
If you use Drive and fancy helping out, contact Nokia via this form and await further instructions. Nokia will contact a selection of applicant in the next few days, ready to start the tests around July 21st.
