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Magellan's new iPhone navigation app

ubercool 0 Points
edited November -1 in Magellan Handheld Forum
This looks pretty awesome I must say. Who is going to be first to pop $80 for the iPhone app? :mrgreen: I wonder how much the cradle will cost, but the built-in speaker should solve the problem of using an iPhone as a navigation device. :)

Comments

  • Tim 1480 Points
    The cradle will be $129 when it comes out in December.
  • ubercool 0 Points
    Oh, pricey, but might be worth it if the app turns out to be well-designed. :)
  • madurodave 0 Points
    Oh, pricey, but might be worth it if the app turns out to be well-designed. :)
    Looks like it might be pretty decent. I like the Pedestrian mode it offers. I hope it works well.
  • ubercool 0 Points
    Oh, pricey, but might be worth it if the app turns out to be well-designed. :)


    Looks like it might be pretty decent. I like the Pedestrian mode it offers. I hope it works well.
    My knowledge is limited but based on my experience with Google Maps, the iPhone is not accurate enough when used as a GPS device. I can't believe that a company the size of Google would produce an application that can't stay within road boundaries while navigating.

    I mean, how is it possible that the blue dot frequently wanders off the road? For pedestrian purposes, it would have to be even more accurate, and I'm not sure the iPhone's unassisted mode is good enough. That's the main advantage of TomTom's "satellite boost assist" cradle.

    I'm just hoping that the underlying technology improves sufficiently that smartphone apps do indeed become adequate GPS navigation replacements. :roll:
  • madurodave 0 Points
    Oh, pricey, but might be worth it if the app turns out to be well-designed. :)


    Looks like it might be pretty decent. I like the Pedestrian mode it offers. I hope it works well.

    My knowledge is limited but based on my experience with Google Maps, the iPhone is not accurate enough when used as a GPS device. I can't believe that a company the size of Google would produce an application that can't stay within road boundaries while navigating.

    I mean, how is it possible that the blue dot frequently wanders off the road? For pedestrian purposes, it would have to be even more accurate, and I'm not sure the iPhone's unassisted mode is good enough. That's the main advantage of TomTom's "satellite boost assist" cradle.

    I'm just hoping that the underlying technology improves sufficiently that smartphone apps do indeed become adequate GPS navigation replacements. :roll:
    I have seen the same issue on Google Maps with the dot off the road. I think the built-in GPS is not strong enough to be used in the car.

    I have used Google Maps in pedestrian mode in Boston and have had great luck navigating through the city that way. Look up a restaurant, get the address, navigate to it. It has worked great several times. I think you really need the cradle and extra GPS help in the car, though.

    I think I am going to take the plunge soon. I am leaning towards TomTom because I like their interface. However, it looks like Magellan will have the better cradle for the phone. I need something that can be used with a case. Hopefully the sliding adjustment will help there. Tim feels the TomTom software and Magellan cradle should work together.

    I just don't see any stand-alone GPS' I like right now. They all have some deficiences for what I want and can get quite costly. I have gotten used to having 1 device (my iphone) to do a lot of functions, so hopefully this won't be a waste of money. $80 for Magellan or $100 for TomTom is still pretty steep! Plus the cost of the cradle!
  • Tim 1480 Points
    When given a decent sky view, the iPhone's GPS performs fairly well. About once per hour I will see it drift onto a street I'm not on or just drop reception, but it typically comes back within 30 seconds or so.

    So while I see a good benefit for the car kits in eliminating that frustration, the GPS in the iPhone isn't all that bad. I think people paying $80+ for an app will likely want better performance than what the iPhone delivers by itself, but some people will be happy without it.
  • madurodave 0 Points
    When given a decent sky view, the iPhone's GPS performs fairly well. About once per hour I will see it drift onto a street I'm not on or just drop reception, but it typically comes back within 30 seconds or so.

    So while I see a good benefit for the car kits in eliminating that frustration, the GPS in the iPhone isn't all that bad. I think people paying $80+ for an app will likely want better performance than what the iPhone delivers by itself, but some people will be happy without it.
    I think the other problem is where and how to mount the iphone so you can see the navigation. Charging while using can be an issue as well. The extra GPS chip should help there too.

    I know when walking around the GPS chip does drain the battery pretty quickly.
  • ubercool 0 Points
    When given a decent sky view, the iPhone's GPS performs fairly well. About once per hour I will see it drift onto a street I'm not on or just drop reception, but it typically comes back within 30 seconds or so.
    I don't see how veering off course for 30 seconds would be acceptable to anyone trying to maneuver through menacing traffic. Like you said, acceptable performance to some, but not others. :mrgreen:
  • Tim 1480 Points
    Absolutely, charging and simple placement are key. For myself personally, I wish someone made a cradle with a speaker, charging system, and GPS chip, but skip Bluetooth, skip the microphone, and skip the line out. It might not save much on the bottom line, but anything helps.
  • madurodave 0 Points
    When given a decent sky view, the iPhone's GPS performs fairly well. About once per hour I will see it drift onto a street I'm not on or just drop reception, but it typically comes back within 30 seconds or so.

    I don't see how veering off course for 30 seconds would be acceptable to anyone trying to maneuver through menacing traffic. Like you said, acceptable performance to some, but not others. :mrgreen:
    I guess it depends if you try to correct for it (oh my, I am off the road!). :lol:
  • madurodave 0 Points
    Absolutely, charging and simple placement are key. For myself personally, I wish someone made a cradle with a speaker, charging system, and GPS chip, but skip Bluetooth, skip the microphone, and skip the line out. It might not save much on the bottom line, but anything helps.
    I would agree except for the line out. I assume that can be used for audio cables? I would like to plug the cradle into my car's auxilliary jack so I can hear audio over the car speakers. That would make it feel close to a built-in unit.

    I just can't fathom why TomTom would make an expensive cradle that won't fit phones with cases? That is pretty pathetic. I think the case would help some of the rattling issues of the bare phone in the cradle and quiet things down!
  • madurodave 0 Points
    Well, I downloaded the TomTom iphone app last night. Tried it today - so far so good. Pretty impressive on the phone!

    I just need a cradle now to boost the signal.
  • Boyd 1985 Points
    I don't think the iPhone Google Maps app supports road lock, does it? That may be the issue with wandering off the road. I often use topo maps which don't support road lock on my Nuvi's, and I see the pointer wander off the road with them too, but I almost never see that happen with City Navigator maps on the same GPS.

    When I hike around in the open, I find that my iPhone does surprisingly well - have compared it side by side with both a Garmin 60csx and Oregon.

    Inside my house - which is single story wood frame all by itself out in the country with virtually no cell reception - I almost never get a satellite lock with my iPhone. The phone will tell me I'm about 5 miles away, which I believe is the location of the closest cell tower. I have a bunch of other gps'es and they will get a lock inside the house after varying amounts of time.

    In downtown Philadelphia I get pretty accurate positioning, but I suspect that comes from the large number of known wifi hotspots and strong 3g cell signal which can pinpoint you surprisingly well.
  • madurodave 0 Points
    I don't think the iPhone Google Maps app supports road lock, does it? That may be the issue with wandering off the road. I often use topo maps which don't support road lock on my Nuvi's, and I see the pointer wander off the road with them too, but I almost never see that happen with City Navigator maps on the same GPS.
    I don't think it does. I also think the GPS chip is a little underpowered in vehicle or house/office structure environments. I hope the extra chip in the Magellan or TomTom cradle helps boost the signal clarity.

    It seemed that as long as I held the iphone close to the windshield, it tracked fine. It was only when I put it down on the passenger seat it seemed to drift slightly.

    Overall, for me, I think this GPS app on an iphone will give me the best of all worlds. I am sure the app will only get much better as time goes on. I can't wait to get a cradle that works with my case as well! In the meantime I will put up with slight drifts in positioning.
  • Tim 1480 Points
    No, the Google Maps app on the iPhone doesn't do any road snapping.
  • madurodave 0 Points
    No, the Google Maps app on the iPhone doesn't do any road snapping.
    You mean I wasn't actually driving in the water? :lol:
  • Tim 1480 Points
    Nope, I didn't hear any news reports of cars driving into Great Bay.
  • Tim 1480 Points
    One of the best features of the Magellan iPhone App:

    image
  • gatorguy 326 Points
    Thought you might like that once you saw it.
    :)
    Introduced by Magellan a few months ago and I thought it was a great way to preview the alternate routing. I was impressed, but that's easy with me.
  • Tim 1480 Points
    Unfortunately though what it calls the "fastest route" is a parking lot at this time of day which was correctly identified by the Navigon app with live traffic and the TomTom app with IQ Routes.
  • madurodave 0 Points
    Unfortunately though what it calls the "fastest route" is a parking lot at this time of day which was correctly identified by the Navigon app with live traffic and the TomTom app with IQ Routes.
    Looks like I made a smart choice with TomTom.

    Not to mention they have the most accurate maps as seen on your review page!
  • gatorguy 326 Points
    Unfortunately though what it calls the "fastest route" is a parking lot at this time of day which was correctly identified by the Navigon app with live traffic and the TomTom app with IQ Routes.
    Until they offer either traffic or integrate Traffic Patterns, it may miss a few in places like LA. But being able to visualize route options all on one screen is still a great feature.
  • Boyd 1985 Points
    What is the magenta line in that screenshot? A track? Or is that the route it wants you to take?
  • Tim 1480 Points
    It isn't a track, no. I'm not sure what that route is that color. It could be that the 'Least Highway' legend is missing... Or at some point I thought it was saying that the "blue" and the "red" from the legend were the same route, producing the purple. But It is inconsistent.
  • Tim 1480 Points
    Not to mention they have the most accurate maps as seen on your review page!
    I'd take it with a small grain of salt. The study they did looks well conducted and I haven't seen any reason to think it was skewed, but you've got to be a bit careful when one company solicits another company to tell them how good their product is.
  • gatorguy 326 Points
    It isn't a track, no. I'm not sure what that route is that color. It could be that the 'Least Highway' legend is missing... Or at some point I thought it was saying that the "blue" and the "red" from the legend were the same route, producing the purple. But It is inconsistent.
    If two routes are the same, in this case Fastest and Most Highway, then both are supposed to appear in the same color (I think Most Highway is normally blue). Yes, it does look like the Least Highway should have been notated as the Magenta track IMO.
  • Marc 301 Points
    Not to mention they have the most accurate maps as seen on your review page!

    I'd take it with a small grain of salt. The study they did looks well conducted and I haven't seen any reason to think it was skewed, but you've got to be a bit careful when one company solicits another company to tell them how good their product is.
    It would be far more convincing if they published the study. I am sure that what TUV said is true, they are are a firm that specializes in testing including medical devices. However, they only test what you tell them to test. If you carefully craft the questions you ask, you can get any answer you want.
  • gatorguy 326 Points
    I coulda sworn I stumbled on a pdf yesterday (or the day before?), but have no idea where now. But I'm still looking since someone else needs it too.
  • niks1 0 Points
    What is the magenta line in that screenshot? A track? Or is that the route it wants you to take?
    This is a bug, which I had described in my reviews of Magellan 4700 and 1700: set of route colors does not [always] match set of button colors.

    I was almost certain that new application has this 2009 "feature".
  • madurodave 0 Points
    Not to mention they have the most accurate maps as seen on your review page!

    I'd take it with a small grain of salt. The study they did looks well conducted and I haven't seen any reason to think it was skewed, but you've got to be a bit careful when one company solicits another company to tell them how good their product is.
    I agree - I am sure there is some bias in there. From my own experiences, I have been pretty happy with my TomTom maps.
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