OS 2.0 Navigator review

[Shel]

One of the features I really looked forward to with OS 2.0 was the turn by turn, voice navigator app, called, appropriately, Navigator.

Just gave it a short try out on my Droid, and thought I'd share my thoughts on it, and compare it to my (admittedly outdated, 4 year old) GPS which came with my car.

The built in GPS has intrinsic advantages, in that it's always available being installed in my car, not needing to plug in a charging cable while using it, and the fact that it lowers the volume of my constantly on radio, prior to announcing new turns or the latest directions. However, aside from those advantages, let's compare the two systems....

My Honda GPS does not announce street names, it simply says "Turn right in 400 ft. at the next intersection"... the Navigator actually announces the street name, saying "Turn right on Sunset Blvd".

The voice, however, is not nearly as clear and concise as that which came with the built in GPS. If you have an Android phone with text to speach, you know exactly what the Navigator sounds like. However, on a positive note, the Droid's speaker happens to be MUCH louder then my previous G1 and myTouch, and announces turn instructions loudly.

Prior to the next turn, at the top of the screen, it displays the name of the next street or intersection which you'll need to turn on, along with the distance until you arrive at that turn. Very helpful.

My Honda's GPS is actually stupid, at times! When directing me to my home, if I'm heading east, it'll have me drive an additional block to go to a major street, before instructing me to turn North! This takes me TWO blocks out of my way, all in the name of (I guess???) allowing me to drive on a major street?

The Navigator made no such dumb recommendations. I've had my built in GPS give me other strange directions in the past, as well. I'll always end up where I told it I want to go, but it isn't always using the shortest route. The one and only time I've tried the Navigator, it made completely correct choices. I'll have to test it out more to confirm that it always gives you the best choices in routes, but for this one test, it worked great!

Nicest surprise feature was, upon arriving at my destination, it not only said "Now arriving at destination on right", but displayed a PHOTO of where I was going on the phone!~ This was a sharp, clear photo of the enterance to the building where I live! Very clever!

I've heard, but not tried out, that you can ask it to go to nearest gas station, pizza restaurant, etc. while on route, and then continue on after you arrive at the intermediate destination. Didn't try this out.

Entering addresses and locations is actually easier on the Droid. Say "Navigate to Best Buy", and it'll display all of the Best Buy stores near me. Tap on the one you want, and you'll get spoken turn by turn directions to take you there!

Overall, while I"d love to see (well, hear) the text to voice improved to sound less robotic and more human, the overall experience of finding my way around with the Navigator was a great experience!

Keep in mind, I believe Verizon charges users of other phones a monthly fee... not sure how much, $6, $8.... but once Andoid users are updated to OS 2.0, we'll ALL have free GPS service!

A couple of other advantages the Navigator offers over my built in GPS.. my built in GPS is four, almost five years out of date. I can purchase a new DVD to update the maps, for $80, but most of the time the maps work fine, so I don't plan to spend the extra money. On an Adroid phone, the maps are always up to date!

Also, I believe, but haven't tried this out, that you can get an overlay on the map to show current traffic on your route. I can get this for the built in GPS, but it's a monthly fee which again, I'm not going to spend the money on.

About a month ago, I was in a part of California where I'm looking to purchase investment property. I'm not totally familiar with the area, and when I'd try to get directions from my built in GPS, often it wouldn't find the address (new neighborhoods, streets and homes built within the last four, five years)

I tried to use my myTouch's directions feature, and found it totally confusing! Maybe I'm geographically challenged, but it would say "Head north, past Blair Ave., to such and such a street"... well, I didn't know which was was north, and when I tried to head in the direction I thought was north, I couldn't find Blair Ave! I'd change directions, and again get lost... plus, it wouldn't update as you drove, it gave directions from where you first asked for them.

For ME... it was almost useless... not so with the Navigator. Based on my admittedly limited trial of one (count 'em, ONE) test drive, I'd feel pretty sure that if I find myself again in a location I"m not familiar with, and my GPS also doesn't have data for, my Droid will get me where I want to go!

I'll definitely give the Navigator program a few more trials, but I was overall very impressed with it's first release!

If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Here's a YouTube video that demos Navigator: (sorry, can't figure out how to embed this into my post...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGXK4jKN_jY

[ggrant3876]

One of the features I really looked forward to with OS 2.0 was the turn by turn, voice navigator app, called, appropriately, Navigator.

Just gave it a short try out on my Droid, and thought I'd share my thoughts on it, and compare it to my (admittedly outdated, 4 year old) GPS which came with my car.

The built in GPS has intrinsic advantages, in that it's always available being installed in my car, not needing to plug in a charging cable while using it, and the fact that it lowers the volume of my constantly on radio, prior to announcing new turns or the latest directions. However, aside from those advantages, let's compare the two systems....

My Honda GPS does not announce street names, it simply says "Turn right in 400 ft. at the next intersection"... the Navigator actually announces the street name, saying "Turn right on Sunset Blvd".

The voice, however, is not nearly as clear and concise as that which came with the built in GPS. If you have an Android phone with text to speach, you know exactly what the Navigator sounds like. However, on a positive note, the Droid's speaker happens to be MUCH louder then my previous G1 and myTouch, and announces turn instructions loudly.

Prior to the next turn, at the top of the screen, it displays the name of the next street or intersection which you'll need to turn on, along with the distance until you arrive at that turn. Very helpful.

My Honda's GPS is actually stupid, at times! When directing me to my home, if I'm heading east, it'll have me drive an additional block to go to a major street, before instructing me to turn North! This takes me TWO blocks out of my way, all in the name of (I guess???) allowing me to drive on a major street?

The Navigator made no such dumb recommendations. I've had my built in GPS give me other strange directions in the past, as well. I'll always end up where I told it I want to go, but it isn't always using the shortest route. The one and only time I've tried the Navigator, it made completely correct choices. I'll have to test it out more to confirm that it always gives you the best choices in routes, but for this one test, it worked great!

Nicest surprise feature was, upon arriving at my destination, it not only said "Now arriving at destination on right", but displayed a PHOTO of where I was going on the phone!~ This was a sharp, clear photo of the enterance to the building where I live! Very clever!

I've heard, but not tried out, that you can ask it to go to nearest gas station, pizza restaurant, etc. while on route, and then continue on after you arrive at the intermediate destination. Didn't try this out.

Entering addresses and locations is actually easier on the Droid. Say "Navigate to Best Buy", and it'll display all of the Best Buy stores near me. Tap on the one you want, and you'll get spoken turn by turn directions to take you there!

Overall, while I"d love to see (well, hear) the text to voice improved to sound less robotic and more human, the overall experience of finding my way around with the Navigator was a great experience!

Keep in mind, I believe Verizon charges users of other phones a monthly fee... not sure how much, $6, $8.... but once Andoid users are updated to OS 2.0, we'll ALL have free

A couple of other advangages the Navigator offers over my built in GPS.. my built in GPS is four, almost five years out of date. I can purchase a new DVD to update the maps, for $80, but most of the time the maps work fine, so I don't plan to spend the extra money. On an Adroid phone, the maps are always up to date!

Also, I believe, but haven't tried this out, that you can get an overlay on the map to show current traffic on your route. I can get this for the built in GPS, but it's a monthly fee which again, I'm not going to spend the money on.

About a month ago, I was in a part of California where I'm looking to purchase investment property. I'm not totally familiar with the area, and when I'd try to get directions from my built in GPS, often it wouldn't find the address (new neighborhoods, streets and homes built within the last four, five years)

I tried to use my myTouch's directions feature, and found it totally confusing! Maybe I'm geographically challenged, but it would say "Head north, past Blair Ave., to such and such a street"... well, I didn't know which was was north, and when I tried to head in the direction I thought was north, I couldn't find Blair Ave! I'd change directions, and again get lost... plus, it wouldn't update as you drove, it gave directions from where you first asked for them.

For ME... it was almost useless... not so with the Navigator. Based on my admittedly limited trial of one (count 'em, ONE) test drive, I'd feel pretty sure that if I find myself again in a location I"m not familiar with, and my GPS also doesn't have data for, my Droid will get me where I want to go!

I'll definitely give the Navigator program a few more trials, but I was overall very impressed with it's first release!

If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Nice review, it works just as well on the G1 too.

[Derrick]

Excellent write up, looking forward to it. Only a question I have is how the traffic overlay is, but I guess I'll have to wait until your next trial

[Motizzle]

Brand new site: http://www.googlenavigator.com

[kizer]

What I really like about it and I'm sure its the same on the Droid is the fact when you leave the route it layed out for you its quick to recalculate. I also noticed that it doesn't seem to constantly update map tiles like Maps does. So I"m wondering does it cache the map ahead of time or what? It seems pretty quick on my G1 on edge.