As hinted last week, Garmin has announced a new navigation app that will exclusively cater to Sony Xperia device owners. But going beyond that, the app will also have an extension that will transform Sony’s SmartWatch 2 into its own small navigation apparatus.
The new Garmin Xperia Edition app boasts of a cornucopia of navigation features, no matter what your mode of travel is. Drivers will love the routing information from Live Traffic, lane-switching prompts from Active Lane Guidance, and parking spot reminders from Last Mile. Those on more adventurous journeys can set up their destinations on the Travel Editor and share their milestones with family and friends via Glympse. A Reality Scanner lets you discover interesting spots through your camera viewer. Best of all, the onboard maps that the Garmin Xperia Edition uses are stored on the device itself so that you don’t have to get lost even when your Internet connection does. When connected to the Internet, however, Garmin pools location information from online sources like Wikipedia and Foursquare.
Those who own a SmartWatch 2 don’t need to own a car to benefit from this new Garmin Xperia Edition app. With an app extension, the smartwatch can receive navigation information via Bluetooth, displaying your location and your destination on a map, zooomable at the touch of a button on the watch. As a bonus, the app extension will also work with Garmin’s NAVIGON Android app, so you don’t even need to own an Xperia device to take advantage of Garmin’s pedestrian navigation features.
The Garmin Xperia Edition app is compatible only with Sony Xperia smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0.4 and later. All the features mentioned earlier and more will be available for free to new users for 30 days. A monthly subscription of $2.95 or one-time in-app purchases of individual features is required after the trial period, except for the map viewer and pedestrian navigation, which can still be accessed for free. The app and the SmartWatch 2 extension will go live around March this year.
SOURCE: Garmin
