+user13371 Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) Garmin site. Write-up sounds like it pulls City Navigator data online; not ideal but it's a start. Would love to see legit apps for loading other Garmin maps directly on iPhone for offline use. I think one or two apps for that already exist, but only if you jailbreak your phone. Edited January 4, 2011 by Portland Cyclist Quote
+geodarts Posted January 5, 2011 Posted January 5, 2011 It is interesting that Garmin has finally entered the market. Unfortunately the reviews do not give me much confidence. For now I will stick with Navigon, which links up great with geosphere for voice directions to a cache. Quote
+northernpenguin Posted January 5, 2011 Posted January 5, 2011 What I like and hate about it is that the maps are over the air. Like it because I don't have to give up a Gigabyte or so of space on my iPhone like Navigon. Hate it because I wouldn't be able to use that in the USA without getting killed on data roaming fees. If they add a map caching engine to it that lets me load up some USA tiles then sure I may consider giving them my money. Quote
+user13371 Posted January 5, 2011 Author Posted January 5, 2011 I think the pricing shows Garmin isn't looking about this market the way many (most?) other iPhone users and app vendors do. $40 isn't really the price of just the app -- it's more like a one-time subscription fee for online access to maps, weather, and traffic data. It will be interesting to see how well it sells. It doesn't appeal to me personally because I want the maps offline for when I'm out of cellular range. For that I have TomTom USA on the iPhone. Traffic & weather data aren't as important to me, but I have other ways to get them if/when I need them. The Garmin app would be more appealing to me if it could let me load ANY Garmin compatible maps on the phone. That cuts some of Garmin's profit potential -- but they could still make $ by offering their own map updates and live traffic/weather data through in-app purchase. Quote
+northernpenguin Posted January 5, 2011 Posted January 5, 2011 I think the pricing shows Garmin isn't looking about this market the way many (most?) other iPhone users and app vendors do. $40 isn't really the price of just the app -- it's more like a one-time subscription fee for online access to maps, weather, and traffic data. They are priced right where their competitors are. Navigon USA+Canada is $44 in the app store, plus $10/year for traffic. Magellan Roadmate for USA+Canada is $34.99 and includes traffic. Tomtom USA+Canada is $59.99 and traffic is $20/year(!) I would love to be able to load Garmin custom maps too, but it's not like anyone else is offering that feature on the iPhone either. Part of that is likely the desire to avoid the help desk calls from beginners trying to load custom maps - they'd need to load via network or via iTunes due to the way the iPhone works. Quote
+user13371 Posted January 5, 2011 Author Posted January 5, 2011 Big difference is those competitors put the maps on your iPhone, accessible offline. Garmin StreetPilot apparently feeds them online only. Not sure how much data it caches and not paying $40 to test it Actually, "total cost of ownership" the Garmin app (if you use traffic data) would be much lower than TomTom or Navigon + extra services. Could be very attractive sore someone already fond of the nuvi way of doing things and who never expects to be out of cellular data range. Quote
+northernpenguin Posted January 5, 2011 Posted January 5, 2011 Big difference is those competitors put the maps on your iPhone, accessible offline. Garmin StreetPilot apparently feeds them online only. Not sure how much data it caches and not paying $40 to test it Actually, "total cost of ownership" the Garmin app (if you use traffic data) would be much lower than TomTom or Navigon + extra services. Could be very attractive sore someone already fond of the nuvi way of doing things and who never expects to be out of cellular data range. This is true. Garmin is competing against Waze and Mapquest 4 Mobile (both FREE) when you move to the maps on the wire model. Garmin's value add there is map quality (Waze) and User Interface (Mapquest). The big question is, what is the data hit / tile (and how big is a map tile), and can it be cached. If I can cache my entire province from a Wifi connection (like Waze) then it's no big deal. If on the other hand I'm gonna get hit for 100Mb/trip well I'll stick with Navigon. But Garmin is likely on to the fact that the biggest iPhone has 32GB, and with the newest games (and even apps) clocking in at 1GB/title it doesn't take long for a small footprint navigator to become attractive. Navigon USA+Canada gobbled up 1.6 GB on my iPhone, and I can't turn that down and say look I only need Ontario, New York and Michigan right now can I have 1200Mb back? I can do that with my Nuvi when space is low. Here's hoping the iPhone 5 comes in a 128Gb edition. Quote
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