NAVIGON Introduces GPS Navigation for the iPhone: MobileNavigator North America

After bowing out of the North American GPS market, NAVIGON has returned, but not with a receiver. They're offering an appealing iPhone GPS navigation app.

We were big fans of NAVIGON's GPS receivers and were very disappointed when they abandoned North American markets because of economic concerns. That said, we understand their plight. GPS in general is in rough shape and the future of standalone GPS receivers is not bright. They're practically an endangered species as new smartphones begin to introduce GPS functionality into their feature sets.

Now, however, it looks like NAVIGON merely retreated in order to move forward and they've returned to North America with an ingenious offer. They've taken the NAVIGON GPS software from their standalone receivers and turned it into an app for the iPhone. Clever! And very forward-thinking.

The MobileNavigator is now available for the iPhone 3G (with 3.0 OS) and iPhone 3GS. It may be purchased through the iTunes Store for $69.99 for a limited time. After August 15th, the price will be $99.99. That's expensive, yes, but not nearly as expensive as a new, standalone GPS receiver would be, and the convenience of having turn-by-turn navigation on your iPhone might just be worth it.

MobileNavigator has just about everything the old NAVIGON receivers did. This includes the Reality View Pro 3D perspectives on road signs and lane guidance. Unfortunately, it does not support the "Panorama View 3D" mode that we enjoyed so much in the past. That mode would render geographical and topographical information in full 3D, providing a startlingly clear picture of your surroundings, not just a plain old map. Perhaps they will integrate that in the future.

For now, however, it's a great start and we're glad to see NAVIGON moving toward the future, even if it is a future where GPS receivers have gone the way of the dodo.

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