Navigation

Ever forget where you parked your car? How about where your hotel is? Radar is a Windows Phone app that is designed to help you find your way back to locations such as where you parked your car. The app taps into your Windows Phone compass and GPS to tag these locations and track you back to them. No data connection is required.

Radar's layout is simple with a page for the radar display and a page to tag your return locations or targets. The Radar Page is basically a compass that will display the return direction to get back to your location.  There are three preset tags available on the Targets Page and all three can be in use at the same time. You have tags for your car, hotel and custom location (can be anything) that will place a corresponding icon on the radar screen.

To set a location, simply tap on the location title on the Target Page. To cancel or reset the location, tap again to stop the tracking service.  As you move away from the tagged location, the distance from that point is displayed on the Radar and Target pages.

Radar is a Mango App that has the fast resume feature and will remember your tagged locations when not running. There is live tile support that will show how many targets are active from the live tile.

In taking Radar out for a brief test drive I found it to be accurate with regards to the distance from and direction to my tagged location. Radar is a very basic track back app and some may prefer having a map overlay to help guide them in the right direction. The advantage of not having a map overlay means you don't need a data connection or a heavy download to store the maps on board.

All in all, Radar isn't a bad choice if you need a simple track back application for your Windows Phone. I can see it coming in handy over the Holiday Season when you go shopping and need to remember where you parked your car at the local mall. Or when traveling and need to remember where you parked your car at the airport.

Radar is running $.99 over at the Windows Phone Marketplace (no trial version available) and you can download it here.

Earlier this week, NAVIGON was released on the Windows Phone Marketplace bringing us a GPS navigation solution with offline maps. Today, Turn by Turn Navigation released their GPS navigation app with offline maps, Turn by Turn Navigation US + Canada. The application itself doesn't seem to have changed (here's our original take on Turn by Turn) asides from giving you the option to download complete maps to your Windows Phone.

While having your navigation maps stored on your Windows Phone is an advantage, Turn by Turn takes this advantage a step further by allowing you to choose what maps to download. NAVIGON missed the boat on this one and requires you to download the full 1.6GB of maps on to your Windows Phone.

The initial download for Turn by Turn Navigation US and Canada is 37mb. Using my regions as an example, I will have to download the South US and Southeastern US map packages (roughly 730mb). My total storage needs for Turn by Turn Navigation US + Canada will be roughly 767mb as opposed to the 1.6GB for NAVIGON.

Additionally, Turn by Turn is running $28.99 and while NAVIGON is running just a dollar more, that's an introductory price. After November 15th the $29.99 price for NAVIGON jumps to $49.99.

While Turn by Turn will give you a savings both in cost and storage requirements, we'll take the offline version out for a test drive to see how well it performs with offline maps. NAVIGON is still an outstanding navigation app in it's own right but Turn by Turn may give you a worthy alternative if cost and storage space is a concern.

We'll take Turn by Turn Navigation US + Canada out for a test drive and see how well the offline maps perform.  Look for a follow up performance review up shortly (if all goes right by tomorrow evening).

There is a trial version available for Turn by Turn that allows you to download one map package and try it for 24 hours. The full version will run you $28.99 and you can find Turn by Turn Navigation US + Canada here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

GPSTuner, developers of Turn by Turn Navigation (see GPS showdown), a popular GPS navigation app on Windows Phone are set to bring a new update that will feature Navteq maps with offline capabilities. Not only will the app sport offline usage, but it will be competitively priced to keep GPS apps on the Marketplace within most budgets.

The developer states via Facebook that the app for Europe and the US should be updated this week in the Marketplace (Hungary is already available). Australia will happen when they get maps for Australia, evidently. We'll keep an eye out, of course. Good news though for those who don't want to drop a ton of cash on Navigon, especially our European friends.

Via: Plaffo, thanks for the tip!

Update:  We've learned that this new version of Turn by Turn Navigation will be a total on-board navigation app (maps are downloaded to your Windows Phone) much like NAVIGON.  The difference being that you can choose which maps you download. 

Not sure if we'll see Turn by Turn Southeast US or Turn by Turn England (as we are seeing with Turn by Turn Hungary) or if you select the maps to download as you need them.  Regardless, it sounds as if there will be a good bit of flexibility on the map selection that should result in better pricing points and less of a burden on your Windows Phone storage.

No word on the pricing but we do know there will be a trial version.  Expect the new Turn by Turn versions to hit the Marketplace any day and as Rich mentioned, we'll keep an eye out for the new versions and get reviews up as soon as we can.

NAVIGON has landed in the Marketplace and boasts to transform your Windows Phone into a fully functional mobile navigation system. A system every bit as good as a personal navigation device.

We'll be taking NAVIGON out for a test drive over the next few days but here's what we know. It's a HUGE download. 1.6GB for the US version and 2.3GB for the Europe version.

When you buy the $29.99 app ($69.99 for Europe) from the Marketplace you only install the shell of the app. When you first launch NAVIGON, you are prompted that additional files are required and due to the size you'll need to connect to a Wifi Network or your computer. Once you hit the download confirmation, sit back, relax, have a snack and watch the progress meter move along ever so slowly.

Hit the break for more information on the latest Windows Phone navigation app and a video short take on NAVIGON.

The Garmin StreetPilot is a very good navigation app for your Windows Phone. But at $39.99 some may not be prepared to take a leap of faith. When first released (here's our review) StreetPilot did not have a trial version which made several hesitant to make such a leap.

Fortunately, Garmin has added a trial version to StreetPilot to allow everyone to try before they spend the $40. There's no details on how the trial version is limited.  If Garmin follows suit with the other navigation apps, the trial will be fully functional but limited to how far you can route trips (10-15 mile range).

You can download your free trail of Garmin StreetPilot here (opens Zune) over at the Marketplace.

Thanks goes out to Vanessa for the tip!

Garmin StreetPilot has been released over at the Windows Phone Marketplace. The GPS/Navigation app joins a host of other voice navigation apps already in place for your Windows Phone such as Turn by Turn Navigation, GPS Voice Navigation and aSpass.

Garmin designed their Windows Phone app to share similar features found on Garmin's Nuvi stand alone personal navigators. To minimize data needs, maps are downloaded for areas relevant to your planned route. Garmin StreetPilot also includes real-time traffic updates.

Additional features includes:

• Voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions including street names
• Real-time traffic updates included at no additional cost
• Automatic map storage so you can browse maps you've recently viewed outside of data coverage areas
• Speed limits for most major roads
• Integrated Local Search
• Millions of points of interest
• Lane assist with junction view for complicated interchanges
• Address book integration to navigate to contacts
• Current weather conditions and forecast
• Place calls directly from search listing
• Navigate in both portrait and landscape mode

Garmin StreetPilot sounds and looks like a very useful navigation app for your Windows Phone. The downside to the picture is that there is no trial version available and the full version runs $39.99. It may be well worth the $40 price tag but it would be nice to have a trial version to let Windows Phone users a chance to take StreetPilot out for a test drive.

Garmin StreetPilot can be purchased here (opens Zune) at the Marketplace.

GPS Tuner, developers of Outdoor Navigation, has released Turn by Turn Navigation for Windows Phone 7. Focusing on simplicity, Turn by Turn allows you to tap on a map point or search for an address, click on a pushpin and press the GO button to begin your journey.

Key features include:

• Voice-Guided turn by turn Navigation with premium audio quality
• Automatic Map rotation according to your heading POI and address search
• Add POI-s or locations to Favorites
• Route calculation based on Time or Distance using Traffic information
• Bing Road and Hybrid Maps
• Supporting Portrait and Landscape mode
• Automatic re-routing if you miss a turn
• Speed dependent Volume control
• Driving and Walking directions
• US and Metric units are supported

We liked Outdoor Navigation and if that's any indication, Turn by Turn Navigation should be a very nice app. There is a free trail version available that allows for routes up to twelve miles. The full version will run you $4.99.

You can find both here (opens Zune) at the Marketplace.