Hamburg, Germany – Navigon, which offers a
turn-by-turn navigation application for the iPhone and has driven to the No. 2
slot for paid navigation apps on the Apple App Store, said it is offering a
free update.
Navigon’s Mobile Navigator now offers a route-planning function
and lets the user call the number of a point of interest, such as a restaurant,
by clicking on the number.
The app currently carries a promotional price of $69.99 that will
climb to $99.99 as of Aug. 31, said Navigon.
The company is considering offering a car mounting kit for the iPhone
but is not yet offering details, said a spokesman.
Navigon would not reveal the number of downloads its iPhone app has
received, but said the app is ranked within the top three of all paid
navigation apps in 10 countries, quite a feat considering it competes against
hundreds of apps that fall below $10.
AT&T/TeleNav’s AT&T Navigator app is ranked No. 6 among
“free apps,” also a feat as while the app is free to download, it requires
ongoing service fees of $9.99/month. Other turn-by-turn navigation iPhone apps
include apps from Networks in Motion (Gokivo), XRoad (G-Map), Sygic (Sygic
Mobile Maps) and NNG Global Services (iGO).
TomTom also plans to release an iPhone app with turn-by-turn
directions this
summer.
