Sunday, March 18, 2012

Navigon returning to US PND market?

Navigon_70_71_PND

UPDATE (June 17, 2010): Sad to say I received this from Navigon’s PR manager today:

I came across your blog post about the NAVIGON 70 showing up at FCC and wanted to clarify that we are not planning to launch new PND’s in the U.S. at this point. NAVIGON has reallocated its resources in the U.S. from the PND to the software business in the smartphone and automotive field. The reason why the NAVIGON 70 landed at the FCC is that we will have an AAFES version of this product in Germany for U.S. soldiers stationed there. Since the military bases in Germany are considered U.S. ground, our products need to go through the FCC.

Well it sure does look that way, since several models just sailed through the FCC.  It all seems to indicate that the Navigon 70/71 Plus, Premium and Premium Car models are heading back to this side of the pond. Perhaps the Portable Navigation Device (PND) market isn’t dead after all.

read more

Navigon USA folds

Navigon-folds

Following several days of speculation in blogs and on message boards, Navigon CEO Egon Minar has confirmed that they will “withdraw from the PND business in North America.” Though they are saying this is “for the time being,” I seriously doubt that they will ever reverse this decision. Navigon is keeping their Chicago office open, but it is unclear what level (if any) of support services will remain, or if Navigon owners will be able to purchase new services.

read more

New Navigon introductions feature MyRoutes

NAVIGON_4300T_max-Front_Tra

Navigon is announcing three new models today — the 3300 max, 4300T and 7300T. The big news is the MyRoutes feature, which provides up to three route choices with distance and ETA calculated for all entered destinations, factoring in speed limits, construction and traffic. As you can see above, route options are displayed on a map with ETA and driving time.

read more

NAVIGON 2200T review

Navigon 2200T review

NOTE: Navigon has pulled out of the U.S. market and we are no longer recommending their receivers. Check out our auto GPS buyers guide for our current recommendations.

The Navigon 2200T is Navigon’s current entry-level model with lifetime traffic. This 3.5″ touch screen unit features text-to-speech, so you’ll hear “in one mile, turn right onto Maple Street” instead of just “in one mile, turn right.” Other features include Reality ViewTM Pro, Lane Assist Pro, speed limit display, multi-destination trip planning and DirectHelpSM. It includes maps of the 48 contiguous United States. PC Magazine has reported a fairly small number of POIs – 2 million, though I have not been able to verify that; Navigon documentation simply states that the device has “millions of POIs.”

read more

Navigon 7200T review

Navigon 7200T review

NOTE: Navigon has pulled out of the U.S. market and we are no longer recommending their receivers. Check out our auto GPS buyers guide for our current recommendations.

The Navigon 7200T updates the Navigon 7100, adding 3-D buildings and a new interface. The 4.3″ wide screen navigator comes loaded with maps of the U.S. and Canada, and has text-to-speech, so you’ll hear “in one mile, turn right onto Maple Street” instead of just “in one mile, turn right.” Other features include Bluetooth for hands-free cell phone use, lifetime traffic, voice destination entry, Reality View Pro, Lane Assist Pro, Zagat® ratings and reviews, Exit Guide and DirectHelp. Whew; this thing is loaded! But the question is, how well does it do all that? I’ll dig into those features in more detail shortly. First, let’s look at how it compares to other units in the Navigon family.

read more

Navigon 5100 review

Navigon_5100_2

NOTE: Navigon has pulled out of the U.S. market and we are no longer recommending their receivers. Check out our auto GPS buyers guide for our current recommendations.

The Navigon 5100 is Navigon’s first generation mid-range GPS device. It features lifetime traffic, Zagat ratings and the reality view / lane assist feature for major highway interchanges, as shown above. It also has a 3.5" touch screen, maps of the lower 48 United States, and text-to-speech, so you’ll get "turn left on Oak Street" rather than just "turn left."

read more

Navigon 2100 max review

Navigon_2100_max_review

NOTE: Navigon has pulled out of the U.S. market and we are no longer recommending their receivers. Check out our auto GPS buyers guide for our current recommendations.

The Navigon 2100 max upgrades the Navigon 2100 with a 4.3" wide screen and DirectHelpTM, which links to nearby services like hospitals, pharmacies and roadside assistance. Like the 2100, the 2100 max features text-to-speech, Lane Assist and Reality ViewTM (pictured above) and maps of the lower 48 United States. Amazon reports that both the 2100 and 2100 max have only 1.3 million POIs, a very low number, but I have not been able to verify that.

read more

Navigon 2100 review

Navigon_2100

NOTE: Navigon has pulled out of the U.S. market and we are no longer recommending their receivers. Check out our auto GPS buyers guide for our current recommendations.

UPDATE: The new Navigon 2100 max updates the 2100 with a 4.3″ wide screen and the DirectHelp emergency screen.

The Navigon 2100 is Navigon’s entry level GPS device. Even so, it offers text-to-speech, so you’ll get “turn left on Oak Street” rather than just “turn left.” It also has the “reality view” feature for major highway interchanges, as shown above.

read more

Navigon 7100 review

Navigon_7100_review

NOTE: Navigon has pulled out of the U.S. market and we are no longer recommending their receivers. Check out our auto GPS buyers guide for our current recommendations.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying out a Navigon 7100, a high-end unit from a relatively new player in the GPS navigation market. Navigon has distinguished itself with several novel features including their “reality view” of complex interchanges (shown above), Zagat ratings, and live traffic without any renewal fees. On top of that, the unit allows you to save locations and navigate to them by voice commands.

Dropping down to the Navigon 5100, you lose Bluetooth and voice commands.

Only rarely do I stray from the established major companies in reviewing GPS navigators, but this one was just too tempting.

read more