La guerra de navegadores GPS para el iPhone ya ha comenzado!
Con la salida del OS 3.0 para el iPhone a principios de año, se permitió el desarrollo de aplicaciones de navegación GPS (turn by turn) o en carretera para este dispositivo móvil. Desde entonces, han ido apareciendo diversas aplicaciones en la AppStore, por desgracia casi ninguna de ellas dispone de una versión demo, con lo que los usuarios tienen difícil poder tomar la decisión de compra adecuada.
Gracias al trabajo de Matthew Morley (MaFt), Mike Alder & Darren Griffin de PocketGPSWorld.com, ahora disponemos de una tabla comparativa ‘viva’ (se actualiza periódicamente) con las características de las principales aplicaciones que hay actualmente en el mercado.
Ten en cuenta que algunas aplicaciones muy recientes o poco populares no estarán en la comparativa, y que para conocer las características de las últimas actualizaciones disponibles es recomendable visitar la AppStore.
Yo personalmente pienso esperarme unos meses, leyendo los comentarios de los primeros usuarios hay opiniones para todos los gustos y muy polarizadas, y esto quiere decir que todas las aplicaciones tienen fallos potenciales y muchos detalles que mejorar todavía.
Con la reciente llegada del conocido TomTom para el iPhone, la batalla no ha hecho más que comenzar… Por cierto, a esta conocida aplicación también le quedan cosas por mejorar y algunos usuarios no están nada contentos con ella. Con el futuro CarKit de TomTom se mejorará la recepción de la señal GPS dentro del vehículo y tal vez sea compatible con otras aplicaciones, pero la cuestión que se plantea es:
¿valdrá la pena pagar el precio total (aplicación con mapas + CarKit) para disfrutar de una navegación en el iPhone, o será mucho más rentable y fiable usar el tradicional GPS de coche?
En mi opinión hay que esperar a que el mercado madure un poco más, aumente la compentencia, se mejoren las aplicaciones y bajen los precios… mientras tanto es preferible un GPS de coche antes que la aplicación para el iPhone. Además, para mí es muy importante poder meterle mano a la aplicación, añadiendo POIs (como radares) y voces personalizadas, y esto todavía no es del todo posible con las aplicaciones actuales.
¿Cuál es tu opinión al respecto, has probado algunas de estas aplicaciones? Puedes dejar tus comentarios…
A continuación os pongo una copia de la tabla comparativa disponible en el momento de escribir este artículo. Estaría bien que alguien se animara a hacer una versión española de la misma, incluyendo precios en Euros y cobertura de mapas de Iberia y Europa.
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Navigon
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Sygic Mobile Maps 2009 |
iGO My Way
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Co-Pilot
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Maps
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Roadee
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TomTom
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Icon |
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Current Version |
1.1.0 | 7.71.1 | 1.0.0 | 8.0.0.331 | N/A | 1.1 | 1.0 |
Price (£GBP) |
UK
£52.99 Europe £59.99 US £39.99 Australia £32.99 |
Sale Prices: UK & ROI £29.99 Europe £52.99 America £39.99 Australia & New Zealand £37.99 US £29.99 Russia £52.99 SE Asia £39.99 Brazil £59.99 |
Western Europe £52.99Europe £69.99
North America £44.99 |
UK
£25.99
US £20.99 |
Free | £1.19 | UK £ 59.99
Western Europe
US & Canada
Australia
New Zealand |
App Size |
British Isles 233MBEurope 1.67GB
North America 1.29GB Australia 218MB |
UK & ROI
258MB Europe 1.81GB America 1.62GB Australia & New Zealand 204MB US 1.43GB Russia 164MB SE Asia 237MB Brazil 234MB |
Western Europe 1.01GBEurope 1.39GB
North America 970MB |
United Kingdom 215MB
North America 1.12GB |
N/A | 5.1MB | UK & ROI 241MB
Western Europe 1.44GB US & Canada 1.21GB Australia 157MB New Zealand 85.6MB |
Main Map Provider |
NavTeq | TeleAtlas | NavTeq | NavTeq
(ALK Maps in USA) |
OSM / Google | TeleAtlas | |
Map Version |
2008/2009 | 2009 | 2009.Q1 | 2009 | N/A | N/A | 2009.Q1 (v830) |
Map Regions |
British Isles
Europe North America Australia |
UK & ROI
Europe America Australia & New Zealand US SE Asia Brazil |
Western Europe
Europe North America |
United Kingdom
North America |
Worldwide (offboard maps) | Worldwide (offboard maps) | UK & ROI
Western Europe US & Canada Australia New Zealand |
Map Updates |
Unknown | Unknown | Free quarterly | Unknown | Whenever Google update! | OSM – daily updates | Unknown |
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Navigon
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Sygic Mobile Maps 2009 |
iGO My Way
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Co-Pilot
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Maps
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Roadee
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TomTom
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Spoken Directions |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Text to Speech (TTS) |
Limited to road numbers.
Full TTS due late Summer. |
Limited to road numbers | Coming Soon | No | No | Yes | No |
Alerts Mute / Pause / Lower Music |
Yes Lowers volume |
No | No But ‘Boost’ function helps |
No But voice is audible over music |
N/A | Sound stops music completely | Yes Pauses then restarts |
2D View |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
3D View |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
3D Landmarks |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Points of Interest (POI) |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Google Search) | Yes | Yes |
Call POI |
Yes | No | No | Coming Soon | Yes | No | Yes |
Show Road Speed |
Yes | Yes | Yes (only if speeding) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Overspeed Warning |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes (visual only) |
Road Sign Display |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Custom POI |
Yes (if jailbroken) | Yes (if jailbroken) | No | No | Yes (if jailbroken) | ||
Custom POI Alerts |
No | Yes (if jailbroken) | No | No | No | No | |
Speed Cameras |
Yes | Some | No | Coming Soon | No | No | Yes(fixed only) |
PGPSW Speed Cameras |
Yes (if jailbroken) | Coming soon (if jailbroken) | Yes (if jailbroken) | No | No | Yes (if jailbroken) No warnings | |
Add / Remove Favourites |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ‘Home’ only | Yes |
7-Digit Postcode Search (UK) |
No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (limited to OSM capabilities) | Yes |
QWERTY Keyboard |
Yes | Yes | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Navigate to Contact |
Yes | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes but doesn’t work! |
Itinerary / Waypoints |
Yes. | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | One single via |
Avoid Roads / Detour |
Yes Detour |
No | Yes Avoid Roads |
No | No | Yes | |
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Navigon
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Sygic Mobile Maps 2009 |
iGO My Way
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Co-Pilot
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Maps
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Roadee
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TomTom
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Vehicle Types (for routing) |
5 Car / Motorbike Lorry / Bicycle / Pedestrian/ |
3 Car / Pedestrian / Bicycle |
6 Car / Pedestrian / Bicycle / Emergency / Bus / Taxi |
5 Automobile / RV (Motor Home) / Motorbike / Bicycle / Walking |
3 Car / Transit / Walking |
3 Car / Bicycle / By foot |
None (based upon routing type instead) |
Route Types |
4 Fast / Optimum / Short / Scenic |
5 Fastest / Economic / Shortest / Pedestrian / Bicycle |
4 Fast / Short / Economical / Easy |
User Definable | None | 2 Fastest / Shortest |
(6) Fastest Shortest Avoid Motorway Walking Bicycle Limited Speed |
Route Options |
4 Motorways / Toll Roads / Ferries / Resident Only Streets |
Toll roads / Avoid U-Turns | Unpaved Roads / Ferries / Per Use Toll / Period Charge / Motorways | Tolls / Ferries / Scenic / Congestion Zones | None | None | (5) Toll Road Ferry Crossing HOV Lanes Unpaved roads IQ Routes (on/ off) |
Traffic |
TMC due late Summer | No | Coming Soon | Coming Soon (Charge applies) | Yes | No | No |
Configurable Map Colours |
No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Night Mode |
Yes | Yes (Auto) | Yes (Auto) | Yes(Auto) | No | Yes (Manual) | Yes (Manual) |
Configurable Pointer |
No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Time to Launch App (approx) |
23secs | 12secs | 38secs | 11secs | 3secs | 3secs | 10secs |
Relaunch Remembers Destination |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Coming Soon | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Auto Portrait / Landscape |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No Landscape View | Yes (but not during routing) | Yes |
iPhone Gestures |
Yes | Coming Soon | Some | Some | Yes | Yes | Yes (menu and map browse) |
iPod Control |
Coming Soon | No | Coming Soon | No | No | No | No |
Other Features |
Customise screen layout. Rail crossing warning. World clock, calculator, unit convertor, country info |
Where am I. Help nearby. |
Traffic (coming soon). Live link (buddy tracking and messaging). Weather. Road side assit. |
Uses compass on 3GS. | Head-up and North-up modes. | IQ Routes-II TomTom Car kit (coming soon) |
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Quirks / Tips |
To turn off the disclaimer if Jailbroken:
edit the settings.ini file in the .app bundle – showSafetyMsg =true (change to false). |
Turn off the annoying beeps on every button press at ‘Settings > Sound and Warnings > Key Sounds’ | Go to ‘Settings > Show more options’ to all options. Create custom routing profile for more accurate routes and times. |
Can use custom Navigation voices if Jailbroken | |||
Pros |
Best adaptation of iPhone gestures / menus | Comprehensive range of maps | Free map updates. Has the smoothest portrait-landscape transition |
Price / value for money. Loads of voices available. |
Integrated in iPhone software | Uses Open Source Maps so map updates are fast. Good support forum and constantly in development. Cheap. |
Easy to use interface IQ Routes |
Cons |
Fairly long load time. Limited to 4-digit post code. Lack of POI warnings. |
‘Agree’ to disclaimer on every launch. Doesn’t feel like an iPhone app (lack of gestures support) – will be added in future update. |
Doesn’t feel like an iPhone app (lack of gestures support). Long load time. |
No QWERTY keyboard (yet). Default routing profile leads to poor routes and innacurate times. |
Very limited functions. | TTS doesn’t sound great. Offborad maps requires constant data connection. Still quite buggy. Not all areas are fully mapped. |
No custom POI support other than view on map No custom POI warnings No TTS No Lane Guidance No Live services Nav to contacts doesn’t work |
Fuente: iPhone Navigation App Comparison
Last updated: 09:56, 19th August 2009
Comparison chart by Matthew Morley (MaFt), Mike Alder & Darren Griffin
A continuación un vídeo sobre el CarKit de TomTom: