Headline Feeds
"AT&T Navigator," a turn-by-turn navigation app from AT&T, is available for US$9.99 per month at the App Store.
A good GPS car navigation system can be a time saver, a money saver, and sometimes possibly even a car-and-people saver.
I know that for some, they're incredibly annoying at best and untrustworthy at worst. For me, though, a good GPS unit is great for driving around in unfamiliar territory. It lets me concentrate more on my immediate surroundings by saving me the trouble of mentally mapping out the big picture of where I'm trying to go -- or worse, trying to flip through a Thomas Guide while driving.
AT&T (NYSE: T) has recently introduced what looks to be the first turn-by-turn navigation system for the iPhone: AT&T Navigator.
Always Connected
Since it uses GPS, this app will only work on 3G and 3GS models -- first-gen iPhones need not apply. Also, you'll need to have iPhone OS 3.0 software. You'll probably want a car charger, too, because this app burns through battery power.
AT&T Navigator is free to download but not free to use. The first time you start it up, you'll have to go through some fairly simple set-up steps. Once you're finished, you've started a subscription that represents this app's real cost: You'll get charged an extra $10 per month on your wireless bill until you cancel.
While most dedicated navigation devices from companies like Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) and TomTom charge a one-time price for the unit, this by-the-month subscription price is often used by mobile carriers that offer nav services on smartphones. This recurring fee buys you real-time information.
AT&T Navigator's maps stay up to date, searching for a business gets you better and more current information, and the nav's routing system can take into account current traffic conditions. Its features work in conjunction with other iPhone features. As you search for a business you want to drive to, for instance, you can hit a button to instantly call it. It even has a feature for directing you toward the cheapest gas station in town.
With dedicated units that don't have wireless connection capabilities, getting new information usually involves taking it inside and hooking it up to your computer for an update every few months. Even then, the information it downloads usually isn't as thorough as what can be found on a wireless, subscription-based navigator.
Knotty Navigation
AT&T Navigator is an able information gofer. However, its ability to actually navigate just doesn't compare to even a low-cost dedicated unit. While I have a few bones to pick with my nuvi (the diminutive, no-frills navigator that's been sitting on the corner of my windshield for nearly two years), the act of trying to get around town by taking AT&T Navigator's directions renewed my appreciation for the little Garmin guy.
AT&T Navigator's ability to track my actual location seemed to come and go. While driving around normally, it sometimes knew exactly where I was; sometimes it appeared to think I'd stopped a half-mile back.
It's also often slow to wake up. When you first turn it on, it's normal for any nav unit to take a minute to find the right satellites and figure out which direction you're going, but after a few minutes of driving, the AT&T app seemed to think I was on a completely different road -- one that I hadn't actually driven on during this trip. This didn't happen all the time, and when it did it eventually righted itself, but I couldn't figure out what exactly caused it.
One consistent shortcoming was the lag I experienced when the app rerouted me. Say you want to get across town, but on the way you miss a turn, make a side trip, or just think you know a better way to get to the freeway. Like most navigators, AT&T's app will automatically recalculate your route to get you back on track. However, unless I was driving in some pretty slow-moving traffic, it couldn't think quickly enough. It kept telling me to turn on roads I'd already passed -- which necessitated another round of recalculating, and another missed turn because it was too slow again. This kept going on until I came to a red light, pulled over, or hit slower traffic.
I should note here that I tried all of this out on a 3G model; the 3GS has a faster processor, which might solve this issue.
Some smaller problems:
- Weird detour: At one point, I was told to take three side streets to get to a main street on which I was already driving. And the app knew I was already on North Hollywood Way; it just wanted me to take a U-shaped detour that ended up back on North Hollywood Way. This was after a lot of rerouting. Maybe it was stressed out.
- Setting courses: Sometimes you don't know the street number of where you want to go, but you're able to point it out on a map. AT&T Navigator will let you scan an overhead map, but you can't just point to a place, say "I want to go to there" and have it immediately route you. Instead, you'll have to write down a nearby cross street, go back to the "Drive To" function, then hit "Intersection."
- Garbled voice: The vocalized turn-by-turn directions sound distorted. I know the iPhone's speakers can do better than this. Oh well, at least the voice stays quiet during long stretches of freeway. There's nothing quite like driving 200 miles while being reminded every three minutes to stay on the 101.
Doing One Thing, Doing It Well
Perhaps this all sounds like minor quibbling. After all, this thing does accomplish what it advertises -- it gives you turn-by-turn directions from Point A to Point B, and since it's Web-connected, it can get real-time info. If you've never used a full-time nav system before, this beats using a folded-up paper map or a list of jotted-down directions.
But if you're used to using a dedicated, always-on-your-windshield nav system, the actual tracking capabilities of AT&T Navigator will feel weak and slow next to the smooth operation of something like a Garmin.
Right now, I'm seeing prices for decent nav systems on Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) at just over $100. That represents about 10 months of paying for AT&T's nav app. These no-frills systems obviously don't have the real-time information capabilities that the iPhone app has. But if you already have an iPhone, I'd recommend using Safari, Maps, and a few free apps for getting your traffic, cheap gas and other info, then just tell one of these low-cost dedicated nav systems where you want to go.
Talkback: 
