Just speaking from my own preference when using sat-nav systems, I think "text to speech" capability (ie: the ability of the GPS to actually say the names of street names, highways, etc.) is kind of a must-have feature for any GPS software. It allows you to almost not have to look at the GPS at all so you can keep your eyes glued to the road.
As far as I know, neither TomTom nor Navigon have confirmed or denied that their apps will have "text to speech" capability. Maybe they will, maybe they won't or maybe they won't have it initially but will feature "text to speech" as a software update in the future -- we just won't know until they launch this month. I know in the TomTom demonstration last week, the software told us to "bare right at the next turn (paraphrasing)" but IIRC, it didn't say the name of the street. I do remember Telenav's service on other mobile phones having text to speech.
So just for now, that leaves only G-Map (the forgotten app who's been lost in the shuffle with all the recent media coverage going to TomTom, Navigon, and Telenav) as the only 3.0 *confirmed* GPS app that will have text to speech capability -- again, this doesn't mean that TomTom and Navigon won't have it either...they just haven't confirmed or denied yet. Very soon, an iPhone user is going to have to look at all the dozen (s) different GPS apps in the App Store, and I think "text to speech" is an important feature that's going to factor heavily in making the decision.
As far as I know, neither TomTom nor Navigon have confirmed or denied that their apps will have "text to speech" capability. Maybe they will, maybe they won't or maybe they won't have it initially but will feature "text to speech" as a software update in the future -- we just won't know until they launch this month. I know in the TomTom demonstration last week, the software told us to "bare right at the next turn (paraphrasing)" but IIRC, it didn't say the name of the street. I do remember Telenav's service on other mobile phones having text to speech.
So just for now, that leaves only G-Map (the forgotten app who's been lost in the shuffle with all the recent media coverage going to TomTom, Navigon, and Telenav) as the only 3.0 *confirmed* GPS app that will have text to speech capability -- again, this doesn't mean that TomTom and Navigon won't have it either...they just haven't confirmed or denied yet. Very soon, an iPhone user is going to have to look at all the dozen (s) different GPS apps in the App Store, and I think "text to speech" is an important feature that's going to factor heavily in making the decision.
