REVIEW: AT&T Navigator by Telenav GPS (and how it compares to Gokivo)

[bmms8]

I've been using G-Maps US East for about a week now and I don't see anything that either of these apps do that G-Maps doesn't.

Is it that people feel better paying a monthly fee?

i still agree that g-maps is a great maps solution. if something like the 3.0 youtube video comes out, there is no way tom tom will get my money, even if it is a better product. it cost me $20. the ease of use with functionality is great!

 

[lssmit02]

Did you happen to experience any areas with no service and have anything odd happen with the navigation?

After the 2nd time it locked up, I tried to see if it was tied to the signal strength, but it didn't seem to be that. I had the phone set for 3G and data roaming (I got a error message from the program that I didn't have this turned on). The last time, I was in an area that had 3g service, so the wireless connection didn't seem to be the cause. However, I certainly thought this was the culprit the first time, because I was in between Cincinnati and Columbus when it locked up.

 

[lssmit02]

i still agree that g-maps is a great maps solution. if something like the 3.0 youtube video comes out, there is no way tom tom will get my money, even if it is a better product. it cost me $20. the ease of use with functionality is great!

Do you miss text to speech?

 

[Tunnelrunner]

I've been using G-Maps US East for about a week now and I don't see anything that either of these apps do that G-Maps doesn't.

Is it that people feel better paying a monthly fee?

G-Map is a decent app but to say it's on par with Telenav is kind of silly (no disrespect intended). Though it needs some tweaking (as all apps do) Telenav is a far more polished GPS app compared to G-Map, which still has a "beta" feel to it: no text to speech, no real-time traffic re-routing, no iPod integration, etc. Don't get me wrong: G-Map has shown great improvements since 1.0, but it can't compare to Telenav, TomTom, Garmin, etc. Cheaper isn't always better; you get what you pay for.

Now if the Tap Critic video version of G-Map ever comes out, then that might be a different story...

 

[lssmit02]

ATTN still better than Sygic, since update?

@Tunnelrunner, just read your review of Sygic since the update. I take it you still feel that ATTN is superior?

@avaloncourt, I had a better experience today with ATTN - no lock ups over a 5 hour drive. I assume now that my lock ups on Monday and Tuesday were due to loss of a cellular signal.

Other than the lock ups, two other frustrations I had with ATTN were the voice - they need to pump up the volume - and what I thought was a poor route choice. Driving from Liberty State Park in NJ, heading to Mystic, CT, it routed me on the West Side Highway on Manhattan, rather than the more logical NJ turnpike. It seems like ATTN assumes best case scenario for travel times on routes with traffic lights, which makes it more likely it will choose local roads if they are more direct. With the amount of congestion on the local roads in the NY/NJ area, this seems to me to be a poor choice.

Because the program seems to lock up when a cellular signal is lost, I am seriously considering the Sygic program instead. However, I would rather choose Navigon MobileNavigator, actually (had a decent experience with MobileNavigator Europe when it first came out), but I'm in the middle of a trip, and need a more reliable program now. I may just stick with ATTN for now because I'm in a part of the country where 3G coverage is pervasive, and may avoid the problems I experienced in central Ohio and Pennsylvania.

 

[Tunnelrunner]

@Tunnelrunner, just read your review of Sygic since the update. I take it you still feel that ATTN is superior?

I do. But again, my experiences are based in Illinois around Chicago and the surrounding counties, suburbs, towns, etc. I haven't had a problem getting a signal but of course, we don't live in the same part of the country.

IMHO, until TomTom and Navigon arrive in the US, the best *overall* GPS option is still ATTN (at least for me). Or until Sygic includes full text to voice and contacts/ipod integration. Or until G-Map unleashes the full 3.0 version promised in the Tap Critic video (btw, I got an e-mail reply back from Sean of XRoad and for what it's worth...he said he believes that version "will be done within a month." But they've made promises like that before...).

 

[samab]

Driving from Liberty State Park in NJ, heading to Mystic, CT, it routed me on the West Side Highway on Manhattan, rather than the more logical NJ turnpike. It seems like ATTN assumes best case scenario for travel times on routes with traffic lights, which makes it more likely it will choose local roads if they are more direct. With the amount of congestion on the local roads in the NY/NJ area, this seems to me to be a poor choice.

AT&T Navigator DO come with live traffic information and automatic live traffic re-routing. So maybe it choose local roads because the main roads were reported to be congested.

 

[lssmit02]

AT&T Navigator DO come with live traffic information and automatic live traffic re-routing. So maybe it choose local roads because the main roads were reported to be congested.

That's what I thought, and so I followed the suggested route through the Holland Tunnel onto Manhattan. And then I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on a local road where I averaged around 5 mph. The turnpike would have had to be pretty backed up to be as bad. But as you suggest, it could have been!

 

[Ronnoco]

I am testing out the ATT app. I downloaded from the app store but then read about the 30 day free trial if you get it from ATT. I called and asked for the trial and they said no problem.
Do any of you know if I have the iPhone plugged into my iPod integration system on my 2008 Mercedes will I be able to hear the Navigator voice thru the sound system?

 

[Vandam500]

I am testing out the ATT app. I downloaded from the app store but then read about the 30 day free trial if you get it from ATT. I called and asked for the trial and they said no problem.
Do any of you know if I have the iPhone plugged into my iPod integration system on my 2008 Mercedes will I be able to hear the Navigator voice thru the sound system?

Yes you will. It will be playing your iPod music and when the GPS talks to you it pauses the music and when its finished talking it resumes.

 

[Ronnoco]

Yes you will. It will be playing your iPod music and when the GPS talks to you it pauses the music and when its finished talking it resumes.

Thank you I will try it out today..I was disappoiinted because it seems to only play the iPod audio but I DO hear the mail sound and text sound through the speakers but not the ringtone when the phone rings and it is connected via Bluetooth...
I seems that going through a mp3 jack (audio out through the headphone jack gets all the audio on the iPhone but my Mercedes iPod integration cable in the glove box (30pin connector) is much more selective in what audio it runs through the sound system...

 

[Ronnoco]

ok...gave this a try today and as you said, the AT&T-Nav voice came through the sound system when it needed to advise me (a little too often IMO) however, I was listening to Leo Laporte's Tech Guy Podcast at the time and the podcast volume didn't mute or even attenuate as the Nav voice just talked right over it albeit much louder than the Podcast volume so I had no problem hearing it...
I wonder if this is a bug that will be addressed in an update of just an incompatibility with the Mercedes iPod Integration System?

 

[Tunnelrunner]

ok...gave this a try today and as you said, the AT&T-Nav voice came through the sound system when it needed to advise me (a little too often IMO) however, I was listening to Leo Laporte's Tech Guy Podcast at the time and the podcast volume didn't mute or even attenuate as the Nav voice just talked right over it albeit much louder than the Podcast volume so I had no problem hearing it...
I wonder if this is a bug that will be addressed in an update of just an incompatibility with the Mercedes iPod Integration System?

Probably an incompatibility issue with your Mercedes iPod Integration System. I just use a generic FM player/charger (ie: Belkin Tunecast or Griffin itrip) plugged into the car charger -- the music mutes/pauses when voice prompts are announced.

On another subject, it bears repeating: say what you will about ATTN's monthly fee, but it does have one benefit: the best POI database of all the iPhone GPS apps available. There's a restaurant that just opened up 4 months ago that we went to today...of Navigon, G-Map, Sygic, and ATTN, only ATTN had it stored in it's POI. So it does appear that Telenav updates it's database pretty frequently.

 

[Vandam500]

ok...gave this a try today and as you said, the AT&T-Nav voice came through the sound system when it needed to advise me (a little too often IMO) however, I was listening to Leo Laporte's Tech Guy Podcast at the time and the podcast volume didn't mute or even attenuate as the Nav voice just talked right over it albeit much louder than the Podcast volume so I had no problem hearing it...
I wonder if this is a bug that will be addressed in an update of just an incompatibility with the Mercedes iPod Integration System?

Thats definitely a bug/incompatibility with your system. I suggest you try using the AUX port on your stereo directly to your iPhone and you will see how it works.

 

[Ronnoco]

Thats definitely a bug/incompatibility with your system. I suggest you try using the AUX port on your stereo directly to your iPhone and you will see how it works.

Unfortunately for me the iPod Integration 30 pin cable replaces the Aux jack...I'll just use it as it is...I could CLEARLY hear the ATT voice so it does indeed work...thank you for your help...