VZNavigator 4.1 on Blackberry Curve

Some time ago I wrote a piece about VZNavigator that I had been using on my cell phone for the past several years. Last spring I traded in my cell phone for a Blackberry Curve and was looking forward to using the latest version of VZNavigator on my Blackberry only to find out that version 4.1 of VZNavigator was not currently available. It did take a couple of months for VZNavigator to come out on the Blackberry Curve and but I am happy to report that I have been using it for several months now and really enjoying it. VZNavigator 4.1 uses the Networks in Motion -Traffic Enhanced version which also provides real time traffic information. VZNavigator provides turn by turn service with text to speech which I have found to be very accurate. GPS is one of those really amazing technologies that has made my life so much easier. I am able to store my favorite locations on the Blackberry and recall them when I need them. When I am near a computer I can also log onto my VZNavigator account and do a search and send the address to my Blackberry phone which I can then save to my Favorites. Having the accompanying web site really makes the whole process so much easier. It makes it easier for me to plan my trips and enter the information on my computer and then I can send it to my Blackberry. With VZNavigator4.1 I am now able to view my street maps in a 3D mode which really helps me when I am navigating. You will find the text to speech quality to be very good as is the volume. VZNavigator 4.1 also provides you with real time weather, gas prices as well as a full directory of points of interest. So if you are on a Verizon plan check it out. There is a $9.99 a month charge for the service but for someone who is on the road and wants enhanced traffic information and doesn't want to have to deal with another device it is a good deal.

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Posted in: VZNavigator,VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced

Moving to the Blackberry Curve

With my 2 year contract up with Verizon it was now time to take the plunge and move up to a Smartphone. As much as I would have liked to have a iPhone- I'm just not sure that the ATT's coverage is as good in the mountains of New Jersey as is Verizon's coverage. So I stayed with Verizon and waited for the release of the Blackberry Curve complete with a 2 Megapixel camera. After using it for a week I am very impressed with its features and functionality. I have been a long time Palm user and have enjoyed the ability to enter contacts and keep my schedule up to date. My first challenge was to move my contacts and calendar from my Macbook. Research in Motion makes PocketMac available for Mac users which allows you to Synch your tasks, calendar, and contacts from your Mac. After initially having a false start, I did some research to find that there was a new driver for the newer Smartphones. Once I installed the driver I was able to use Apple Synch technology and I was able to move all of my contacts and my schedule to my Blackberry Curve. I now have a very powerful phone complete with internet and email capability along with my contacts and schedule. I can now synch my Curve with my Mac with confidence.

The Curve is a very powerful smartphone with its true strength in the area of emailing. It was a cinch to set up my email accounts on the Curve and within seconds I was receiving my emails from three different email accounts. The Curve easily opened my PDF's and Word attachments which I could zoom in to read. My only disappointment is that the latest version of VZNavigator-Traffic Enhanced, which I recently blogged about does not currently run on the Curve. When I called Verizon they informed me that it would be available but there was no time frame given for its release. While I can use the older version of VZNavigator there are a lot of missing features which I really enjoyed using. Having a larger screen on the Curve makes using the VZNavigator much more enjoyable. So far using the Curve has been a very pleasant experience and having access to GPS, internet, email, contacts and schedule in one package has really been wonderful!

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Posted in: Blackberry Curve,Curve,GPS,Verizon,VZNavigator

VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced Version Released

I have been using VZNavigator on my cell phone for the past 2 years and have been very pleased with the service. For those of you who may not be familiar with VZNavigator it is a GPS service that you can subscribe to on the Verizon Wireless network. I have blogged about VZNavigator service earlier this year and was excited to find out that VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced service has just been released. When I went to use VZNavigator just the other day, I was informed that there was an update available to download, which I did. Once I installed the update, VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced was installed. VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced was developed by Networks in Motion and provides complete location based services with traffic alerts which were developed based on historical and real time data. I am very impressed with this update for many reasons. For one, I can now use the 3D perspective which provides a much more fluid and dynamic view of the road. The screen has been redesigned and provides additional information about congestion and delays- showing a bar with the colors green, yellow and red. But more importantly, I can now get real time alerts sent to me that let me know when there is an accident or congestion head. With a click of a button on my cell phone I you can hit the Detour softkey button and be rerouted. The turn by turn audio and new screen design has made this and incredibly feature rich GPS device. VZNavigtor Traffic Enhanced now adds real time weather forecast for your GPS location along with a database of Movies and Events in your GPS area. While I do love my gadgets, I am trying to simply my life and having a powerful and user friendly GPS service like VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced on my phone makes a lot of sense. When I move up to a Blackberry Curve later next week I can then take advantage of the larger screen- now that will be nice!

Here is a list of the additions and features of VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced that I pulled from the Networks in Motions website:

• Traffic Integration – Customers in 75 cities can access routes that are calculated using both historical and real-time reported traffic information. Historical information allows customers to see on average whether the traffic is impacted by traffic lights, heavy traffic or school zones. Incident and flow information tells customers how traffic is flowing and includes details about reported accidents, disabled vehicles and congestion. VZ Navigator′s historical data covers over 750,000 miles of roads in 48 states. The traffic tracking center continually monitors conditions along the customers' routes, sending proactive alerts to drivers about conditions ahead of them on their chosen routes. Detour options allow users to compare estimated times of arrival and conditions before selecting a new route.
• Local Movies and Events– Customers can now search for show times, critics' ratings and other details for movies, concerts, plays, sporting events, and other social events based on the physical location of their phones.
• 3D Perspective View – Enhances navigation by displaying maps from angles customers would see through car windshields, making it easier to visualize turn-by-turn directions.
• Gas Finder – Provides customers with information on the location of gas stations close to their physical locations and even provides gas prices as reported by many gas stations in the area. Once a customer selects a station, VZ Navigator can also provide turn-by-turn directions to the selected gas station.
• Weather – Provides current weather conditions and forecasts based on the physical location of the customer's phone without manually inputting an address.

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Posted in: Networks in Motion,VZNavigator,VZNavigator Traffic Enhanced

GPS Navigation on your Mobile Phone

I came across this article today and had been thinking of doing a post on my use of VZNavigator service on my cell phone. I have been a user of VZNavigator for nearly two years and would not be without it. VZNavigator provides turn by turn navigation on my GPS enabled cell phone and is a service of Verizon Wireless. While the screen is small, VZNavigator uses the most of the real estate and provides great visual feedback as you are driving. VZNavigator provides you with a high quality voice with full text to speech as you proceed on your route. If you make a wrong turn VZNavigator will quickly recalculate your route and get you back on track. VZNavigator provides you with the distance to your destination and how much time it will take you to get there. While there have been times when I thought about buying a standalone GPS unit I have deferred the purchase thinking about one more gadget that I need to feed. Having my cell phone on me all of the time gives me reason to continue the service. It is convenient and works. In addition to providing turn by turn directions you can search for points of interest and have VZNavigator map where you are. In the past couple of months VZNavigator has included tighter integration with the web which allows you to access your Favorites as well as add new addresses to your Favorites list via the web and have it synch with your phone. This is a powerful feature and one that makes it easier to enter new addresses to navigate to. I usually go to the VZNavigator web site at the beginning of the week and enter any new addresses via the web site and then synch it with my cell phone. While VZNavigator costs me $9.99 a month I for one feel the service is well worth the expense. It is incredible how empowering it is to have GPS on your phone and have access to it 24/7.

JANUARY 2, 2008

According to a survey conducted by Leo J. Shapiro and Associates, US mobile phone users ranked their desire for GPS navigation on their devices higher than Internet access.

In the survey, 24% of respondents wanted their next mobile phone to be GPS-capable, and only 19% wanted Internet access.

Mobile phones today occupy a small share of the GPS market.

Only 6% of GPS-device owners had a GPS-enabled phone, compared with 51% who had portable GPS devices and 39% who had GPS devices in their cars.

But global positioning systems may bypass the early-adopter stage.

"Our research is finding the purchase and use of GPS-enabled devices is not confined to segments of the population in which 'early adopters' are generally concentrated—the young, highly educated or affluent," said Owen Shapiro of Leo J. Shapiro and Associates.

"Today's GPS-enabled devices are being widely adopted among the middle-aged and elderly," Shapiro said.

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Posted in: GPS,Verizon,VZNavigator