Destinator 9 GPS Nav system for Android

[artc33]

I kinda of wanted to pay for it but my wife says, I already let you buy the droid and a new computer.
I'm going to tell you that I live in southern california and the default gps does what its supposed to.

 

[Palmyra]

Well, guys, I'm phobic about driving on highways. Literally phobic. I know it is hard to fathom but I need to be able to pre-set avoid highways. Some of us are just nut jobs. I had a Droid and was (because of my need) so shocked that Google Navigation didin't have that feature. Then I went to app store, tried all there was, and just couldn't find a good nav system that avoided highways. Co-pilot doesn't have avoid highways either. So I had to return the phone. I've been "stalking" the internet and when Destinator 9 came out I thought, "wow - this could be it."

So I either have to pay $70 or buy a separate device or stay with my iphone which has ATT Navigator until Google Maps puts that feature on their system.

Having lived in the Washington/Baltimore area for most of my life, until last year, I can understand your phobia about highways. :icon_eek: That being said I find phone based navigation to be wanting. IMHO, based on experience, the expensive car based systems are the best. I'd put the portable GPSs such as TomTom and Magellan next and the phone ones third. The advantage of the phone based ones iis that the maps should be more frequently updated, secondary programs are available for free or little cost for POIs/restaurants/shops etc. Plus you don't look like a dork walking around town when using the phone as a GPS.

 

[SGTiger]

Illegal alien smugglers and drug runners everywhere need the avoid highways feature in Google Maps. It is much easier to avoid law enforcement if you stay on the back roads. I don't understand why Google can't see this potential marketing target.

 

[ntrddragn]

i took a trip this weekend to utah from so. cal, initially i didnt use the gps because i knew the way. When i got to Riverside there were mad traffic, so i turned on the gps and layered the traffic since i didnt know Riverside's surface street. I just took an exist and scan ahead on the maps following the freeway, even though it did tell to enter the freeway it also recalc my direction since i can see traffic on the map and didnt enter the freeway. so i kept taking the surface street until the green part on the map and then enter the freeway. so its kind of my version of 'avoidance'.
My question is if you dont get a gps signal on the droid, how can you get a gps signal on other devices like tom tom etc?

 

[crspang]

Well, guys, I'm phobic about driving on highways. Literally phobic. I know it is hard to fathom but I need to be able to pre-set avoid highways. Some of us are just nut jobs. I had a Droid and was (because of my need) so shocked that Google Navigation didin't have that feature. Then I went to app store, tried all there was, and just couldn't find a good nav system that avoided highways. Co-pilot doesn't have avoid highways either. So I had to return the phone. I've been "stalking" the internet and when Destinator 9 came out I thought, "wow - this could be it."

So I either have to pay $70 or buy a separate device or stay with my iphone which has ATT Navigator until Google Maps puts that feature on their system.

I don't mean to be a smartass here but, maybe you should see a Dr. about your phobia. I know that would be quite a bit more than $70 but your quality of life would surely improve.

 

[Erron]

Has anyone checked to see if this app does indeed store the maps on the phone? If so it's worth some consideration.

 

[Padre]

I tried the demo. It is available in the Marketplace. I installed it, then had to download a 1.5 (approx) GB file of maps etc. I installed this as instructed. After over an hour of downloads the program doesn't work. If you look at the reviews in the marketplace all but two have given it 1 star because it didn't function. It may just be the Droid it doesn't work on. Personally I think this program has issues. I tried it on my old Omnia before I got my Droid and it failed there also. I tried it multiple times and then gave up. Yes the maps are on the card. I had to clean it off.

 

[Padre]

I just received an email from Destinator. Evidently the software only supports Android 1.5 and 1.6. They say there will be an update soon that will support 2.0 and up.

 

[takeshi]

The advantage of the phone based ones iis that the maps should be more frequently updated, secondary programs are available for free or little cost for POIs/restaurants/shops etc. Plus you don't look like a dork walking around town when using the phone as a GPS.

Plus it's one less device (and all the requisite accessories) when you're traveling. I always have my Droid with me. The expensive built-in car nav won't do you much good unless it's a road trip.

I don't mean to be a smartass here but, maybe you should see a Dr. about your phobia. I know that would be quite a bit more than $70 but your quality of life would surely improve.

I don't have such a phobia but I can definitely say that my quality of life is so much better now that I don't have to use freeways at all. It just seems like an odd assumption to me that freeway usage automatically improves quality of life. The commuters around here waste amazing amounts of time in traffic.

My question is if you dont get a gps signal on the droid, how can you get a gps signal on other devices like tom tom etc?

Couldn't tell if you were referring to a prior post but it's not so much a matter of GPS signal so much as it is data coverage. Without data coverage, Google Maps/Nav is pretty useless. Standalone GPS devices have their own maps built-in and don't rely on data coverage.

Has anyone checked to see if this app does indeed store the maps on the phone? If so it's worth some consideration.

Their data sheet isn't much help.
http://www.intrinsyc.com/docs/destinator/Destinator_Smartphones.pdf

But their press release seems to indicate that it does:
http://www.intrinsyc.com/about_us/press_releases/2009/11_03_2009.aspx

With a host of new capabilities and features designed to get people to their destinations easily, quickly and safely, Destinator 9 for Android includes updated on-board maps of the US and Canada from the leading provider of navigation map data - NAVTEQ - along with rich visual content such as extended lane guidance, speed limits and 2D building footprints.

CoPilot definitely does:
http://www.alk.com/copilot/android

CoPilot's premium quality digital street maps are supplied as a one-time download for storage on your phone, rather than relying on mobile Internet connectivity. Simply choose a map region when you purchase CoPilot and download the maps to your phone via WiFi, the mobile Internet or a desktop PC. The following CoPilot Live map regions are currently available for Android phones:

Full continent map regions

• USA
• Europe

Single Region/Country maps

• UK and Ireland
• France
• DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
• Iberia (Spain, Portugal and Andorra)
• Italy
• BeNeLux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)
• Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland)

Once you have chosen your maps, you can also purchase additional map regions and download them directly to your phone.

 

[Padre]

Maps are on the device. The data download is around 1.5 GB of data.

 

[Mr Steve]

I don't mean to be a smartass here but, maybe you should see a Dr. about your phobia. I know that would be quite a bit more than $70 but your quality of life would surely improve.

I don't have such a phobia but I can definitely say that my quality of life is so much better now that I don't have to use freeways at all. It just seems like an odd assumption to me that freeway usage automatically improves quality of life. The commuters around here waste amazing amounts of time in traffic..

"Interstate highways allow you to drive coast to coast, without seeing anything". - Charles Kuralt.

"On the Road" became a regular feature on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite in 1967. Kuralt hit the road in a motor home (he wore out six before he was through) with a small crew and avoided the interstates in favor of the nation's back roads in search of America's people and their doings. When he persuaded CBS to let him try out just such an idea for three months, it turned into a quarter-century project