ALK Technologies today announced that the North American version of its CoPilot Live GPS navigation system has been approved for sale on the iPhone App Store and is available immediately for iPhone 3G and 3Gs for a one-time fee of just $34.99. Detailed street maps of USA and Canada are stored on the phone -“ not downloaded each trip, so there’s no need for extra hardware and no monthly fees.
The announcement coincides with the news that CoPilot Live has raced to become #1 paid navigation app and has moved into the top 20 of all paid apps in the United Kingdom in just 1 week since launch.
Running in portrait or landscape display mode, CoPilot Live brings full featured turn-by-turn navigation to iPhones, complete with automatic route calculation, easy to follow 3D map displays and clear turn-by-turn voice directions.
Navigating to any destination is easy with CoPilot Live on an iPhone. Simply enter a house number, street or one of millions of pre-loaded Points of Interest and it immediately works out the best route to get there.
On the road, iPhone users will enjoy guidance features previously only found in expensive standalone or in-car systems. Turn-after-Turn display shows your next turn and the one after, while variable map zoom automatically adjusts the map display depending on your speed. CoPilot can also provide continuous guidance when you lose a GPS signal in a tunnel.
In addition to guidance, CoPilot Live can use an iPhone’s mobile Internet connection to bring additional real-time information to the driver. These -˜Live’ services include a 5-day weather forecast and a location-sharing feature called CoPilot LiveLink that allows users to check to location of friends on-screen or online. Real-time traffic information and gas prices will also be available shortly as an option.
Michael Kornhauser, Vice President and Managing Director of ALK Technologies’ CoPilot Division said “We are delighted that iPhone users in North America can now enjoy CoPilot Live v8’s full-featured and affordable navigation experience. With advanced features, fluid finger touch interface and useful Live services, CoPilot Live is the premium navigation app that the iPhone deserves.”
CoPilot Live is available to buy immediately from iTunes and iPhone App Store. Special offer pricing at launch is $34.99 for maps of USA and Canada. Pricing is for unlimited use, with no on-going fees or subscriptions.
For more information about CoPilot Live visit www.copilotlive.com/iphone
Some things are too good to be true, and this is one of them.
Since purchasing CoPilot Live North America for my iPhone 3G a few days ago, I have had continued installation problems. At first, iTunes reported, repeatedly, that there was not enough space to install the application.
I freed up plenty of space. Same issue. I removed all music. Finally got a version of the app to install, with its nearly 2 GB of map data. Fair enough. App worked as advertised.
Then, today, sadly, I notice that there is an update, with integrated iPhone controls access. Nifty! I decide, with some trepidation, to try to update.
Bad, bad move.
5 hours later, after repeated app uninstalls and fresh downloads thru iTunes, after two complete iPhone restores, after multiple power cycles of both iPhone and MacBook Pro, after repeated conversations with ADK customer support, I still cannot get any version of CoPilot Live North America to install successfully.
This particular app appears to me, from an end-to-end experience design standpoint (where part of that experience is initial install on a typical platform), to be yet another triumph of form over function. Classic Donald Norman Epic Design Fail.
Stay the heck away from this application, at least for now. At least where the iPhone is concerned as a platform, ADK is not yet fully clueful.
Too bad. The app looks promising.
Now wish me well as I go try wrestle my $35 back from Apple corporation.
Hmm, interesting. I purchased in October and have updated successfully. I’ve found the app to be a great value and also well-maintained. Frequent updates, new added functionality, etc.
Well worth $35, especially if they keep updating it.