Skylaw

Verizon's software VZ Navigator functions somewhat like smaller dashboard mounted nav systems such as Garmin, Tom-Tom, and others - it is GPS based with a map display, route, voice directions, turn data, etc. The map is shown on your's phone's own display. You must allow GPS tracking of your phone for it to work (you can select when tracking is to be enabled or disabled on different days, times, etc - for privacy). You can of course activate tracking only when you want to use the nav feature.

It's about $10 per month on a subscription basis - I decided to try the free version for one month. So far, with a few minutes of use, it looks very promising. I am going to Florida shortly, flying, so my Mercedes will not be with me - I'll give it a try there.

It won't be nearly as detailed as COMAND, but it looks like it will do in a pinch. Using the Nav feature does use up air time - but I have far more than I ever use anyway.

I was experiencing battery problems with my Verizon RAZR V3c (a common problem) - took it to the tech center today - they flashed the firmware to GATW_1.15.04 as a first step to solving the problem. Formerly I had version GATW_1.15.02.

I asked the tech if they had the firmware for the new V3m (multimedia) that Verizon has been advertising - he said no. He also didn't know if my V3c or the v.04 firmware would support the VZ Navigation feature.

Well, it does! My phone lacks a sim card, but apparently has enough memory for the software (I also have the MapQuest directions and traffic info software loaded). I was not able to download the VZ Navigator software with the v.02 software, but was with the .04 - and it works great!!

It is likely that other Verizon V-Cast capable phones will be able to use this feature. Will be happy to hear if they do. Verizon ads first showed the feature with the RAZR V3m, but a new circular I got yesterday showed the feature on a non-RAZR phone.

I wonder if the voice instructions would be usable over Bluetooth in non-Nav equipped cars? Don't know, but it is intriguing.

MagicO309D

"I wonder if the voice instructions would be usable over Bluetooth in non-Nav equipped cars? Don't know, but it is intriguing."

I'm with you.

I've been using a Cingular HP 6515 with built in GPS navigation. Unlike the Verizon solution, it's not over-the-air but a stand-alone application from NavTec that I downloaded on the phone. I'm still amazed at how well it works.

Anyway, back to your question, the Navtec software defaults automatically to the HP's speakerphone and I haven't yet figured out a hack to get the audio through Bluetooth equipped MHI. If the Verizon solution also defaults to the RAZR speakerphone, you'll likely have the same issue.

Skylaw

I haven't used the software much -but I don't think airtime is constantly used in VZ Navigator; just when the phone accesses GPS. I don't have a feel yet for how often that is.

Thanks for posting your experience. The VZ software does default to the speakerphone; I haven't tried turning the speaker off (and don't have Bluetooth to check the result, anyway).

Skylaw

I promised an update, so here it is. Used the VZ Navigation during a trip to Tampa this past few days. Had a rental car, deliberately didn't get one with a nav system installed.

The navigation program works fairly well. Navigating around the phone's interface was the hard part - I suppose that using a cell phone for something it was never intended to do pushes design limits a bit - perhaps folks who do a lot of text messaging and video games would find it easier, but I found just getting to the data entry menus, then actually making the right choice of options (the descriptions are not as clear as they might be), and getting the data entered to be frustrating. Many mistakes that weren't intuitive to clear, requiring me to start over from the beginning (yes, from the phone's initial menu that appears when you first turn it on).

However, once I got the destination data entered, the actual navigation around town went fairly smoothly. The display was clear enough (but is a bit small to use while driving - so I left that task to my wife). The voice instructions were loud enough and were timely - much better than one rental company's "never lost" system (a misnomer if I ever saw one). However, the content of the instructions was often not clear - for example, I was told to "turn left onto Central Avenue," - after making the turn I was told "make a left entry onto the State Highway." In fact, the system was trying to tell me to turn onto the I-275 South entrance ramp, then proceed South on I-275. Half a block of Central Avenue had long ago become the entrance ramp (with a small connector to Central). The entrance ramp was not marked as Central Ave., and the information I needed was to proceed on I-275 South (not State Highway with no designation or direction).

There is a limited points of interest feature, but not a true "yellow pages." (Odd in a phone company's product).

In sum, it was usable - but not nearly as usable or user-friendly as my COMAND nav. It was far better than nothing, and better than the add-on nav units used by some car rental companies. My COMAND Nav uses the actual language of street and highway signs, but the VZ nav does not. It's a bit more difficult to use than COMAND, both in data entry and in understanding its verbal instructions. In a pinch, it is usable while driving. Is it worth the price? I don't travel without my car enough to make it worthwhile, but some folks might. It is certainly not a COMAND Nav replacement. The system may be more useful to someone navigating on foot in a unfamiliar town or city. There have been many times in cities when I could have used the assistance when walking from a subway station or from a hotel to a building I had never visited.