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Garmin Introduces New $0.99 iPhone GPS App with Cheap Subscription

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In an effort to attract users to premium GPS navigation, Garmin, the GPS navigation leader, is wooing customers to its new Garmin Street Pilot onDemand iPhone app, which works much in the same way as Google Maps with Navigation on Android or subscription-based TeleNav, for a low entry price point of just $0.99. The $0.99 purchase price will give you the app along with a trial 30-day subscription to voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation mapping with your iPhone. If users want to continue using the app past the 30-day trial, the monthly subscription cost is $2.99 per month compared with roughly about $10 for TeleNav.

The neat thing about the Garmin GPS app that the Garmin/Navigon folks demoed for me when I had met with them in San Francisco, California is that it supports multi-modal navigation, allowing you to start your route by car, then walk, then move to public transportation as needed, utilizing various modes of transportation on a single route without having to stop and start your navigation again. There’s also 3D landmarks, Google Local Search, and realistic Junction View to help you navigate highway intersections.

The app utilizes the familiar Garmin interface so if you’re a user of the traditional Garmin PNP, you’ll be familiar with the app. The onDemand solution is a nice alternative to infrequent travelers compared more costly solutions that require a $40-$80 up-front investment to purchase the maps. Additionally, as the maps are pulled from the cloud when users use the app, the maps will always be up to date, though users will need an active data connection to navigate.

Users who want longer-term subscriptions can get the app for a year for $30, or during an initial promotional period for just $15 for the year.

Press Release:

New Garmin® StreetPilot® onDemand iPhone app 
offers premium navigation starting at $.99
OLATHE, Kan./August 31, 2011/Business Wire – Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced that its new StreetPilot onDemand iPhone app is now available in the Apple App Store. Rounding out Garmin’s diverse range of guidance options, StreetPilot onDemand provides iPhone users convenient navigation for walking or driving when they need it, with an initial $.99 download that includes 30 days of premium features. It is the first iPhone navigation app to include multimodal pedestrian routing, with bus and train transit schedules in many major cities. Additional premium features include spoken turn-by-turn guidance with street names, representation of 3D buildings and landmarks, traffic rerouting, photoReal™ Junction View and Google Local Search, among many others.
“Our new StreetPilot onDemand app is the perfect solution for anyone who occasionally needs navigation but still is looking for a premium experience and precise directions. There is nothing comparable in the App Store today,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “By including multimodal pedestrian routing, our new app is especially helpful for users in urban areas. The app seamlessly provides directions in the car and integrates public transportation when getting directions by foot.”
With the new multimodal pedestrian routing offered in StreetPilot onDemand, users can choose to integrate public transportation into their route. It is the first turn-by-turn iPhone navigation app that integrates train or bus schedules in the cities in which this service is available. Users can navigate to a destination from their current position (or set a different starting location), and the app provides turn-by-turn directions including a detailed itinerary of transit stops and instructions for walking to and from a bus or train stop. Beautifully rendered 3D buildings and landmarks make it even easier for pedestrians to find their destination.
The app also is a comprehensive driving assistant that integrates many of the signature features for which Garmin is known. This includes spoken turn-by-turn directions, photoReal junction views that show a realistic depiction of the junction as well as lane guidance and real-time traffic information that automatically routes drivers around gridlock. Users can easily find points of interest using Garmin’s extensive database or Google Local Search. A new functionality suggests points of interest based on the users search history to provide faster and more relevant search results. The app also warns drivers when exceeding the speed limit and even provides an overview of the weather conditions at the destination, complete with a five day forecast.
The Garmin StreetPilot onDemand app integrates an extremely easy to use interface that is customized for the iPhone. It stores the maps and points of interest in the cloud, so they are always up-to-date. The comprehensive map options allow users to easily enable or disable features displayed on the map such as traffic information, 3D buildings and landmarks or points of interest.
Garmin StreetPilot onDemand is available in the Apple App Store for $.99 and includes turn-by-turn, voice prompted navigation and traffic rerouting for 30 days in the United States and Canada. Users can extend this initial period by subscribing on a monthly ($2.99) or annual ($29.99) basis. Garmin offers a special introductory price of $19.99 for the yearly subscription from August 31, 2011, to September 14, 2011. Even without a subscription, users can still view maps, lookup points of interest and create routes. A subscription is required for turn-by-turn voice guidance with automatic off-route recalculation, real-time traffic information and multimodal pedestrian routing.
StreetPilot onDemand complements Garmin’s other newly announced automotive innovations that guarantee industry-leading navigation for every kind of driver and traveler. For a dedicated device that’s built to navigate with ease and efficiency, the recently announced 2012 nüvi® line adds robust features to Garmin’s flagship product line at affordable pricing (details at www.garmin.com/move). For iPhone users who want the nüvi experience, Garmin’s StreetPilot Onboard app dodges many of the pitfalls of other smartphone options. And for customers seeking in-dash guidance with the intuitive interface of a nüvi, Garmin is growing its OEM presence and building automaker partnerships to offer the most effective solutions.
Since its inception in 1989, Garmin has delivered 88 million GPS enabled devices – far more than any other navigation provider. Garmin’s market breadth in the GPS industry is second to none, having developed innovative products and established a leadership position in each of the markets it serves, including automotive, aviation, marine, fitness, outdoor recreation, tracking and wireless applications.
About Garmin
Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation. Since 1989, this group of companies has designed, manufactured, marketed and sold navigation, communication and information devices and applications – most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin’s products serve automotive, mobile, wireless, outdoor recreation, marine, aviation, and OEM applications. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin’s virtual pressroom at www.garmin.com/pressroom or contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200.  Garmin, StreetPilot and nüvi are registered trademarks and photoReal is a trademark of Garmin Ltd.  All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. play8

    08/31/2011 at 2:39 pm

    1) Is there an iPad2 version?
    2) Does the app need Data plan?

  2. Ray

    02/16/2012 at 1:36 pm

    “The app utilizes the familiar Garmin interface so if you’re a user of the traditional Garmin PNP, you’ll be familiar with the app.”

    Probably the worst reason to select the app. Unless you enjoy going from iOS to Windows 95.

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