MWC 2012: ALK announces upcoming free CoPilot GPS offline navigation for iOS and Android
Over the past few years I've written here about CoPilot Live from ALK Technologies and yesterday in Barcelona they made a major announcement about a new navigation application for iOS and Android. Their upcoming CoPilot GPS software will allow you to get free GPS navigation and route planning for both online and offline modes, similar to what we see with Nokia Maps and Google Maps Navigation on Android.
While Nokia Maps allows you to download entire countries before traveling, Google Maps Navigation just lets you cache maps along a specific route. This upcoming CoPilot GPS software will also let you download an entire country or region before you travel so you can take along your iPad or smartphone and navigate without a requirement for an expensive data connection.
Key features listed in their press release include the following:
- Maps stored on-board your smartphone or tablet for offline use
- Millions of pre-installed Points of Interest (POIs) with in-app dialing
- Powerful route planning with multi-stop trip optimizer
- Alternate Routes: CoPilot provides up to 3 ways to your destination. Drag and drop the route to adjust.
- Driving directions: manually cycle through the turns to your destination
- Walking mode: explore unfamiliar cities on foot with confidence
- Social sharing: let your friends know where you are with Twitter & Facebook status updates
- Dynamic local content: find useful and interesting places with Wikipedia and Bing Search
CoPilot GPS users can also upgrade to full voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation via in-app purchase, and benefit from 3D map views, speed limit warnings, and realistic ClearTurn display with lane assist arrows and signposts at complex interchanges.
CoPilot GPS will be available this spring from the Android Market and App Store. You can pay a single $19.99 fee and get lifetime voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation, which is still an excellent deal. You will be able to subscribe to their real-time traffic service too for $9.99 for a year.
Once the software is released, I plan to load it up on all my devices and try it out. In the past I have always taken an older Nokia smartphone along when I travel out of the country, but can now take along my iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus.