Navigon's MobileNavigator application for iPhone offers many of the features found in dedicated Navigon GPS devices on Apple's handset. It's sure to be inferior to a dedicated device, of course, but at $69.99 ($99.99 after August 31st) it's much cheaper — and it makes for one less gadget to handle.

MobileNavigator has just about all the features you expect from an iPhone GPS app: voice announcements, both portrait and landscape maps, integration with your iPhone's contact list, and maps included with the application so you don't have to constantly download them over EDGE, Wi-Fi, or 3G.

It also offers day and night map skins, 2D and 3D map options, and Reality View Pro, which shows a supposedly-accurate ground-level rendering of a major intersection or exit ramp.

On August 14, 2009, Navigon released the first update to MobileNavigator. It adds route planning, further contact integration (you can add contacts from addresses from within the app). Check out the update press release under the product details tab.

Also, read our review of Navigon MobileNavigator for iPhone.

NAVIGON Provides Free Update for its iPhone Navigation App

Update adds new features such as route planning and a function that allows to directly call points of interest (POIs)

Hamburg/Germany, August 14, 2009 — NAVIGON AG, the leading innovator in the navigation market, today announced the availability of a free update for its North American version of the MobileNavigator for the iPhone.

The free update adds a couple of new features and enhancements to the MobileNavigator. NAVIGON’s route planning function known from the companies PND line enables users to plan a route with different destinations ahead of time. Taking advantage of the iPhone’s own functionalities, a call POI function allows to directly call the number of a POI such as a restaurant or hotel by simply clicking on the number.  It is also possible to save it to the user’s contacts. Furthermore, the update provides an optimized volume control when navigating and using the integrated iPod function of the iPhone at the same time. It also allows to decide which POIs should be displayed in the map view.

All current users of the NAVIGON MobileNavigator will get notified by the App Store and can download the update for free. New customers who buy the software in the iPhone App Store will from now on automatically receive an updated version. “NAVIGON is committed to providing the best navigation solution for the iPhone and is constantly working on new features,” said Gerhard Mayr, Vice President World-Wide Mobile Phone & New Markets of NAVIGON AG. “Our customers can expect a lot more functions to come, and spoken street names (text-to-speech) is one of the next additions that will follow soon. Of course we are also looking into offering a powerful real-time-traffic service.”

The MobileNavigator transforms any iPhone 3G, equipped with the new Apple OS 3.0 operating system, and any iPhone 3G S into a complete navigation device. The software includes many of NAVIGON’s hallmark navigation functions such as Reality View™ Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant and Day & Night Mode.

The NAVIGON solution sells for $99.99 and is equipped with maps of North America from NAVTEQ®. It will be available for a promotional price of $69.99 until August 31.