When you search for “navigator” or “navigation” in iPhone App store, more than 9 different apps from various companies would show up. At least 9 companies are competing in this market. All of them provide voice guide. Majority of them have real human voice, and a few low-priced one use Text to Speech (TTS). Below is a list of these 9 major competing GPS navigators on iPhones:
| Navigation Application | Price | frequency of charge | Voice |
| VoxTrek | $2.99 | once | TTS |
| MotionX GPS (by FullPower) | $2.99 | monthly | |
| MapQuest Navigator | $3.99 | monthly | |
| Gokivo | $4.99 | monthly | |
| AT&T Navigator (from Telenav) | $9.99 | monthly | |
| CoPilot Live | $29.99 | once | |
| NDrive | $32.99 | once | TTS |
| TomTom | $59.99 | once | |
| Navigon | $79.99 | once |
As we can see from the above table, price for mobile navigation has dramatically decreased. MotionX’s $2.99 per month is less than one third of charge from AT&T offer. The pricing model is also moving toward a monthly subscription instead of one-time purchase. This is good for consumers who only spend a small amount of money to try out. It is good for app providers who can update the feature and data for the navigation. The monthly subscription model will be the future to stay. In addition, some providers offer 30-day free trial, which is very attractive for the uncertain buyer.
The graphical interface on these navigators varies widely. From color, road sign to direction arrow, each app is inventing its unique way of enticing the user. Some navigators is apparently over-loaded with signs and hard to interpret. Another crucial factor for user purchase is
starting page, before user reaches navigation page. This pages gives user the ability to change settings, add addresses and so on. If the starting page is too complex, the user would normally be overwhelmed and would go away.
It will take the next 1-2 years to see how the mobile navigation war plays out. Given that the voice-guided navigation is similar across different product (nice voice and relatively correct route guides, and similar speed of rerouting), the main differentiating factors will be price and user interface. As for navigation quality, it is hard to judge and may not vary much among these apps. For consumers, this is excellent news. With such affordable price, it won’t be long when everyone’s cell phone is equipped with a navigator
