NAVIGON has landed in the Marketplace and boasts to transform your Windows Phone into a fully functional mobile navigation system. A system every bit as good as a personal navigation device.

We'll be taking NAVIGON out for a test drive over the next few days but here's what we know. It's a HUGE download. 1.6GB for the US version and 2.3GB for the Europe version.

When you buy the $29.99 app ($69.99 for Europe) from the Marketplace you only install the shell of the app. When you first launch NAVIGON, you are prompted that additional files are required and due to the size you'll need to connect to a Wifi Network or your computer. Once you hit the download confirmation, sit back, relax, have a snack and watch the progress meter move along ever so slowly.

Hit the break for more information on the latest Windows Phone navigation app and a video short take on NAVIGON.

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Once fully installed, NAVIGON is laid out nicely. Some of the features and functions include:

  • Traffic Live
  • Reality View Pro
  • NAVIGON MyRoutes
  • Lane Assistant Pro
  • Speed Assistant
  • Safety Camera
  • Reality Scanner
  • Text-to-Speech announcements with voice choices
  • Pedestrian Navigation options
  • Google Local Search
  • Emergency Help
  • Live Tiles for destinations and Points of Interest
  • Sending current position via SMS or Email.

Not sure what half that does but give me a few days.  The live tile feature is neat and I believe the Reality Scanner uses your camera to identify Points of Interest.  Lane Assistant Pro is likely where the map zooms in to show you which lane you should be in on those twenty lane interstates so you won't miss the exit.  We'll shake things out and figure out what the other items are.

The HUGE download is map material that covers all of the USA (Europe for the Europe version). This means there's no dependency on data to load maps as you travel. Here are the States covered in the U.S. version.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Across the pond in Europe, these Countries are covered.

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Vatican City.

Again, we'll be taking NAVIGON out for a test drive over the next few days and have a follow up post on how the latest Windows Phone navigation app performs. First impressions are good and NAVIGON is clearly feature rich.  I'm not sure about the map colors (a little on the drab side) and I couldn't help but think the map view needed a little more contrast.  I like the live tile support and the installed maps should noticeably help with performance on the road. 

If you want to go ahead and take the plunge you can find the NAVIGON U.S. version ($29.99) here at the Windows Phone Marketplace. The $69.99 European version of NAVIGON can be found here.  Sorry guys and gals, there isn't a trial version of NAVIGON available for either version.

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