Product Launch & Review: NAVFone Singapore GPS Navigation

The much anticipated launch of the NAVFone Singapore GPS Navigation app on the iPhone has arrived!

Watch the AGIS Road Test team as they tackle the route to Marina Bay Sands Singapore here, or below.



The video features Ben & myself, navigating from the AGIS HQ in Bishan to Singapore's newest attraction, the Marina Bay Sands. Look out for us driving past landmarks such as the Old Police Academy, Sim Lim Square, Raffles Hospital and the Singapore Flyer.

As with the product testing for all of our other navigation products, things we typically look out for include the accuracy of map data, acceptability of given routes and most importantly, overall consumer experience. (We're mere iffy marketing/product/business mortals after all).

I must say that the ability to get from anywhere to, well, anywhere in Singapore within 2-steps (Search & Go) is a tremendous benefit to any user. Given the density of our roads, as well as the probability that any journey shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes tops, any navigation application mustn't be Rocket Science to operate, with unnecessary frills and bow-ties on an otherwise hollow application developed in some far-out foreign land. With clear visual and voice guidance to your destination, I imagine this app reaching the level of indispensability for any driver.

Search for anything in Singapore, from iconic landmarks (Resorts World Sentosa), off the beaten track road names (Kelantan Lane), on top of your everyday postal codes! (because numbers like 730322, 577203, 760425 only makes sense to us anyway).

The first navigation app developed homegrown. Cos no one gets you the way we do.



Cheers,
Sophan
AGIS Product Development

The NAVFone Singapore GPS Navigation app is now on sale on the Apple Appstore for only $9.99

Smartphones versus Car GPS navigation devices

With the introduction of the NAVFone Navigation app on leading smartphones, voice guided turn-by-turn navigation is simply a download away from online app stores. As smartphones get better and better at doing navigation, does this mean the end of the road (no pun intended) for the dedicated car navigation device?

Coming from the mobile phone world, I’ve had a front row seat in seeing the introduction of the digital camera in phones some 10 years ago. Initially, the images captured on phones were blurry at best, but now clear images captured on phones are a given. Despite the proliferation of embedded digital cameras on phones, the dedicated digital camera market is very much alive and it isn’t going away. It’s a similar situation with digital music players. Although most mobile phones can play music, the dedicated music player market is still relevant.

This leads me to the conclusion that the dedicated navigation device will continue to be relevant with a strong following of users who understand that the dedicated car GPS device is engineered and optimized to perform navigation, and hence it is likely to perform its specific function better than a multi-function device.

One thing is for sure, the availability of smartphone apps like the NAVFone will result in an increase in the number of people experiencing the added convenience that navigation technology can bring to their lives. With the increase in people using digital maps and navigation, new opportunities abound for companies like Agis who are at the forefront of creating compelling navigation experiences and location based services on leading smartphones and dedicated car navigation devices.