Is it a sign of times or what? Google and Nokia both offer free navigation products and now we have the first carrier launching the same service. It is Germany’s O2, which is bundling Telmap Navigator with select handsets.
Effective immediately, Telmap Navigator is preinstalled on many new GPS-enabled mobile phones, while customers who are already using GPS-enabled mobile phones can download the application free of charge from here. Telmap Navigator is available on numerous devices, including the Motorola Milestone, HTC Touch HD2, Samsung Galaxy and Sony Ericsson W995. A version for Palm WebOS is planned for the summer of 2010.
Again, the application is 100% free, but (there’s always a “but”), you will pay for all the data traffic spent. Hopefully, there’s an option to preload maps, which would minimize the amount of data that needs to be downloaded.
Telmap Navigation works like any other modern navigation software, providing users with spoken and graphical navigation instructions. It works for both drivers and pedestrians, and also packs additional services like the latest traffic information from ADAC.