Garmin and Navigon integrating Glympse and Foursquare into nav apps
This is cool. I'm a big fan of the Navigon family of apps, and also the Glympse location-tracking app. Now they are together, and it seems a natural fit.
The integration of location-sharing service Glympse allows you to easily share your location with friends and family, so they always know where you are. To help you discover new places, Garmin's apps now also integrate Foursquare locations and special deals. Additionally, you can check into venues on Foursquare upon arrival –- right from your Garmin app.
The new StreetPilot Onboard and Navigon app versions integrate Glympse directly into the mapping and navigation feature set. Users simply click on the Glympse icon in the sidebar, select any recipient from their address book, and then choose for how long to share their location –- from a few minutes to a few hours. The selected recipients will receive either a text or email message with a link to a Glympse tracking map, where they can see the sender's current location, arrival time and speed. This feature is a great tool to help you meet up with friends or family, so they know where you are and when you will arrive.
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The integration of Foursquare features allows you to easily search for locations, trending venues and special deals within the Garmin apps. This makes it easy to discover new places and directly navigate there with just a few clicks. If you link your Foursquare account, you'll also be able to easily check into venues and view personalized POI suggestions based on your check-in behavior.
In addition, both the Garmin and Navigon apps support iCloud, so you can sync your destinations across several iOS devices.
Also, all Garmin and Navigon apps are being reduced 25 percent until January 7. There are a wide variety of apps on sale, so be sure to check the app store and see which one matches up best to your needs. The added features are a free update to current Garmin and Navigon customers. With all the excitement of the new Google Maps app, there is plenty of room for others to innovate, and we're seeing some interesting products emerge. I think particularly, the merging of navigations apps with Glympse is very sensible and desirable.
Some sample screen shots are in the gallery above.
