NAVIGON announces their own car kit for iPhone GPS [U]


Makers of MobileNavigator App introduce their own car kit for the iPhone

The NAVIGON car kit will be a window mount device to hold an iPhone in either landscape or portrait. It will also allow access for a separate charging cable to keep the iPhone powered. The device is just a window mount, and does not include GPS circuitry, charging station, or speakers, like the announced TomTom device.

This week TomTom updated its Website to say its own car kit won't ship until October. As indicated, it is a window mount, charger, GPS receiver, and speaker+ speaker phone.

The NAVIGON unit should cost considerably less as it lacks the extra features. If the iPhone is mounted in the window, our experience is generally GPS reception is quite sufficient, so this may be a good budget option. (Our sense is the GPS receiver is geared more towards the iPod Touch, which contains no GPS receiver.) It would seem the primary feature that may separate the NAVIGON unit from other run of the mill mounts is it can rotate horizontally for landscape navigation, which the TomTom kit will also support.

[Update - Tipster says at IFA pricing said to be around $50-$60 USD. Second version may be in the works with GPS chip]

Update 2- NAVIGON got back to us, it will be available in October for 39.95 € (~$55 USD). Also, it appears it is just a mount, which will allow access to the dock for separate car charging cable. And it does flip horizontally.

Update 3 - Looks like the iPhone won't fit if it's in a protective case. That's a bummer.