Ever since the government required phones to have GPS in cellular phones, I’ve often wondered why no one came up with a GPS driving directions program for them. I mean all the hardware and software you need is there, so use it! Well Verizon agrees and has just announced VZ Navigator. For either $10 a month or $3 a day, you can have your phone display a turn-by-turn route to your destination as well as get audible instructions. Currently the Motorola V325 is the only supported hardware but don’t worry, Verizon wants you to upgrade and lock into another two years, so more new hardware will be forth coming. :)

PC Magazine expands on VZ Navigator by telling us lost drivers:

VZ Navigator uses technology called AtlasBook developed by Irvine, Calif.-based Networks in Motion using map data from Navteq and back-end support from Autodesk. Two others already provide cell phone-based navigation, but on a much smaller basis: Motorola’s ViaMoto, an older technology, runs on the Nextel network, and TeleNav Inc.’s TeleNav runs on the Nextel and Sprint networks and may also be offered on Verizon in 2006.

Read the rest of the very interesting review at PC Magazine.

[tags]gps,vz navigator,turn-by-turn,navigation[/tags]