GPS Navigation for iPhone lands in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand - it's Sygic!

The exhaustive review

I've been using GPS navigation systems for a while now. From the early days of my first Garmin Street Pilot to Garmin Nuvi 610, Garmin Mobile XT for Nokia & Windows Mobile devices, Nokia Maps and today... I'm proud to say I've embarked on yet another GPS journey. This time... on the iPhone 3GS - not using the Google Maps application BUT the first ever Turn-By-Turn GPS Navigation covering South East Asia called Sygic!

From Blog Pictures

This is one area which the iPhone never really excelled... in fact, it never touched simply because the SDK provided by Apple didn't allow for such functionality. Since the release of OS 3.0 - this is now possible. After some research, I discovered that Sygic isn't exactly a new player - in fact, the company has been around since 2002.

The Installation Experience

Installing Sygics GPS Navigation software was quite straight forward. No codes to enter, no special procedures to go through. You can only purchase application via iTunes as the app is over 200 megabytes - something that the AppStore on the iPhone wouldn't be able to do. It took a little over 45 minutes on my Streamyx connection and voila! - loaded straight into the iPhone. Completely painless.

Interface

I'm a man of aesthetics. It's gotta look good and of course be a pleasure to use and I must say, aesthetics wise, Sygic has outdone itself! As with any iPhone app, it always looks great. Simple big buttons for big fingers, interface is hardly cluttered and most importantly, it's REALLY REALLY fast!

From Blog Pictures

From Blog Pictures

Usability

If you have used GPS devices before, whether its a Garmin or one by Mapking or any other manufacturer, the concept is pretty much the same but through my experience with Garmin products, there's only 1 thing which I'd like to point out. That's searching for Point-of-interests (POI).

• The Garmin Model
  Garmin's model of searching of Points of Interest like Ikea etc is by selecting the "Food, Hotels..." POI option, selecting a sub category and search! The search expands from your current location all the way to all other available maps / regions installed into your Garmin. So once search searches literally the WORLD! I LIKE!

• The Sygic Model
  Sygic however has a slightly different model. Sygic starts by asking if you're searching for a POI in your current position or in another country -> city. After which, you can pick the subcategory of POI (similar to Garmin) followed by a search. The only problem with this in my opinion is there are times you might not know the actual city your POI is in and so you might never find your POI.

That said however, I've spoken to Sygic's customer support and they are now aware of this. If they do update the app, it's great news for us as upgrading the app itself is FREE! more on this later...

Navigation

Here is where Sygic really excels. I've taken Sygic for a couple of runs from KL to Cameron Highlands and to the main city centre with no problems. At one point, I needed to look for a car service centre in Cheras and guess what? I found it!

Never have I come across a GPS solution for mobile cellular devices that comes packed with features that are mostly available on high-end standalone GPS devices!

From Blog Pictures

• Lane Assist in Sygic
  I personally found lane assist to be a really useful feature as during navigation there can be many intersecting roads, many junctions, many splits... lane assist just sorts it out!

1. Let's you know when sign boards are coming up - even shows the signboard on your display - making sure you are on the right lane
2. Tells you how many lanes are there and which EXACT lane to use

• Speed limit for most major roads built-in
  Another feature worth mentioning is that the maps come programmed with speed limits of most major roads you're on. Once you're above the limit, Sygic can be set to give you a visual or audible alert.
  
  
• Fully configurable navigation
  Apart from the the human-like navigation voice in possibly every language you can think of, Sygic has some interesting navigation options...

1. Feel like going on only toll-free roads today?
2. No U turns?
3. Want a more economic route?
4. Want a faster route?
   
   It's all possible!

Maps provided by TeleAtlas

The map Sygic provides is by one of the largest mapping companies in the world called TeleAtlas - the same company Google uses for Google Maps. You can imagine the same level of detail and accuracy. Most if not all common POIs that have a phone number has been programmed into the map making it extremely useful when looking for phone numbers of hotels, airports, banks, restaurants etc (almost like having yellowpages in your palm!) and of course, being built on the iPhone, a simple tap on the number calls the location.

At the moment, for the South East Asian region, Sygic provides TeleAtlas maps of 3 countries. Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. All three maps are fully loaded into your device and so you won't incur map download charges while navigating (like how Nokia maps works if you didn't download the maps before hand using Nokia's Map Downloader).

Upgradability

The maps that are provided with the download at the moment is the most current. According to Sygic, there will future map upgrades available at a nominal charge. The price is not yet determined.

Reception

Through numerous tests, Sygic faired extremely well even in environments filled with skyscrapers. What really surprises me is how powerful the GPS sensor was in the iPhone as my car has a fairly strong tint which usually affects GPS reception. Even my full-fledge Garmin Nuvi at times has difficulty getting a GPS lock.

Sygic on the other hand took approximately 20 seconds to lock on to the current position and of course, even faster when placed in non-tinted environments.

The Decision

• Can Sygic replace your trusted standalone GPS device?
  From what I've seen, Sygic does most if not all of what standalone GPS devices do. If you're not a hardcore GPS user, Sygic would meet your needs.
  
  
• Does it suck up battery life from the iPhone?
  Of course it does but to what extent is the question. From a full charge, I've managed to crank up at least 3 hours of non-stop navigation with voice calls and smses in between.
  
  
• How much does it cost?
  The app as of this writing stands at a promotion price of 70 USD which translates to approximately 250 ringgit. This I think is fair considering the coverage for 3 Asian countries when you pay upwards of 700 ringgit for a standalone GPS unit with only coverage for Malaysia and does not offer this many features.
  
  
• The only thing that nags me...
  Good but not great coverage of POIs
  As far as Point of Interests are concerned, in the Malaysian and Singaporean GPS context, Sygic's partnership with TeleAtlas as a mapping company is good (with most major POIs listed) but not as complete as free community based maps such as that offered by malsingmaps.com for the MapKing and Garmin GPS users.
  
  One example was that I could find literally every hotel in Penang except for G Hotel but on hindsight, I could find even small and little known chinese coffee shops in the Puchong area!

The Sygic promise

Just like Nokia's policy on their firmware. Sygic has a similar promise. They vow to continue improving the software and continuously provide FREE upgrades via the AppStore. From what I've heard, these are some of the promises in the next release!

• Integration with iPhone's Phonebook
  Pick a contact, select the address, navigate and Sygic does the rest!
  
  
• Background iPod playback during navigation
  At the moment, iPod playback interferes with voice instructions from Sygic. They tend to jumble up layer on top one another. With the update, music fades off and returns after navigation instruction
  
  
• Enhanced GPS lock
  Well, there's always room for improvement!
  
  and more!

So, the Golden Question - To buy or not to buy?

If you live in Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand OR if you're visiting any one of these three countries and own an iPhone, this is the only solution available - and I dare say, a very very well thought of one too. Apart from the less complete POI coverage when compared to free community maps, Sygic - with it's well thought out interface and featureset really shines as far as GPS navigation is concerned.

At the promo price of 70 USD, it's one time investment with maps of 3 complete countries is quite a deal. Plus, if it's GPS navigation you crave on your iPhone, your long awaited solution has arrived. Need I say more? :)