Samsung Galaxy Note 2 gets free offline navigation in SA

Samsung South Africa has announced that it has partnered with Garmin Southern Africa to offer the Garmin Navigon navigation app for free on all Samsung Galaxy Note II devices.

Users with existing devices can download the app from the Samsung Apps store immediately. Samsung also announced that the Navigon app would be pre-loaded on new Galaxy Note 2 devices in future.

“We are thrilled with this partnership as it provides our Galaxy Note II users with the ability to experience true turn-by-turn navigation on their mobile devices without needing to be connected to the Internet, resulting in extended battery life and reduced data costs,” said Craige Fleischer, director of mobile communications at Samsung Electronics South Africa.

Once the app is installed, Samsung said, users need to download all the available local maps through their Wi-Fi connection to get a complete navigation solution on-the-go.

This download only needs to be done once, Samsung said.

Included are on-board Navteq maps of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia. The app also boasts with the following features:

2D & 3D map view
Turn-by-turn voice guidance
Intelligent Address Search
Power Saving Mode
Weather Live
Navigon MyRoutes: recommends the best route every time, adapted to your personal driving style.
Navigon Reality View Pro: thanks to photo-realistic displays of exits and the actual junction number, you’ll be able to follow the signs.
Last Mile & Pedestrian Navigation: guides you along the last meters of your journey to your destination after parking your vehicle.
Google Local Search: users have instant access to the most up to date point of interest (POI) search results (This feature requires an online connection mobile network coverage and data charges may apply)
Google Street View: Shows real pictures of the destination and its surrounding, where Google Street View is available. (This feature requires an online connection mobile network coverage and data charges may apply)
Further features include navigation to contacts, coordinate input, and automatic day and night mode.

Three premium packages are available for the app and can be bought by using the in-app purchase feature:

The Safety & Relax Package (R156.00): provides Lane Assistant Pro, Red Light Camera Warnings, School Zones and Speed Warnings.
The Sound & Fun Package (R104.00): adds text-to-speech, announcing street names in addition to directions, and International Voices with different dialects, to lighten up the journey.
The Cockpit Package (R53.00): displays relevant driving data in real time on a cockpit-like screen. Captured data includes gForce (current and maximum value), speed, horizontal and vertical position, and an adjustable speed and altitude graph.
The Super Package (R312.00): includes the Safety & Relax, the Sound & Fun and the Cockpit Package at once.

“This partnership with Garmin ensures that our customers have the best possible turn-by-turn navigation experience on one of the most innovative mobile devices in the market today,” Fleischer concluded.