Navizon has just announced a version of their program that is available for the iPhone. I downloaded and installed Navizon on the phone and took it for a spin. It can be installed with the AppTapp application as I described earlier.
Navizon is a free service and they describe it as follows: "Navizon is a software-only wireless positioning system that triangulates signals broadcasted from Wi-Fi access points and Cellular towers to help the users find their way in most major metropolitan areas worldwide. The Navizon network is based on a collaborative database. Members with a GPS device can use Navizon to map the Wi-Fi and cellular landscape in their neighborhoods. Once they synchronize their data, it is made available to all the other users of the network. This way, users who don't have a GPS device can benefit from a positioning system. And it's free for personal use!
I downloaded it and tried it out here in New Jersey. No luck, no place I went could I get a location. I note, though, that the Navizon site refers to "major metropolitan areas", by which I guess they mean cities. However, this afternoon I went into New York City to attend a press event (more on that in another post) and tried it out there.
To use it, at least on the iPhone, you just start the program and it automatically tries to determine your location. If it can find a location it then automatically calls up Google Maps on the iPhone and places a pin at your location. Well, I walked from the Hudson River and 39th Street to the show at 18th Street between 5th and 6th, and then back again after the show. I must have called up the program at least 15 or 20 times each way. In every case Navizon showed my location to within half a block. It was always on the right street or avenue, but sometimes was half a block ahead of me or behind me. To be honest I was amazed! I never thought that it would be able to give me any accurate information without an actual GPS.
Since it is free and is available for Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Java and Symbian phones I suggest that our readers download it and let's share our experience with how it works. You can find the program here.