The Blackberry 8820 from Airtel, which comes at Rs 31,990, can be loaded with Airtel’s ‘Wayfinder’ application which uses MapMyIndia (MMI) maps. Now, the maps are a constant download, and unlike the Nokia N95, which catches common maps onto the onboard memory, the Berry uses the data connection to always download the map.
MMI also offers a standalone GPS navigator. This is available for Rs 21,000 but we would wait a while for GPS navigators to make it to a whole host of mobile devices.
Plus, on high-end vehicles such as the BMW 5, 6 and 7-series, there is already talk of enabling the voice-navigation system that the cars come with.
Middle-of-the-road cars are expected to start coming with sat-navigation options pretty soon (as early as next year), but phone makers like Nokia, RIM and HTC will kill the standalone navigator.