NavTrack is one of the few satnav apps available for the Blackberry, with most other providers focusing on Android-powered phones, not to mention the iPhone. The software is even more unique in that it has an inbuilt tracking function, which allows the phone (and the user, of course) to be tracked from a computer located anywhere in the world.
NavTrack has much appeal for the business user, given its current focus on the Blackberry (though this is set to change on March 1 with the release of iPhone and Android versions) plus its in-built tracking which provides a safeguard for travellers, particularly those travelling on business. However, there’s nothing to say that leisure travellers and consumers cannot benefit from tracking. Consider the fact that many children and teenagers now have mobile phones, with a high proportion of those being smartphones, and the benefits of tracking become immediately obvious not least of all to parents. Another example could be anyone with a high-risk job, or one that takes them to a hi-risk area, a journalist working as a foreign correspondent for example. His or her family could track the smartphone, provided that data roaming is enabled and there’s a working data connection.
Anyone with concerns of privacy infringement need not worry, as the app has to be running before the phone can be traced. There is also a notification to tell the user that a request to track the phone has been made. (To submit this request, a user visits the NavGuard website and enters the relevant details. A map then appears and browser-based tracking is made possible.)
One interesting and important feature of the tracking software is its ability to use mobile phone base stations (towers) when GPS is unavailable. When tracking is enabled, the phone records its last co-ordinates, using both GPS and mobile base stations, and sends them to NavGuard’s computers via a data connection. This means that in the absence of a GPS signal, the satnav won't work but the tracking will.
As for the satnav function, as a piece of software it’s very intuitive with simplified controls that are easy to use. It isn’t overly-complicated, and the design is slick and bug-free. A “map me” button centres the arrow on the user’s current location, while the other “no nonsense” options (search etc.) do exactly as expected.
The software saved me on numerous occasions when lost in London. However it is in between the tower blocks, high-rises and skyscrapers that a weakness of any satellite-based navigation system is revealed, and that is the blocking of GPS signals resulting in a slowing of the software. This is no fault of NavTracks though, an otherwise slick piece of software.
The satnav software has everything else users of Tom Tom or Garmin standalone devices might be familiar with, such as turn-by-turn, voiced navigation and auto-route recalculation. There’s also 2D and 3D modes, with both proving useful depending on whether one is walking or driving, and a rather novel night-mode that basically renders all the graphics in shades of blue and grey.
VERDICT A solid satnav solution for the Blackberry that competes well against Tom Tom and Garmin, and the tracking is a definite USP. Versions for the iPhone and Android phones (more powerful than the Blackberry I was testing) will improve on performance.
PRICE €59.95 per year
CONTACT navtrack-world.com
Andrew Gough
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