It can be difficult to decide between an in-dash navigation system, a portable and a smartphone nav app. Well, maybe it's easier now that the latest Internet-connected portables and nav apps make in-dash systems seem expensive and antiquated.
But if you want the best of the portable and smartphone nav app worlds -- without having to pay for a data plan for both -- Garmin's Smartphone Link app has you covered. The app works with any Garmin nuvi portable with Bluetooth capability.
The app is free for Android phones and so are a couple of the connected services, such as live weather, that the app wirelessly streams over to the nuvi portable nav. But you have to pay extra for the premium services.
These include:
Live Traffic ($19.99 per year) that's updated every two minutes and includes details of traffic incidents, road conditions and delays. It covers major highways, interstates and main roads.
photoLive traffic cameras ($9.99 per year) that lets users view real-time photos from traffic cameras to scope out traffic and weather conditions. The service is tied to more than 10,000 traffic cameras across the U.S. and Canada that send images every couple of minutes.
Fuel Prices ($9.99 per year) for finding the best prices for all grades in a given area with a tap the of screen.
Advanced Weather ($4.99 per year) that gives current and 5-day forecasts for major cities in the U.S. and Canada. Advanced Weather also goes beyond the free service by providing severe weather alerts and live radar images.
Smartphone Link also allows the portable to share favorite locations with the phone. And the app can help owners find their way from a parking spot to their final destination and back by displaying both on a map.
Garmin Smartphone Link works with the followinng Bluetooth-enabled 2012 Garmin nuvi portables: 2475LT, 2495LMT, 2595LMT, 3490LMT and the 3590LMT. They all require a software update, except the 3590LMT.
Garmin Smartphone Link is available now from the Android Market.
Add a comment