What are your names Bernd, Andreas, Eva, Bernd, Christian, Andreas, Andrej

What company are you all with? NAVIGON

Where are you located? Wuerzburg, Germany

And on the web? www.navigon.com

What's your Twitter name? @NAVIGON_US

What apps do you make? NAVIGON MobileNavigator, help2park

What apps, other than your own, are currently among your favorites? Shazam, WeatherPro, IMDB, Tiny Wings

How long have you been a developer? NAVIGON was founded in 1991 and this year we celebrate our 20th anniversary. We've developed many industry firsts, including the first navigation system for Pocket PC, the first dynamic traffic information service, and the first realistic display of highway interchanges and exits (Reality View), among many other features.

How long have you been an iOS developer? We started developing for iOS in 2009.

Do you develop for any other platform in addition to iOS? If so, which one(s)? NAVIGON develops navigation solutions for most major smartphone platforms, including Android, Windows Phone 7, Bada, Windows Mobile, and Symbian.

What primary computer setup do you use for your iOS development? Our iOS team mainly uses various iMacs and MacBook Pros. A Mac Pro serves as our buildserver.

What iOS device(s) do you personally use most often? We mostly use the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.

What mobile devices, other than iOS, do you currently use? We use 99.9% iOS devices.

What's your favorite thing about developing for iOS? The SDK is very thought through and intuitive. Also, the overall structure of iOS and the App Store environment is very stable and reliable.

What's your least favorite thing about developing for iOS? We partially miss API access to system functions.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the iOS 5 SDK? We would like to see the integration of app content into the spotlight search. Since most content is saved within apps, this would make it much easier to find stuff. We would also really like to be able to only partially update our app with smaller changes like bug fixes, for example. Right now, users always need to download the full application no matter how big the update is. It would be great if iOS 5 would allow us to push out smaller updates, so our users only have to download the data that has been changed and not the full application.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the App Store? We would love to be able to respond to user reviews or to have the option to get in touch with our app users. This would allow us to provide assistance and clarify misunderstandings.

If we were to eavesdrop on you while you were coding, what curse word would we hear you use the most? We sometimes hear a German word starting with "sch."

What do you do when you're not coding iOS apps? There's not much time left... Other than working on NAVIGON's iOS apps, we enjoy spending time with friends and travelling.

What should we look for from you next? We are working on some major additions for our MobileNavigator app for this summer. This will include some amazing surprises, stay tuned!

We would also like to point out that only those who have our latest version (1.8 or 1.8.1) are eligible to take advantage of the benefits in the next version, so we encourage everyone to update their MobileNavigator app. We will also roll-out a couple of new free single-feature apps, similar to help2park but with different functionalities.

Thanks Bernd, Andreas, Eva, Bernd, Christian, Andreas, Andrej and team NAVIGON!

NAVIGON let us know that they're celebrating their 2010 TiPb Readers Choice Award by putting NAVIGON MobileNavigator on sale this weekend.

The community of the number one iPhone blog in the US, TiPb.com, awarded NAVIGON MobileNavigator iPhone the best navigation app in 2010. With this special price and for a limited time only we'd like to thank everybody for voting for us. We are thrilled about this!

Very cool.

[$49.99 - iTunes link]

Your votes have been counted, your voices have been heard, and we're proud to announce the 2010 TiPb Readers Choice Award for Favorite Navigation App goes to... NAVIGON Mobile Navigator!

NAVIGON MobileNavigator has been at the forefront turn-by-turn navigation apps since Apple brought the functionality to the iPhone. Now, with iOS 4's multitasking background location services, and the latest updates and enhancements to MobileNavigator, not only does it rival traditional dedicated GPS units, but in many ways surpasses them.

"We're honored that the TiPb.com community voted NAVIGON MobileNavigator as their favorite iPhone navigation app. This award recognizes our dedication to delivering innovation and quality products to consumers now and into the future. The iPhone has been and continues to be an extremely important platform for NAVIGON. It has allowed MobileNavigator to significantly move the category of navigation applications forward; delivering a solution that is the most feature rich navigation application available.” - Bernd Hahn, Head of iNavigation at NAVIGON

Congratulations to NAVIGON MobileNavigator, our 2010 TiPb Award Favorite Navigation App!

[iTunes link]

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

• How many of you purchased an iPhone only to replace your PC with a shiny new MacBook or iMac? I know I fell into that trap back in 2007...

• If your iPhone is jailbroken and you have the need to customize your SMS tones this is a thread for you: Custom SMS tones for free!

• NAVIGON MyRegion Promo Code Give Away! The title says it all...

• This is a must read: iPhone and iPod touch battery management.

See you in the forums!

And now we can tell you why Navigon is so excited about their new 3D terrain viewing, social media integrated, intelligent routing version 1.5 update to MobileNavigator [$69.00 on sale -- iTunes link] that they've put it on sale and are giving TiPb readers a chance to not only win copies, but get a guided tour at Macworld 2010 on how to use it. Here are the highlights:

• Connection to Facebook and Twitter: A simple icon tap posts users current position, destination, and ETA without navigation interruption.

• NAVIGON MyRoutes: Analyzes driving habits, patterns, location, time/day and provides up to three routes clearly displayed in-map with ETA, distance and driving times for each.

• Panorama View 3D (in-app purchase - $9.99): True 3D in-map views obtained from NASA’s height and terrain data enable intuitive orientation of surrounding environment, and what lies ahead with digital landscape elevations, shadows, and geographic images. Panorama View 3D is integrated in-map, independent from the phone’s data connection.

MobileNavigator is typically $89.99 but is on sale during Macworld for $69.00. The update is free for existing user. Traffic Live, typically a $24.99 in-app purchase is likewise on sale for $19.99. As mentioned, Panorama View 3D is also an in-app purchase at $9.99.

TiPb's Navigon give-away is still going on, so check it out, MobileNavigator 1.5 will hit the App Store this spring and will run on iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 2G and iPod touch via GPS-enabled dock accessories.

MobileNavigator [$69.99 on sale - iTunes link] maker Navigon is going to be at Macworld 2010 next week and knowing them, they may just have a few surprises in store for the show! You'll be able to find out all about them first hand from Navigon, February 11-13 at booth #575 (or second hand from TiPb if you're following along online).

To celebrate, Navigon is giving TiPb readers a chance to get MobileNavigator for FREE!

If you're going to be at Macworld, Navigon is offering:

• Two (2) lucky readers a FREE copy of MobileNavigator along with a hands-on demo at their booth from Navigon's product manager, Bernd Hahn, who'll show you all the tips and tricks you'll ever need to know. (You have to be at Macworld on Feb 11 and/or 12 to claim it.)

If you're following along online, Navigon is offering:

• Two (2) lucky readers a FREE copy of MobileNavigator as well!

Here's how to enter:

• If you're going to be at Macworld and want the FREE MobileNavigator, email rene@tipb.com with subject-heading NAVIGON and you're entered to win -- simple as that!

• If you're not going to be at Macworld, but still want the FREE MobileNavigator, jump into the TiPb Apps Forum and tell us -- where do you want to use Navigon to go? Name your driving destination!

The give-away begins now and lasts until February 10 at 12pm PT. US App Store account required to use Promo Codes (Apple's rule, not ours!)

Navigon, makers of MobileNavigator [iTunes link] let us know that they're now running a:

special Thanksgiving promotion for its iPhone navigation app striving to help drivers avoid this year’s holiday traffic congestion. For 10 days only, (November 20-30) NAVIGON’s iPhone app, MobileNavigator will be on sale for $69.99 instead of $89.99 providing a $20.00 savings. In addition, NAVIGON’s Traffic Live feature is also on sale for $14.99 instead of $24.99.

If you've been waiting to pull the trigger, and price was your concern, how's this deal do ya?

NAVIGON dropped us a note to say that, as promised, their latest update to MobileNavigator [$89.99 for North America - iTunes link] for iPhone is now available via the iTunes App Store, and it includes Traffic Live as an in-app purchase (currently on sale at an introductory $19.99, $24.99 thereafter). Here's how it works:

Traffic Live utilizes crowdsourced real-time speed data from over 1.3 million drivers including other NAVIGON app users (who opt. in to participate), commercial fleets such as trucks and taxis, as well as regular drivers with a GPS system. So if for example several vehicles on a road report slow speed, the system recognizes congestion and provides an alternate and faster route.

If you add the Traffic Live service, let us know how it works for you.

So while the dust is by no means settling following Google's bombshell announcement of their free Google Maps Navigation app for Android 2.0, it's thinning enough that we can start to survey the landscape again.

In terms of the iPhone, Google is saying they're working with Apple to add the same or similar navigation features to the iPhone's built in Maps application that Android 2.0 now enjoys. TechCrunch thinks that, in light of the Google Voice situation, Google should make Apple beg for what they say is best car navigation software, with the richest feature set in the space (or at least the US space, since it's not international yet). They see it as a replay of when Apple had to beg Microsoft to keep Office on the Mac, with the cloud being the modern "killer app" equivalent of productivity software then.

Apple is in a terrible position here because the future of mobile apps are Web apps, and Google excels at making those. Apple needs Google, it’s most dangerous competitor in the mobile Web market, to keep building apps for the iPhone. Google would be foolish not to since the iPhone still has the largest reach of any modern Web phone. But it will no longer be a priority.

However, Google delivering Google services to Android -- Google's own OS -- makes sense. Android got native push Gmail before anyone else (something most handsets still don't enjoy, GoogleSync being the alternative). Likewise, Google Street View was first shown off on the Android during it's initial unveiling.

For arguments sake then, let's say Google does indeed work with Apple to bring Google Maps Navigation to the iPhone Maps app and to all those search-happy, high-value iPhone users' eyeballs -- again, for free -- where does that leave existing, premium priced, iPhone turn-by-turn software makers?

Navigon, one of the highest grossing apps in the iTunes App Store, told TiPb:

[Google's] app is not available for the iPhone yet and on Android it’s just launching, so we’ll have to see how professional the navigation experience really is and how well the map material supports navigation functionalities. We have over 18 years of experience in the navigation field which lets us develop unique and high quality features not found on other navigation software and we are using maps that were created specifically for this use case. We provide excellent features such as Text-to-speech, Reality View™ Pro and Traffic Live and are convinced that consumers will pay extra dollars for a better, and more premium navigation experience. Besides, their solution is off-board which means that the navigation is interrupted when there is no cell phone signal available while our iPhone app is on-board and therefore works like a traditional navigation device – you will continue to get directions even without cell phone signal. This is particularly relevant in Europe where you have to pay extra roaming fees when using an off-board solution and traveling from one country to another. In addition, we already have navigation solutions for Android as well as WindowsMobile and Symbian smart phones on the market in Europe and are currently evaluating the options for launching some of these in the US as well – including Android. Our iPhone app is currently the top 3 grossing app in the App Store.

TeleNav, which supplies the service behind the subscription-based iPhone's AT&T Navigator app, had this to say:

It's premature to assume that this will have any dramatic impact on the industry. We will see how many phones the service launches on, the content and usability, as well as consumer feedback before we make any assumptions or conclusions about any impact on the industry. We know that people value navigation and are willing to pay for a high-quality, differentiated service.

Certainly there are many industries where people are willing to pay a premium price for premium services. Will navigation software for mobile devices be one of them? Or is paid navigation software about to go the way of paid web browsers?

Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they're fair game.

So who's on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chad's Pick: RunKeeper Pro

Since picking up my Vibram FiveFingers shoes, I can't use Nike+ so I needed a solid alternative. RunKeeper Pro really eliminates the need for anything else! It uses GPS to track your route, distance, speed, elevation and pace! You can create your own custom workouts and there is voice feedback too. When a workout is done, the information can be sent to their website and sent to Twitter or Facebook. I am very pleased with the product and the developer is promising new features! Checkout http://runkeeper.com! [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Chris' Pick: FanGraphs Baseball

I am a big baseball fan, and a fan of math and stats - the two go hand in hand. Well, I recently saw a new baseball app put out by fangraphs. This cool little app gives you a graphical output of the win probability as the games are in progress, and adjusts it as events unfold. You can also see standard box scores, in-game events, and look up statistical information about any player in history (lots of cool stat,s including things like $ value and WAR). For any stats oriented baseball fan, I recommend taking a look at this! [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Jeremy's Pick: Army of Darkness Soundboard

The Army of Darkness soundboard is a simple app but it is so damn cool for the hardcore Bruce Campbell fans out there. It's just so "Groovy"... [Free - iTunes link]

Matt's Pick: FoodScanner

From the creators of the Daily Burn app & Occipital's RedLaser technology comes FoodScanner. If you have used DailyBurn before, then you should know that tracking the foods you eat can become tedious at times, especially when you can't find just the right food to enter into your Food Log. FoodScanner simplifies the process by scanning the barcode on the food product. The barcode detection is incredibly accurate even for reflective surfaces. Highly recommended for anyone logging/tracking their food intake. Check out the full review for more. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Rene's Pick: NAVIGON MobileNavigator North America

What a difference a year makes. Last year's iPhone 3G and the debut App Store had no turn-by-turn navigation apps -- the SDK didn't even allow them! Now, with iPhone 3.x, as long as your BYOM (bring your own maps), turn-by-turn is good to go. And go it's gone, with everyone from the biggest players in the game to upstart and open source contenders. But that makes choosing one really difficult. Based on Chris' reviews so far, and on feature sets delivered, I decided to give NAVIGON MobileNavigator North America. And so far, so very good. Directions are precise, the text-to-speech for street names is understandable, and the app itself is highly usable. [$89.99 - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You're part of team TiPb too, so what's your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us -- and everyone -- know in the comments!