Figure 29: Accept the warning

Lost most GPS devices these days, the Pocket LOOX prompts you to accept the legal disclaimer.

Figure 30: Navigation first-use screen

54 seconds after tapping on the Navigation icon and the Pocket LOOX displays a first-use welcome screen. Show Product Demo plays a brief tour of features available in the navigation application. Basic Settings accesses the configurable options pages within the navigation application. Start NAVIGON Mobile Navigator exits the first-time use page and brings up the main navigation menu.

Stay tuned for Part II of the Pocket LOOX in-depth review where we'll dive into the navigation software, routing engine, map quality, and much much more.

5. Finding an Address with Pocket LOOX

The two main methods for entering a destination on the Pocket LOOX are either by entering a street address, or by searching for a business using the POI search.

To test the Pocket LOOX's address entry system and ease of use, I'll test entering a destination address of: 135 Central Park West, New York, NY.

Figure 31: Pocket LOOX's Main Navigation Menu

Once the navigation application has loaded, the navigation Main Menu screen appears, shown above in figure 31. From here you can enter a new destination (New Destination), view the address book (My Destinations), route to the designated Home address (Take Me Home), or control the Pocket LOOX with your voice (Voice Command).

For this test we'll be entering a destination address, so I'll tap on "New Destination" and continue.

Figure 32: Entering a Destination Menu

Tap on "New Destination" and a sub-menu appears asking if you want to enter an address or search for a POI. In this test we'll be entering a street address, so I'll tap on "Enter an Address" and continue.

Figure 33: Entering a Street Address, Street or City First?

Navigon's software allows you to specify whether you want to input the street name first or the city name first. During my testing results were the same for either method, so it's really a matter of preference. Most GPS units ask for the State first, so I've become accustomed to that order (although it's nice that Navigon gives you the option). I'll tap on "City First".

Figure 34: Entering the Destination Address State or Country Name

As you tap letters on the on-screen keyboard, Pocket LOOX reduces the list of possible matching State names. I'm entering an address in New York State, so I tap on N-E-W Y- and as I type the Locket LOOX lists matching State names in the left hand column.

Figure 35: Using a ZIP Code Instead of A State Name

Pocket LOOX allows you to enter either a State name, or a ZIP code -- a handy time saving feature if you know the postal code of the address your routing to. However, the Pocket LOOX is so slow to respond to each tapped letter that I have to wait 2-3 seconds between letters before the GPS updates the results list.

Also, notice how small the on-screen keyboard is. My hands aren't unusually big (insert your favorite big hands/feet joke here), and even I found it challenging to use the tiny keyboard. I was constantly hitting multiple letters or the wrong letter altogether, and had to backspace and correct my typos.

Unlike Magellan's QuickSpell text-entry system, Pocket LOOX doesn't gray out certain letters as you type, only permitting you to tap letters that would spell a valid State name. Instead, all letters can be tapped, allowing you to spell names of non-existent States, Cities, Streets, etc.

Compounding the problem is the fact that the Pocket LOOX is slow to lookup matching names, taking a full 2-3 seconds between each tapped letter before updating the list of matching names in the left column. So, if you spell out the State name as fast as you can tap each letter, the results list never populates -- you must wait a few seconds (sometimes as many as 5 seconds between each letter) without tapping any letters so the Pocket LOOX can search its database and product the results list.

Given the small size of the Pocket LOOX, Navigon should re-think the layout of this page. Dedicating 50% of the precious screen space to the results list is not the wisest use of this limited screen real estate. Instead, the keyboard should be oriented horizontally, the letters made slightly larger, and the results list should only occupy the top 1/3rd of the screen. I've photoshop'ed the original screen to illustrate how the text entry screen could be improved, shown below in figure 36:

Figure 36: Fletch's Proposed Re-Designed Navigon Text Entry Screen

Notice how this Photoshop'ed mock-up of the text entry page has larger letters for easier typing, and makes better use of the limited screen space.

Also, the lookup speed needs to be improved or the processing power of the hardware upgraded; in fact, the overall slowness of the hardware was a persistent problem throughout my testing, and one of the most annoying aspects of using the Pocket LOOX. The slowness issue alone made the Pocket LOOX all but impossible to use while driving.

Figure 37: Entering the Street Name

After the City or ZIP code has been entered, Pocket LOOX asks for the street name of our destination address. We're trying to route to 135 Central Park West in New York City, so I start to spell out C-E-N-T-R-A-L. Notice how the street name are all cut-off -- in order to see each full street name, you have to scroll through the list and let Pocket LOOX scroll through each full street name in the small text box -- it's like reading a stock ticker, and very annoying.