10. Bluetooth (hands-free) Operation

Figure 63: Accessing the 7100's Bluetooth Features

When paired with a bluetooth-enabled cell phone, it is possible to use the Navigon 7100 as a hands-free telephone, placing and receiving calls via the GPS.

To access the Bluetooth menu, tap on the telephone icon from the map screen, as shown above.

Figure 64: Bluetooth Keypad

It takes a few seconds to load the keypad screen - about 3 seconds. It's not immediately clear what the user is supposed to do here - and I found myself tapping around trying to figure out how to pair a phone with the GPS. Tap the green checkmark in the upper-right corner to get to the Bluetooth main menu (shown below).

Figure 65: Bluetooth Main Menu

The Bluetooth HF Phone menu, shown above, is where you can pair the 7100 with a bluetooth-enabled cell phone, or view the call history. Tap the bluetooth icon (bottom center) to begin the pairing process.

Figure 66: Bluetooth Manager

Tap Explore a Bluetooth Device to begin searching for a bluetooth cell phone within range. Note that the cell phone must be set to be discoverable in order to be "seen" by the GPS.

Figure 67: Pairing...

The pairing process worked relatively well on the 7100 - I was able to pair my Blackberry 8700 without issue.

Overall Bluetooth performance was spotty - when the GPS and my cell phone were separated, I had to re-pair them when I got back in the car.

11. Traffic

Figure 68: Traffic Alert Displayed on the Map

Undoubtedly one of the most appealing features of the Navigon 7100 is the inclusion of free, lifetime traffic data. Virtually all other GPS companies charge an annual fee of around $60 to receive real-time traffic alerts.

If there is a traffic event received, the Navigon 7100 displays a traffic alert icon in the lower-right hand corner of the map, as shown above in figure 68. Tapping the alert displays additional information about the traffic event, shown below.

During my testing I found that the 7100 would display the traffic alert on the map any time traffic data was received anywhere near my current position, even if there was no impact to my current route. I would have preferred to see some intelligence used in deciding when to display the alert on the map. On a 4 hour drive from New York City to Boston, the traffic alert icon appeared multiple times, unnecessarily alerting me to traffic events up to 60 miles away from my current position.

Figure 69: Traffic Event Details

The traffic information screen displays an ordered list of traffic events the GPS has received, sorted by distance from your current position. Each of the events listed can be selected to view more detailed information about the problem, as shown below.

Figure 70: Traffic Event Detailed View

Navigon's interface doesn't make it clear what, if anything, can be done with the traffic data. Magellan and Garmin, for example, have easy one-touch buttons to avoid a given traffic issue.

Figure 71: Traffic Data Reliability Was Mixed at Best

Traffic awareness is a powerful capability that could potentially mean you'll never be stuck in another traffic jam again. Unfortunately, I found coverage spotty and overall the service was less than reliable. Even when driving in areas within the traffic coverage zone, I frequently found myself sitting in traffic jams and the Navigon remained blissfully unaware of the surrounding traffic conditions.

Navigon isn't alone in its less than reliable traffic service. Over the past 12 months I have been testing traffic services from Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom, and all three share similarly poor coverage and reliability as Navigon. However, Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom do a much better job than Navigon at presenting the traffic data and making it easy to re-route around a traffic event.

12. Canceling the Current Route

Figure 72: Canceling the Route

Tap the left arrow in the lower-left corner of the map to cancel the current route and exit to the Main Menu.