By The folks at NDrive have pinged us about version 11 of their GPS navigation software for Android. NDrive aims to be more than your average GPS companion as they aim to provide features to make your driving experience more social and to make it easier to discover what’s currently surrounding you.
Facebook and Foursquare integration lets you update your friends on where you’re headed without having to leave the application. Not only is it great for an uninterrupted driving session, but it helps make that task more safe by allowing you to update your location in a few clicks as possible.
They’ve also incorporated deals – in real time, it’ll show you who has the best deals going on where you’re driving. Imagine going to work and seeing that your favorite coffee shop is giving away a cup of java. A quick turn into their driveway wouldn’t hurt at all. And then there’s everything else you’d expect in a modern navigation experience.
Real-time traffic updates will automatically reroute you to get you to your destination in the fastest time possible. Live weather conditions will help you determine whether or not you should be driving or if you should be driving with more care than usual. Lane assistance will make sure you’re in the right lane at the right time for those upcoming exits. And there is way too much more to list here.
You can take a look at the video above which gives a thorough breakdown of what you can expect. No, it’s not free like Google maps, but these premium offerings often offer much more than Google Maps can, and NDRIVE seems to deliver here. The cost of admission is 19.99 euros, but there’s a way you can get it for free – tell us how you would make your GPS experience more social or more personal to you.
Simply leave a comment in the comments section below with your answer and we’ll choose 5 winners to receive a free copy. (Be sure to use your real email address as we’ll need this to contact the winners after the contest period has ended.) We’ll only need to gather your IMEI number so that the folks at NDRIVE can grant you your complimentary license to download the full version of their application.
The contest is open to any readers in the United States and the United Kingdom. The contest period ends on Monday, April 11th, 2011 at 11:59pm eastern time so be sure to get those entries in before the weekend is over.
As a bonus, NDrive is holding a different sort of contest on their Facebook page. It’s called “Look at Me Mom” and challenges the user to go back to a special place that they’re passionate about. Drive back to that place and – from within NDrive – update your Facebook friends and NDrive with what makes it special to you. You’ll be entered to win a high-end smartphone after the contest period ends which is April 23rd. Check their Facebook page out for more details.
And that’s not all – if you can’t seem to win anything from any of these contest, you can still get in on a great deal. You travelers out there can take advantage of buy one, get one free. Just show proof of purchase of any region you buy and you’ll get another region of your choice. It’s great for people who travel to a certain different country often.
If that all sounds good to you then be sure to take your own stab at things in the comment section below. Remember, there is no “best” answer as we’re choosing winners randomly. (But make sure your response is appropriate to the contest rules.) Go on, get started!
“Real-time traffic updates will automatically reroute you to get you to your destination in the fastest time possible”
Not if you live in NorCal north of Santa Rosa or Sacramento, I know, I work all of that area up to Oregon and to Nevada.
If NDrive could buy me a cup of coffee; which it seems it can (local offers); i suppose that it would be more generous than some of my friends!
Look @ me mom, thats cute ; )
I like it when my wife and kids can see where I am, especially when I am on my home!
God only if I could get back to New Orleans right now I would do the look at me.
Sounds like a neat concept. I like it!
Man, if I could here Lady Elaine’s voice directing me where to go, I’d be one happy camper!
It will help me avoid “favelas” in Rio de Janeiro, this vacation.
Always good to see devs integrating cool features like Facebook and Foursquare into their apps.
Lets see more apps along this vein.
The GPS experience would be more social if others could follow me who do not use Facebook etc. In the same way that using Glympse you can send an email/text to someone so they can track your progress via a website.
How about fuel costs.. Whenever calculating a route, estimate with local prices / average mileage, how much the route would potentially cost me to travel. This is becoming more essential in the UK due to high petrol prices. This would definitely help me personally choose a route to take.
NDrive seems to be on the right track!
Share a route? That could make it more social. Location based services is very cool for navigation. I have NDrive and its very good with Foursquare ( You know; if you care about badges and all that jazz)
Interesting looking app. Not sure how I would use some of the social functionality……guess I need to see it first!
A great social feature to add would be to integrate a “near me” feature while commuting to find those who travel the same route at the same time as a possible carpool matchmaker (with appropriate privacy protections, of course).
Definitely find the cheapest fuel, voice activated commands,
I would like a voice that sounds inviting and not like Stevan Hawkins.
It would ba cool to hear it say my name or to be able to see the whereabouts of my friends( latitude)
Ok that is kinda cool. If Waze-like traffic updates were included it would be my full time driving map.
This looks like a great alternative to Google’s navigation, good to see it’s produced some great innovation in this field, I’ve love to try NDrive
I think I would have to try something like this out to know how well it would work for me.
Because I live in alaska, I think ut would be awesome for ndrive to show landmarks and post them on facebook… “Joe just passed Portage glacier on his way to Whittier!”
very nice app
Pick me! I definitely wouldn’t mind a free copy of nDrive.
I could definitely use something like this. I am horrible with directions and am constantly using google maps, it’d be nice to have the bonus features like the lane assistance and traffic updates. Not too keen on the facebook stuff, I mean who the hell would care where I’m going if I didn’t already invite them? Even if I don’t win a free copy I think I’ll go ahead and treat myself to a premium app.
Whenever I switch back to Windows Mobile on my HD2 I use Ndrive for GPS and it has always been a solid system, I like the updates they have made to it and I would love to have a copy for Android too. Hope I’m selected, thanks for the offer Phandroid!
Isn’t the license based on the phone’s IMEI ? if so, you should be able to install the free version on android market and use it without limits…
I’d love to get a copy of this. It would be great as I can update my locations and clients could see where I was and how far I might be from them. This could simply my life!
I’d drive around and find new places to eat… more cultured is more social in my book ;-)
How about I have AT&T Navigation and have to pay monthly for it! I would love to use this app in my travels!
Great things that could be done to enhance the social GPS experience:
* Show friend markers for recent check-ins/etc
* Show friend markers for addresses in your address-book (ex: I use Google’s Address Book)
* Show markers for “favorite” locations (either specific locations or ones that match a favorite business)
* Automatic position updates on some sort of interval (perhaps with specific privacy set for the automatic updates)
I would use the social status in this app to keep tabs on where certain people are so I can stay clear of them! Also, I’m always looking for a good deal so if this thing can tell me what I’m missing out on while I pass it then sign me up… I mean… PICK ME! Thanks
a mapping app with preloaded maps that gets updated (both app and software) would be much nicer for traveling to visit my parents and friends in Canada than a TomTom like device would be. Data roaming rates for my Sprint Cell would be horrendous. Roaming voice is bad enough. The draw back for me right now is the cost… and the extra fees the bank would charge for it being an international purchase.
I could see using this to reduce data consuption or just in areas with bad or no data, like overseas travel. But it looks like each region is a separate $30 – $60 app.
Either way, I don’t understand what is so social about driving directions. Who would have this app running on their way to work? Do you really not know how to get to work? So, they want you to run their app constantly when driving so advertisers can get your location via “offers”? No thanks.
I will love to have a copy
Hook me up
Being a member of a car club it would be nice if you could also show where your mates cars are as you drive along and form a convoy =)
I think it would be great on vacation trips that as you pass certain landmarks etc…based upon your gps location that you would receive a popup window that would give you some basic facts about that landmark and allow you to navigate to it if I wanted too. Hope often have you been on a trip and returned only to return home and find out you missed out on something very cool along the way.
how about generating routes to maximize fuel efficiency?
Because my friends from around the state always pick a time to hang out together and it would be VERY convenient for us to find a cool mid-way point to meet up!
It would be a nice adittion for Electric Veichle drivers to calculate remaining battery range based on elevations of roads. That could make even a Nissan Leaf driver use NDrive as a better alternative to car default navigation software.
PS: I suppose the NDrive could pull real time battery information from the car over the internet…
Needed for my car club! Would be awesome to have the chapter presidents all running this. SCIKOTICS!
I would like to be able to add my favorite restaurants & hotels. This way I would know which exits to get off at to refuel myself. :)
heatwave96(at)hotmail.com
Maybe the gps could be used to find out where my previous post disappeared to?
It would be great if it could integrate with your calendar or otherwise know when you were headed to a meeting with your contacts. Then, it could on its own alert contacts who are attending the meeting that you are (for example) delayed due to traffic, weather, or just because you left late. It could also provide an estimated time of arrival. I suppose the concept could also be expanded to appointments/reservations with restaurants, doctors, etc.
I would love to be able to input multiple destinations and calculate the most efficient route based on those destinations. I haven’t seen this functionality available in a portable GPS system since the Garmin iQue. I frequently have multiple stops for work and its such a time saver not to have manually calculate the best route each time.
One way to make it more personal: note when family or friends are within a certain distance “out of the way” in a long road trip and suggest the possibility of including a stop.
Looks nice, I wouldn’t mind it. Especially the real-time traffic updates; amazing quickly traffic can change in my area.
Would love a copy NDrive, could this be my Sprint navigators replacement?!
A GPS that lets you entwine your travels with social adventures, would definately add some fun to life. And anyone that’s headed through unfamiliar cities and highways would be forever grateful to know what lane to be in when it’s needed most! Sign me up! :)
Sharing your arrival time (or ETA) with friends or colleagues you’re going to meet and updating them if your going to be late (with ETA) would be a useful feature.
I think this sounds like a great app! It sounds like it has just about anything anyone could ask for.
cool concept!
it would be cool to, say you’re going to meet someone, somewhere and, once you get there, you can see them arrive on your gps… or if they are already there, you could track them with it…