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" Most major cell phone providers now offer a navigation service, available for use with many new phones. If you don&amp;#039;t already own a GPS navigator (or are still deciding if you want to invest in one), you might wonder if the quality of service on your cell phone is worth the daily or monthly cost. The most important feature, of course, is whether this service will get you to the correct location in the most time-effective way. However, ease of following directions and entering and finding points of interest, plus receptivity of calculating and changing routes, are also important.  We put equally priced services from Sprint, AT&amp;amp;amp;T, and Verizon Wireless to the test. Overall they proved to be helpful and convenient, especially for occasional use, when road-tripping or driving a rental car. To note: All cell phones have smaller screen sizes than dedicated GPS units, which means that following screen directions could require more of your attention. For safety and ease, you may prefer to put the phone in the console and just listen to the directions, or you can purchase a universal mounting device, which allows you to attach your phone to the car&amp;#039;s dashboard. Keep in mind, though, if you get a phone call while navigating, your navigation session will be interrupted with an alert, asking if you want to answer or not. Verizon VZ Navigator ($9.99/month or $2.99/day, vznavigator.com) The VZ Navigator, with turn-by-turn spoken directions, gave the most accurate and direct route to the destination and back to the starting point. It was particularly easy to adjust the settings and search for points of interest, either by category or name (like nearby stores or gas stations), and the search for our restaurant required fewer steps than other provider&amp;#039;s services. Although it took longer to reroute once an incorrect turn was taken, it was the overall favorite in reliability. It has multiple ways to enter an address, including by using the keypad, by voice, or via &amp;quot;place message&amp;quot; (someone sends you the address to which you need to go). Plus, you can get traffic updates and gas prices along your route, and local weather forecasts based on your current location.  AT&amp;amp;amp;T Navigator ($9.99/month or $2.99/day, att.com/navigator)  AT&amp;amp;amp;T Navigator, powered by TeleNav (a GPS provider), located desired destinations with a small margin of error and has three ways of entering an address: on the keypad, online, or through voice activation (&amp;quot;telling it&amp;quot; where you want to go \u2014 however, on most phones this feature works by placing an outgoing call, which will cost you cell phone minutes). The turn-by-turn directions are spoken and shown on a 3D map. The service was fairly easy to use, but tracking down your desired point of interest (restaurants, gas stations, and even parking lots and Wi-Fi hotspots) could be time consuming. Like the others, AT&amp;amp;amp;T Navigator provides visual traffic updates and local gas prices; you can even find the cheapest gas within a 15-mile radius.  To note: The iPhone 3G ($99) or 3GS ($199 for 16GB or $299 for 32 GB, apple.com), available exclusively through AT&amp;amp;amp;T, can locate you not only through global satellites but also through cell towers and Wi-Fi base stations. It includes a preloaded &amp;quot;Maps&amp;quot; feature, powered by Google Maps, that allows you to find points of interest around you and get directions, but these are not voice-directed, making them awkward to use when driving. You can download AT&amp;amp;amp;T Navigator for your iPhone, like any other app, at the same price that owners of other GPS-enabled AT&amp;amp;amp;T phones pay. Next: Check out Sprint&amp;#039;s navigation service!  Sprint Navigation ($9.99/month or $2.99/day; included in the &amp;quot;Everything Data&amp;quot; plans, sprint.com/navigation)  The Sprint Navigation menus were by far the easiest to use of the three providers. Powered by the same GPS specialists (TeleNav) as the AT&amp;amp;amp;T service, Sprint Navigation delivered the same directions (slightly off on the exact destination spot, but within a reasonable distance). You can enter your address by using the keypad, by typing it online, or by voice \u2014 the latter works like a voice call and uses cell phone minutes. The service also has two ways to track down points of interest (by name or category, including specialized locations like parking lots and Wi-Fi hotspots) and lets you read reviews of certain businesses, like restaurants or hotels. Sprint Navigation also provides traffic updates, gas prices, and 3D maps. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/electronics/gps-reviews/a16416/mobile-phone-gps/>