Sprint to Offer Free GPS Navigation

Cellphone provider Sprint announced today that it will offer a GPS-enabled navigation service at no additional charge on some of its data plans. The new feature called "Sprint Navigation powered by TeleNav" will provide unlimited GPS navigation for customers that subscribed to the company's Power Vision plan, as well as two other data plans. Customers that use other data plans will be able to add the navigation package for $2.99 per day.

Some of the features the navigation service will include are voice-guided and on-screen turn-by-turn GPS-enabled driving directions; 3-D moving maps similar to what you see on a personal navigation device (PND); real-time traffic alerts; local search; and pre-trip planning. Customers that don't use a data plan eligible for the free service will be able to access Sprint Navigation for $2.99 per 24-hour period of use

The service is supposed to be available in April on most Power Vision phones. Making the service available for $2.99 a day seems like a smart move to me. I'm sure there's a lot of people that feel like they don't travel enough to invest in a PND, but would occasionally use the service.

See also: So Long to Stand-Alone GPS Units?
Free Maps for Your Cellphone