CoPilot Live UK Blog

BANK HOLIDAY SALE: 10% CoPilot Live Premium UK and Ireland Sat Nav App

By Pauliina | Published: May 22, 2013

With the second long May weekend ahead, many of us are planning a little holiday break. Instead of heading to continental Europe, why not enjoy a little “staycation” during this bank holiday? There is still a lot to discover in the UK and Ireland, so don’t forget to pack CoPilot sat nav with you – it has thousands of interesting POIs from petrol stations to attractions on the route!

PLUS to celebrate the bank holiday we have put our CoPilot Live Premium UK and Ireland Android and iOS sat nav apps on sale until 27th of May! Sunny or not, it will guide you safely – and offline – to your destination.


copilot-uk-satnavCoPilot Live Premium UK and Ireland

£17.99 (usually £19.99)

http://www.copilotlive.com/uk/satnav/

 

Here are our top picks for the “staycation” in the UK and Ireland:

England – The Lake District

The Lake District is a beautiful region in North West England popular for its lakes, forests, wildlife and mountains. Its landscape is said to be as breathtaking as in Switzerland and the French Alps. Inspired by various poets, the Lake District is a fantastic choice if you enjoy great outdoors. It has the highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike, as well as the longest and deepest lakes in England.

 lake-district-copilot

Wales – The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

Not only is it worth visiting Snowdonia and Brecon Beacons national parks in Wales, but the Pembrokeshire is one of its kind. Located in the coast, the Pembrokeshire has everything from limestone monoliths and green bridge of wales to 13th-century chapels right on the beach. Its beach landscape has been awarded 41 blue flag awards, 47 green coast awards and 106 seaside awards.

 pembrokeshire

Scotland – the Western Isles of Scotland

Why go to Spain when you can drive to the Western Isles of Scotland with beautiful turquoise sea and white sandy beaches? You can take the ferry there from Ullapool, and enjoy the beautiful scenery and wildlife you rarely see elsewhere.

 western_isles

Northern Ireland – Giants Causeway

With over 40.000 natural basalt columns created by an ancient volcanic eruption, Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland is a place not to miss. It is located about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills.on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland,This beautiful and mystifying place was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and it is also a National Nature Reserve and is surrounded with old, mythical tales.

 Giants-Causeway

Ireland – Galway

This medieval Irish town located on the west coast of Ireland is known for its ancient architecture and lively cultural scene. But Galway is not all about the town itself, but you can explore the area by boat or drive to the Connemara National Park outside Galway with beautiful mountains, Connemara ponies and other rare wildlife.

 galway

CoPilot’s UK + Ireland Premium apps include premium quality, full updated street maps of the whole of UK and Ireland, so wherever you are heading , you can always be sure of detailed directions even without mobile coverage.

You’ll find the apps on Google Play for Android, App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Have an excellent bank holiday!

Posted in CoPilot Live for Android, CoPilot Live for iPad, CoPilot Live for iPhone, Special Offers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reaching a New Destination – CoPilot Europe is Moving Home!

By jshukla | Published: May 20, 2013

ALK

It’s been over 10 since we first opened our CoPilot Europe office back in 2003, and we’ve been based in the same building in Bloomsbury Square ever since.

Where to?

From small beginnings (initially with a team of just 5), CoPilot has grown dramatically – both in terms of the team and of course the number of consumer and professional drivers we are guiding every day.

Over the years we’ve moved around our current building, taking on additional space as the business has grown, but now it’s time to move to a bigger and better home.

 

 

Bye, Bye Bloomsbury, Hello City!

From June, we’ll be swapping Bloomsbury for the City with a new base in Farringdon, giving us the space and facilities to best serve our customers and take CoPilot forward as the mobile navigation market grows.

Bloomsbury Square

 

But as we pack-up ready for the big move, here’s a reminder of some of the CoPilot Bloomsbury landmarks:

2003: ALK Technologies Europe opens office in Bloomsbury Square

  • 2004: early beginnings selling PDA + CoPilot bundles through Tottenham Court Road dealers and online retailers. BMW launches branded sat nav PDA with CoPilot
  • 2005: Motorola launches the A780, the world’s first smartphone with integrated GPS, a car kit and CoPilot pre-installed. We win Microsoft’s worldwide mobility partner of the year.
  • 2006: CoPilot launches at T-Mobile UK, offered free with a phone
  • 2007: CoPilot launches at O2 UK, pre-installed with the XDA Orbit
  • 2008: CoPilot pre-installed on HTC Windows Mobile devices throughout Europe. Royal Mail chooses CoPilot in the world’s largest ever commercial sat nav deployment
  • 2009: CoPilot launched on Android and iPhone. Becomes UK’s highest grossing iOS app of the year after just 6 months.
  • 2010: CoPilot selected by The AA as navigation partner for AA Sat Nav
  • 2011: CoPilot version 9 platform launched. CoPilot selected by BMW for BMW Link app project.
  • 2012: CoPilot GPS app launches with 1m downloads within 60 days. ALK wins Honeywell ISV Partner of the Year. CoPilot is selected by Renault for it’s Twingo app project
  • 2013: ALK becomes part of Trimble Navigation Inc. ALK wins Motorola European Solutions Provider of the Year. CoPilot GPS exceeds 4.5m downloads and CoPilot for Windows Phone 8 announced.

Thanks Bloomsbury, you’ve been fantastic and we’ve many happy memories as the business has evolved. Now for the next decade in the CoPilot story …

Posted in ALK Corporate News | Leave a comment

Google i/O 2013 announcements: our top picks!

By Pauliina | Published: May 16, 2013

378318-google-i-o-2013As a little tradition here in our office, we had a chance to watch the three-hour-long Google I/O keynote yesterday with plenty of interesting announcements. Especially in Google’s key areas of business are seeing updates both for consumers and us, developers.

Here is what caught our attention:

Android – Google I/O 2013

The keynote started with the most interesting news for us: Android. After stating that there have been 900 million activations of Android devices, Google introduced a new tool called Android studio, which provides more options for our Android development team. The new tool makes the process faster and more productive, and we cannot wait to use it!

Other interesting announcement was that Google will be stocking a version of the brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 on Google Play, which will run stock Android. This means that every update to Android Jelly Bean will come direct from Google.. It’ll be a 16GB model and will be available in June.

Google Photo – Google I/O 2013

Google is also improving its photo services in Android and Chrome with a cool feature allowing Google to automatically create a photo album from hundreds of images uploaded to your photo cloud storage – picking the best photos based on friends and family members recognition, aesthetic and image quality, and landmark locations disqualifying duplicates, blurry and under/overexposed images. It even checks whether people are smiling or not!

Google+ – Google I/O 2013

Whether you like Google+ or not, its new look and feel should catch your attention. We have to say we really, really like it! Check it out yourself on our refreshed and improved CoPilot Live Google Plus page:

https://plus.google.com/b/111711996312777199429/111711996312777199429/posts

And of course …

… robots fighting with light sabers. How could we possibly not like that? :)

In action: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/15/willow-garage-pr2/

 

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CoPilot Tips for May: Photonav, Screen Orientation and Vehicle Preferences

By Pauliina | Published: May 13, 2013

Summer is approaching despite ever-changing weather – well at least here in the UK we hope it is – and to ensure you make most out of your holidays. we have collected few little tips and tricks for your travels in May. We hope you like them!

1. Did you know that you are able to navigate with CoPilot even to a geotagged photo? So next time you don’t know the exact address, or you stop by a cool or beautiful place on the road, don’t forget to take a photo with GPS coordinates. To find your way back to that special spot, go to “Photonav”, select the photo from your image gallery and go.
navigate to a photo gps

2. Now you are able to lock your screen in a portrait or landscape mode in CoPilot. So if you decide to take your motorcycle out for a ride or decide to discover new roads on bike, with the locked screen getting your knee down doesn’t make your map jump around like crazy. Just go to Settings -> Screen Orientation.

gps for motorcycle
And of course, what would a sat nav be without a motorcycle, caravan, bike and walking mode? It can be changed in Route -> Vehicle Preferences.

Happy travels!

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Heading away for the holidays? Don’t forget to pack your CoPilot

By Pauliina | Published: May 3, 2013

satnav-offline-iphoneThe summer’s approaching, the May bank holidays are here at last and many of us are planning to head abroad. While you are packing your essential holiday gear, make sure you’ve taken the time to download the maps you’ll need into CoPilot … and don’t forget your car charger.

 You probably won’t need reminding to be careful about data roaming when abroad. Despite European laws introduced last summer forcing mobile operators to reduce the cost of using mobile internet in other countries, data roaming bills can still be rather scary.

 Based on the results of research we’ve just conducted with YouGov, nearly half of UK smartphone owners (42%) are worried about international mobile internet charges, and two out of three Brits go offline completely by turning data roaming off when they leave the country.

 Luckily as a CoPilot owner, you won’t have to worry about being left without directions. All the maps you need are stored on-board your phone or tablet for offline use, so you can continue get turn-by-turn guidance without worrying about the cost. That leaves you to enjoy your foreign driving and maybe use the money you’ve saved on something more worthwhile.

 Interestingly, the survey also reveals that data usage is not just a problem when abroad. Nearly a third of UK smartphone users (31%) have reached their domestic mobile data allowance on at least one occasion during the last 12 months. With our smartphones consuming ever increasing amounts of data for  daily-used services such as maps, mobile web and social media feeds; mobile internet access cannot be taken for granted even when at home. So even if you aren’t leaving the UK and enjoying a ‘staycation’ CoPilot can help you avoid excessive mobile data charges.

 Happy travels, wherever you are heading :)

Posted in CoPilot Live for Android, CoPilot Live for iPad, CoPilot Live for iPhone | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Most Popular Android Devices Running CoPilot

By Pauliina | Published: April 24, 2013

galaxy-s3-copilot-satnav-UKCoPilot runs on more than 250 Android Smartphones and tablets, including the latest HD devices like the Sony Xperia Z and HTC One. But have you ever wondered which Android devices are the most popular? We’ve taken a look into our global statistics from the past year and the results are in:

The top ten of the most popular devices equipped with CoPilot at this very moment are:

1. Samsung S III

2. Samsung S II

3. Galaxy Note II

4. Asus Google Nexus 7

5. Galaxy Note

6. HTC One X

7. Samsung Galaxy S

8. HTC Sensation

9. Samsung Galaxy Nexus

10. Galaxy tab

Interestingly – but not so surprisingly – Nexus 4, Galaxy tab 2 and Xperia Z are steadily climbing up the chart slowly. It will be very interesting to see how the Android landscape will look like one year from now, with the arrival of new Android devices such as HTC One and Galaxy S IV … and the upcoming Android devices we do not yet know about!

A big thank you to all our Android fans who have sent us essential feedback, reported issues and shared great ideas with us! We will keep on improving the app to make sure we will support as many Droids as possible, and if you have spotted something or think we could improve in some aspects, please do drop us a line in our user forum: http://forum.copilotlive.com/copilotlive .

We wish you happy travels with your Droid!

Posted in CoPilot Live for Android | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Response

CoPilot GPS satnav app celebrates its first Birthday

By Pauliina | Published: April 22, 2013

Dear fans, we hope you’ll join us in wishing a very happy birthday to our free CoPilot GPS app! THANK YOU to all our wonderful fans across the world who downloaded it!

Thank you, Grazie, Gracias, Merci, Danke, Dank u, Kiitos, Tack, Takk, Tak, Hvala, dĕkuji, شكرا, Ευχαριστώ, Köszönöm, Paldies, תודה, Dziękuję, Obrigado, Mersi, Спасибо, Ďakujem, Teşekkürler, Diolch!

IMG_1722

Within its first year on the market, our free trip planning app CoPilot GPS has proven to be a great compliment to smartphones on iOS and Android alike.  But don’t just take our word for it – let the numbers speak for themselves!

CoPilot_GPS_Infographic_smaller jpg

Thank you to all that downloaded the app – we are happy to have you as part of the CoPilot family and appreciate all your feedback and support. If you have more great ideas or feedback, please do let us know in our customer forum – it would be much appreciated: http://forum.copilotlive.com/copilotlive

Thank you!

Posted in CoPilot Live for Android, CoPilot Live for iPad, CoPilot Live for iPhone | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Response

CoPilot Tips for April: Trip Optimisation and Map Download

By Pauliina | Published: April 11, 2013

Hello fans, Spring is finally here and we have written two useful tips for you so you can get most out of your CoPilot app this month. We hope you find it useful!

Trip Optimisation

Did you know that  you are able to optimise and save your routes? Thanks to our trip optimisation feature, you don’t actually have to add all your stops in order, but just by clicking “Options” -> “Optimise stops” we will reorder them to give you the most practical route (especially handy if you are delivering to 20 different addresses across the country). By selecting “Save” you can also – well – save your trip.

optimiseroute

Map Download

Did you know that if you get or have an European app, you don’t actually have to download ALL the European maps? To save precious space in your mobile/tablet, you can pick and choose the maps you need.

copilot-maps-europe

For example if you drive from Manchester to Marseille you only have to download maps of UK+IE and France, and if you drive from Berlin to Rome, you only need DACH + Italy. After the trip you can delete the maps you don’t need anymore and enjoy the freed space. Just go to My CoPilot -> My Maps.

We wish you a wonderful Spring – happy travels!

Posted in Tips & Tricks | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Responses

SPRING SALE: 10% off CoPilot Europe!

By Pauliina | Published: March 25, 2013

Spring2013Sale_UK-NA

Despite the slight wintry set-back, Spring is officially here … and we are celebrating with up to 10% off our iOS and Android Europe apps and maps!

With the long weekend ahead, it’s the perfect time to load your phone or tablet with CoPilot’s premium quality offline European maps to avoid roaming costs when navigating abroad. There is no need to store ALL of Europe on your device though – you can simply add and remove just the countries / regions you need – when you need them – to save precious space on your mobile.

CoPilot’s European apps include premium quality, full updated street maps of the whole of Western and Eastern Europe, so wherever you are heading (from Iceland to Turkey) you can always be sure of detailed directions in your own language.

You can find a complete list of all the countries included in our European apps here

European apps and maps sale! 

(sale ends at midnight on 8th April 2013)


CoPilot Live Premium Europe
CoPilot Live Premium Western Europe
(includes UK + Western Europe):
£25.99 / €32.99 (usually £29.99 / €37.99)

CoPilot Live Premium Europe
CoPilot Live Premium Europe
(requires turn by nav upgrade first):
£29.99 / €34.99 (usually £34.99 / €39.99)

CoPilot GPS
European maps upgrade in our CoPilot GPS app
(requires turn by nav upgrade first):
£19.49 / €24.99 (usually £23.99 / €29.99)

 

You’ll find the apps on Google Play for Android, App Store for iPhone and iPad or through in-app purchase in our GPS app.

So whether you are spending the long weekend at home or abroad, don’t forget to take CoPilot with you! Our live traffic service helps you avoid the holiday traffic jams, and our offline maps ensure you can find your way back home safely even if the network crashes or you can’t get a mobile signal.

Wherever you are travelling this Spring, we wish you happy, and safe, travels from all at team CoPilot!

Posted in CoPilot Live for Android, CoPilot Live for iPad, CoPilot Live for iPhone, Special Offers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Responses

Announcing CoPilot for Windows Phone 8!

By Pauliina | Published: February 25, 2013

lumia-920-copilot-uk

Here at CoPilot, as with many of our loyal customers, we’ve long been fans of Microsoft’s mobile platforms. Our original CoPilot GPS navigation app “Pocket CoPilot” was developed for Microsoft’s Pocket PC (back in the days when apps were called applications) and pioneered mobile navigation on Windows Mobile, so now we are delighted to announce an app for Windows Phone 8 – and Windows 8 – at Mobile World Congress 2013.

 

After a relatively slow start with Windows Phone 7, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 is gaining momentum as an alternative to Android and iOS in the global battle for smartphone supremacy. With some fantastic handsets from the likes of Nokia, HTC and Samsung, an innovative and polished user experience and a robust app store, it’s also becoming an ideal platform for CoPilot too.

 

So we are bringing the full CoPilot voice-guided navigation experience to Windows Phone 8 handsets and Windows 8 devices, with advanced turn-by-turn guidance features, comprehensive trip planning and of course quality street maps stored on-board for offline use. There’s a full suite of real-time ‘Live’ services include ActiveTraffic™, Yelp, Wikipedia and Google Search to keep you fully informed on the road.

 

We are showing-off the app on a variety of Windows Phones at Mobile World Congress. The app itself will be available soon through the Windows Phone Store – more on that nearer the time.

 

Meantime, here’s a gallery of pictures to browse >

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s the full press release:

CoPilot® Brings Full-Featured GPS Navigation to Windows Phone 8

Award-winning CoPilot GPS navigation apps return to the Microsoft platform.

Mobile World Congress, Barcelona – 24nd February 2013: ALK Technologies, a leading provider of navigation and GeoLogistics™ software, is pleased to announce that its award-winning CoPilot® GPS navigation apps for smartphones and tablets will be available for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.

CoPilot brings dependable voice-guided GPS navigation to Windows Phone 8 handsets and Windows 8 devices. Designed as an alternative to traditional in-vehicle systems, the app provides a full range of advanced turn-by-turn guidance features, comprehensive trip planning and automotive-grade street maps stored on-board the device for offline use. Integral real-time ‘Live’ services include ActiveTraffic™, Yelp, Wikipedia and Google Search to keep drivers fully informed on the road.

“We’ve always been fans of Microsoft’s mobile solutions,” said David Quin, head of consumer applications at ALK Technologies. “CoPilot was originally developed for Microsoft’s Pocket PC and pioneered mobile navigation on Windows Mobile, so we are delighted to announce a new app for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. The Windows family of mobile devices is rapidly gaining momentum as an alternative to Android and iOS, and provides an ideal platform for us to deliver a full-featured and driver friendly CoPilot navigation experience.”

“Windows Phone is backed by a vibrant app ecosystem with a variety of quality titles, like CoPilot, which help people enjoy a smartphone that is uniquely theirs,” said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Phone Apps, Microsoft Corp. “CoPilot is a great example of the rich applications that people can enjoy on their Windows Phones.”

CoPilot for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 brings a complete suite of advanced navigation features that can help make every journey easier, including:
• Clear, non-distracting 3D map views with lane arrows and signpost display
• ActiveTraffic™ calculates the fastest routes and accurate arrival times, based on live traffic flow information
• CoPilot ClearTurn™ makes navigating complex junctions easy
• On-screen speed limit indicator and excess speed warnings
• Advanced trip planning with a choice of three routes and drag-and-drop route editing
• Comprehensive local search with integrated Yelp, Wikipedia and Google
• Global map regions available to purchase and store on the device as required

More information and images available here >
See CoPilot for Windows Phone 8 during Mobile World Congress 2013 at the CoPilot stand in hall 8.1, stand F6.

Availability: CoPilot is expected to launch on the Windows Phone Store and Windows Store in summer 2013 with the following versions: ‘CoPilot Premium’ a paid app which includes turn-by-turn navigation and 12 months ActiveTraffic; ‘CoPilot GPS’ a free offline trip-planning and maps app with in-app purchase for turn-by turn navigation; and CoPilot Truck for truck-specific GPS navigation. Pricing will be in-line with existing CoPilot apps for iOS and Android.

Posted in CoPilot Live for Windows Mobile, Press Releases | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Responses