Last weekend I took the new LG phone Optimus GT540 to an ultimate road test. Well, it was not only a test, it was a test drive with Wikitude Drive. Wikitude Drive is a Augmented Reality navigation application we developed within the last year. 
It won us the Grand Price at the Navteq challenge for the EMEA region (also read: The Inside Story) – we are going to compete in the global final against the winners of North America, South America, India, and Asia in September. Wikitude Drive is going to hit the Android Market within the next weeks.
Andi Hauser, Chief Innovation Officer at Mobilizy, testing pedestrian navigation with Wikitude Drive on a LG Optimus
The key figures of the GT540 are a
- 3″ Full Touch Screen
- Android OS 1.6 (Donut)
- Wi-Fi, GPS & Push Email
- 3MP Camera
- Google Applications
- 3.5mm Headphone Jack
- 600Mhz Processor
- 1500mAh Li-Ion Battery
- 2GB MicroSD Card Included
These are only the key figures, but is this phone also going to work well with next generation mobile software like Wikitude Drive? Especially Augmented Reality uses a lot of computing power. Wikitude Drive is a prime example of mobile software that literally “drives” each single component to it’s limit.
My test drive took us (us=me & the phone) on a lovely day around the country side of Salzburg. No rain was involved, but still bumpy and curvy roads.
LG Optimus GT540 on a test drive in Salzburg
The result was that LG Optimus GT540 worked very well with Wikitude Drive. From the performance point of view, there was no difference to Google’s Nexus One. The display has a decent size, still handy enough to fit in a pocket or being used for pedestrian navigation. I would say this phone has the perfect size to serve the prime use cases: do phone calls, being carried around in a pocket, to use the Internet on the road, and to navigate.
In fact Wikitude Drive performed so well, that we decided to pre-load Wikitude Drive on all 10 LG Optimus GT540 phones that we are giving away to the top 10 worlds at our Wikitude World Cup (Deadline July 31!).
PS: Wikitude Drive is not yet available in the Android Market (coming soon).
All the best,
Phil
[...] Drive works very well on the LG Optimus GT540 (see LG Optimus Ultimate Road Test). That’s why we decided to pre-load Wikitude Drive on all those 10 [...]
[...] Wikitude » LG Optimus Ultimate Road Test [...]
nice. Will there be a list of supported Android devices? I assume it’s necessary to test Wikitude Drive on most Android device with different os Version and screen sizes. since this apps Looks like a Game changer in the Navigation Space, I believe that it is high prio enough for handset providers provide you with test devices. i would, if i was a handset provider!
great work!!! — Tom
Hi Wikitude,
i really appreiciate that you are also concerned of the users of more or less “low end” hardware. I am using a HTC Wildfire. What do you think? Would Wikitude Drive work also on this handset?
Greeting, wildfireuser
Hi Tom,
Thx for your comment. We will post a list with supported Android devices for Drive within the next weeks to make sure our users know if Drive is running on their device.
If you need anything further, just contact me.
Greetings
Nicola
Hi Woldfireuser,
Thx for your comment. Wikitude Drive was tested successfully on numerous handsets and it should run on around 90% of Android devices. We will post a list with supported devices the next weeks. Please stay tuned.
Greetings
Nicola
Will Wikitude be only available in the U.S.? Canadian here who is looking to get on board :)
Hi Jason,
Wikitude Drive will also be available in Canada, so stay tuned.
Greetings
Nicola
How about Europe? (e.g. Germany or Austria)
I’m looking very much forward to test this application… is the price already known?
Will one be able to add POIs as well? Is there a traffic service planned?
I think this could be really a hard opponent to current big companies like Tomtom or Navigon…
Hi,
Wikitude Drive will also be available in Europe, so stay tuned. The price will be published together with the launch of Wikitude Drive, so I can’t give you any details on this yet. We’ll keep you updated on the features or prices on our webpage.
Greetings
Nicola