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(Credit: CNET)

The end of the year is a good time to take a look back over the last 12 months to get a snapshot of the state of portable GPS navigation. So we're taking a look at our reviews pages and pulling together the 10 most viewed GPS devices for 2009.

Cumulative lists such as this tend to favor older models--mostly because they have more time to build steam than the newer models--but we were glad to see a nice, healthy mix of old and new devices. While we were expecting to see a good number of Garmin Nuvi units on our list, exactly which Nuvi models made this list is a bit surprising. Of course, TomTom, Navigon, and Magellan also make appearances.

Check out the 10 most viewed GPS devices of 2009 to see what models you and your fellow readers found the most interesting.

Why spend upward of $100 on a navigation app when CoPilot's on sale for $20?

At $34.99, ALK's CoPilot Live North America is already one of the least-expensive navigation apps in the iTunes App Store. At $19.99, it's an outright steal.

That's the deal ALK is offering this holiday weekend, and you can grab it starting right now.

CoPilot Live offers complete turn-by-turn navigation for the U.S. and Canada. Its features include text-to-speech (meaning it announces street names), address book integration, tap-to-call POI listings, and easy switching between different modes of travel (car, bicycle, walking, and so on).

You'll definitely want to read Dong Ngo's CoPilot Live road test that covers the highlights and letdowns--but keep in mind the app's been updated since then. For example, Ngo dings it for lacking text-to-speech, but it now has that feature.

Still missing, alas, is real-time traffic information, which apparently remains on the coming-soon list. Thankfully, future updates to the app will be free, though any premium services like traffic will cost you.

Even without that option, it's hard to pass up a full-featured navigation app for just $20, especially with competitors like Navigon, iGo My Way, and TomTom still selling in the $70-100 range.

The only missing ingredient is a dashboard or windshield mount for your iPhone. I recommend heading to a Web site like Eforcity or Meritline and picking up an inexpensive gooseneck mount.

The RoadMate iPhone app borrows the interface of the RoadMate line of navigation devices.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin)

As the PND vs. smartphone battle for navigation superiority continues, we're seeing more of the GPS heavyweights hedging their bets by developing application versions of their standalone GPS devices, while others push toward adding cellular technology to their portable devices in a bid to even the playing field.

Magellan finds itself in the former camp with the announcement of its Magellan RoadMate for iPhone turn-by-turn navigation application. The application is compatible with the iPhone 3G and 3GS models and will be available soon on the App Store at an introductory price of $79.99 (which will jump to $99.99 sometime thereafter).

Routing is quick, even when plotting four simultaneous courses.

(Credit: Screenshot by Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

The Magellan RoadMate for iPhone inherits many of the features that we liked when we tested the RoadMate 1470 standalone navigation device, such as the OneTouch user menu--a customizable shortcut menu that allows users to store frequently accessed addresses, POIs, and searches--and the ability to calculate and compare multiple routing options simultaneously. The RoadMate app also uses the same Navteq maps as the standalone unit. Maps and POIs are stored locally so you can keep navigating even without a data connection.

Other positive features that stand out are spoken text-to-speech street names, an oversize on-screen keyboard that's easier to use at an arm's length than the iPhone's default keyboard, native access to the iPhone's contacts list, and graphic lane guidance with digital highway street signs. In-app music control with playlist creation isn't critical to getting from point A to point B, but it's nice to have. 3D building data for major cities may be nice for users who navigate visually, but I think it's more of an eye candy thing than a truly useful feature.

Once you get where you're going, the RoadMate app automatically remembers the location of your car so you can find your way back and can switch to a Pedestrian mode for further navigation on foot.

I got my hands on an advanced copy of the Magellan RoadMate for iPhone app for evaluation and found, for the most part, that it worked as advertised. The app booted quickly and responded snappily to my inputs when tested on an Apple iPhone 3GS. A positive side effect of locally stored maps and POIs is that searching and routing with the RoadMate app is lightning fast, even when calculating four simultaneous routing options.

The Maestro 5310's roomy 5-inch screen makes for much easier viewing.

(Credit: Amazon)

Shopping for a GPS? You can get one with a 3.5-inch screen for as little as $50, a 4.3-inch screen for under $100, or a 5-inch screen for--well, these models are relatively rare, so prices start at around $300 and rise sharply from there.

Not today. TigerDirect has a refurbished Magellan Maestro 5310 5-inch GPS for $129.99 shipped.

What's the big deal about a 5-inch display? That seemingly small amount of extra screen estate makes maps easier to view and onscreen menus easier to operate. Consequently, I'd say it's a safer GPS than one with a 3.5-inch screen.

The Maestro offers everything else you'd want in a GPS, too, including text-to-speech (i.e. it pronounces street names), 6 million points of interest, a windshield mount, and optional real-time traffic.

Even if you don't spring for a traffic subscription (which costs $60 annually after a free three-month trial), you can use the Maestro's SmartDetour feature to plot a route around suddenly slow or stopped traffic.

You don't get a lot of fancy frills like Bluetooth or a media player, but I consider that stuff fairly superfluous anyway. The big screen is the big attraction here, and the traffic option is icing on the cake.

CNET hasn't reviewed the 5310, but the handful of user reviews over at Amazon are overwhelmingly positive.

Because this is a refurb, the warranty expires after 90 days. As always, I think that's a potential positive: whatever problem might have existed has already been corrected.

In any case, this deal has been running all weekend, so there's a chance it'll be ending soon. If you're in the market for a nav system and you'd budgeted $100 or so anyway, I'd definitely consider paying a little extra for this big, beautiful screen.

The TomTom Start will be customizable, inexpensive, and unavailable in the U.S.

(Credit: TomTom)

The Start is TomTom's newest entry-level car navigation device for the European market. Featuring a smallish 3.5-inch color touch screen and a fixed version of TomTom's (normally removable) EasyPort mounting system, the Start is aiming to be a low-cost, pocketable device.

The shape isn't the only thing that's been simplified. The menu's home screen has been simplified to two buttons, "Plan route" and "Browse map." No word has been given on if or how more-advanced menu options will fit into this scheme, but hopefully this reorganization will make the Start's menu as uncomplicated as the Garmin Nuvi menu hierarchy that we love so much.

Powering the route guidance is TomTom's IQ Routes and Map Share technology that have permeated the manufacturer's entire line of PNDs. IQ Routes uses aggregated speed data (both from the user and from other TomTom owners who choose to share their anonymous data) to choose the fastest route based on the time of day. Meanwhile, Map Share is an optional map-update service that employs user-generated corrections. Text-to-speech and graphic lane guidance appear to be absent, further differentiating the Start from the more-advanced One and XL lines.

Users can further customize their Starts (which are available with black or white shells) with removable covers (which cost 15 euros) available in six colors, or by choosing custom voices and start-up screens using TomTom's Home desktop software.

The TomTom Start is available in the U.K. and Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway with either regional maps or full European maps for 129 euros and 149 euros, respectively. Considering that the next least expensive IQ Routes-enabled PND (the TomTom One) is about 170 euros, that's a fairly good deal.

No plans for a North American release of the Start have been announced, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Navigon's MobileNavigator app continues to improve with features like text-to-speech and location sharing.

For the second time in as many months, Navigon has released an update to its MobileNavigator GPS app. The big news this time? Text-to-speech.

Since MobileNavigator debuted in late July, the App Store has grown crowded with competitors, including CoPilot Live, iGo My Way, and TomTom.

But not one of them offers the coveted text-to-speech feature (yet), which announces actual street names instead of just saying "turn right ahead."

MobileNavigator 1.2.0 adds that highly desirable capability--along with a few others. A new integrated iPod control provides one-tap access to your media library. A new location-sharing feature lets you e-mail your location, an address, or a point of interest. (If the recipient is also a MobileNavigator user, the attached link fires up the app with the destination already programmed in.)

Finally, the update includes automatic switching (based on time and location) between day and night modes. In other words, if it starts getting dark out, the app will switch to a less-glaring map view. Nice!

One other noteworthy change: It appears Navigon has settled on $89.99 as the price for MobileNavigator--$10 less than was originally planned. That's nice, but it's still higher than iGo ($79.99) and CoPilot ($34.99).

Also, real-time traffic updates are still MIA. While you're waiting on that, check out the Inrix Traffic app, which I've found to be an excellent road companion.

For the moment, the arrival of text-to-speech gives MobileNavigator an edge over competing GPS apps. If you've tried some or all of them, hit the comments to let me know which navigator you like best--and why.

CoPilot Live's map view could use some cleanup and suffers some lag when switching between the vertical and horizontal positions.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

CoPilot Live is the fourth turn-by-turn GPS application with offline built-in maps for all of North America that I have on my iPhone 3GS. After Navigon, iGo My Way, and TomTom, I thought there would be nothing new I could find in a navigation app. I was wrong.

CoPilot Live offers a quick way to switch between modes of travel, which include auto, RV, motorcycle, biking, and walking. This makes the app ideal for getting around town, especially, say, if you need to change from driving a car to walking. The Navigon app offers a similar option, but you have to dig pretty deep into the menu to change your travel mode. With CoPilot you can do this anytime, even in the middle of an existing route, just via a few taps.

CoPilot Live offers a quick way to switch between different modes of travel.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

Another nice thing about CoPilot is the Live Services option, which includes Live Weather and Live Link. Live Weather lets you see local weather or weather in a different city. Live Link connects CoPilot Live users, allowing them to send messages or share locations. I wasn't able to try this out as I was the only one I know who used the app during the testing.

The Live Services option, of course, requires an Internet connection and is only available when there's a cellular or Wi-Fi signal. Unfortunately, the most anticipated feature that also requires an Internet connection, the real-time traffic option, is not yet available, though there's a placeholder for it within the Live Services section of the app. According to ALK Technologies, maker of the CoPilot Live, this service will be added via an update that's coming out by the end of the month and costs another $20 per year, on top of the current $35 flat fee for the app. No other flat-free iPhone GPS apps with offline maps currently offer real-time traffic.

Also missing is the text-to-speech feature, where the app would read out the name of the street. Nonetheless, the app has a wide selection of voices for you to choose from. It includes voices of 29 languages, each with a few options of accents, both male and female. It's probably the most versatile GPS app for the iPhone in terms of languages it supports.

If you need a GPS device to get around, it's becoming more likely you'll get yourself a mobile phone with built-in satellite mapping than buy a standalone personal navigation device.

According to market research firm iSuppli, by 2011, virtually all smartphones will sport built-in GPS functionality, and by 2014 there might be no more market left for PNDs.

The Palm Pre is one smartphone that offers viable GPS navigation solutions.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

While this is a grand statement, it's quite credible. Just a year or two ago, it was hard to find a phone with built-in GPS functionality that actually worked reliably. Now look at my iPhone 3GS. I have all three major GPS applications on it, including TomTom, Navigon, and iGo My Way, and each can turn the phone into a dependable navigator. In addition, I am now testing the fourth one, CoPilot Live from ALK Technologies.

While I may be unusual--mostly because nobody needs more than one GPS app on his or her phone--the truth is that more and more phones offer the same feature and more people are using their phones as their primary GPS navigator while driving.

The Palm Pre, for example, also offers a great GPS navigator provided by TelNav, and my co-worker Joseph Kaminiski sure has made good use of it. Prior to the Pre, Joseph used the Treo 800 for the same purpose.

Nonetheless, for now, the market for PNDs is still going strong. According to iSuppli, PNDs will continue to lead the navigation market in 2009, with some 114 million sets predicted to be in use by the end of the year, compared with 57.8 million navigation-enabled smart phones.

New smartphone models are becoming increasingly suitable for use as navigators due to their larger displays, bigger internal storage, faster processors, and most importantly, the increased number of developers creating apps for them. As a matter of fact, all current navigation solutions on smartphones are applications developed by third parties.

iSuppli predicted that thanks to such factors, the number of people who use the iPhone alone as a navigator will increase from just 2 million in 2009 to 20 million by 2013.

Personally, however, I still believe there will be a market left for personal navigation devices. Though I have been making good use of my phone for getting me places, I still like a standalone GPS device for my car as sometimes while driving, my iPhone needs to be used as what it's designed to be: a phone.

Alli (aka Heavy from the old days) joins us on today's show and as usual, she brings up the wackiest topics. Today's tangents include Halloween costume ideas, time travel, and super powers...oh, and some stories from the Internet, too!

We always love having Alli on the show because she always brings up the weirdest topics of discussion. Case in point: Halloween costumes...it's the end of August! It's going to be hard to top last year's costumes but Alli has a great idea for a DOUBLE costume: Jon & Kate Plus 8--it's the perfect costume for us, aside from the fact that we'd have to stand next to each other all night and somehow abduct eight babies. This might be our last Halloween.

Next, we move onto a rundown of 10 joke technologies that sort of became real, but we actually only get into the invisibility cloak before getting sidetracked into our most desired super power. Jeff wishes he had the power to tan, I go with the ability to morph into a potted plant, and Alli just wishes she could get out of The 404 studio.

Plenty of more stories to get to, but don't just read about them here, listen to the show! We've got Bob Dylan voicing a GPS system (replete with our awful impersonations), the UK's disturbingly graphic "texting while driving" PSA, and Microsoft's tasteless Photoshop incident. You don't want to miss this episode!.