The CoPilot live system has been around for a while now and has gained many fans, the recent version 5 brought a number of welcome updates but this is the first Smartphone edition from ALK. We must however admit to being a bit nervous about SatNav systems on phones generally.

Firstly lets deal with compatibility, a smartphone like a PC can run on any number of operating systems, the version on test here is the Microsoft Mobile platform software, this will run on a number of current mobiles including the Orange SPV E200 and C500 or the Qtek 8080 and the IMate SP3i we are using.

Installing the system is fairly simple, the maps and the main application comes pre installed on a mini SD card (there is also a full size adaptor supplied) that fits into the SD slot under the battery in the SP3i, on powering up the smartphone install is automatic, only asking you to confirm location for maps and sound files.

Registration of the product is required within 3 days of first use and can be done via GPRS through the phone or online through the ALK website, this is perhaps the first sign that the system is really expected to have a GPRS connection after all this is a "live" application and registration via GPRS is easier. The next item you'll need from the package is the Bluetooth GPS receiver, this device has been the stalwart of the CoPilot system for at least 2 years running a SiRF IIe/LP chipset and performing admirably in tests.

Connecting from the smartphone is in fact easier than pairing a Bluetooth headset, you just open the CoPilot 5 application on the phone and as instructed search for a Bluetooth GPS device, once selected the phone displays the status of the GPS receiver and its acquisition of satellites. The receiver itself is a fairly modest affair with an on / off switch and 3 lights to indicate status, what you are looking for is a green light to indicate satellite lock and a flashing blue light to indicate connection to the phone over Bluetooth.

There remained one last act before getting on with some guided driving and that was to secure the phone using the rather flimsy looking holder, we are always sceptical of these devices and instead choose to use a phone holder specifically designed for the model. However our iMate SP3i is and new and we've been a bit lazy in getting a holder so we decided to chance the holder, needless to say it exploded into 2 bits during fitting the air vent and now we'll have to grovel to the guys at ALK.

Having resorted to trusty double sided Velcro it was finally time to try some route planning, as the phone screen is quite small compared to an all in one unit we found that interaction with the system was best achieved with phone in hand. Calling up the application you need to enter a stop to which you wish to navigate to, multiple stops can be entered by repeating the process, a destination can be input by address or postcode or can be marked on a map.

We did find the postcode selection a little picky with it refusing to find either the office or LP's house but it could find the pubs postcode (not sure how LP knows this) searching for a partial address works well with the application presenting a list of possible matches.

Having put our first destination into the CoPilot application we selected start driving and the route was quickly planned, from an initial assessment the route was indeed accurate and the one we would have normally chosen and also the way that the TomTom Go unit takes us each morning. The screen layout was set to safety view which changes the on screen text or maps according to the speed and distance to the next turn. CoPilot 5 has a range of views from turn by turn instruction to a "D or 3D map each one can be manually selected or the safety view will choose the best dependant on the route and speed.

All of the first batch of instructions were executed with the map on screen and the voice instruction saying "just ahead" for us just ahead was a little too close to "right now", the CoPilot software will give a 2 mile, 1 mile, third of a mile and just ahead speech warning these can be disabled but not modified (just ahead can be modified between 5 - 1 seconds).

Here we found the first limitation of the smartphone platform, the speaker volume on the SP3i is just not sufficient for driving in a noisy vehicle or at motorway speeds, this is clearly not the fault of the CoPilot software but did make us wonder if a cradle could be supplied with inbuilt speaker? The first route was completed with navigation of a number of roundabouts and quick successive turns, we didn't stray from the route causing re calculation and hence the CoPilot 5 Live software worked a treat.

The return trip was plotted in lightening speed and instead of following it we took a few wrong turns to check the recalculation capabilities of the CoPilot smartphone version, it took about 20 seconds on average for the wrong turn to be spotted a ping indicates that the route has been recalculated. We did find that the navigation algorithm would try and take us back to its first calculated route but after we had ignored it's instructions a few times it did re plot a new fastest route from our current location.

All in all a good performance on routing and guidance, we did have a few occasions where some of the spoken commands were missed these seemed to be related to incoming phone calls, obviously guidance is inhibited when a call is in progress, but it seemed to take some time to recover post call.

The CoPilot 5 Live smartphone edition does also support POI (point of interest) which can then be navigated to or for that matter warned of, this is essential as we always like to load the UK speed camera map.

There is a huge section of CoPilot 5 that we have reviewed separately and that is the "live" element, this uses the GPRS connection of the smartphone to receive traffic information and to relay position back to an "invited" computer so that your position can be tracked, ideal for fleet management. You can read more here

First impressions are of a comprehensive navigation system that runs well on the iMate SP3i, routing is quick and accurate, far better than the Navman unit we tested a few months back, however the limitations of GPS on your phone are clear with a small screen and poor speaker. ALK have clearly squeezed the maximum out of the smartphone environment and are to be commended for this.

Retailing at £210 for the complete bundle CoPilot live 5 for smartphone is a premium over the TomTom go mobile product but as we will find out later this week the "live element should add that extra value.

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