ALK, the folks that make the CoPilot app for mobile phone navigation, have released an update for the North American iPhone version of CoPilot 8, adding text-to-speech with spoken street names and map updates. The update is available free for registered users via the iPhone app store, ALK says. The update includes street maps of the United States and Canada as well as a map update service called MapSure, which will provide free monthly map maintenance downloads and quarterly map updates. ALK further says that customer reported map updates will be verified and distributed as an additional download within 45 days.

As for adding the text-to-speech and spoken streetnames, according to gadget blog extraordinaire Gizmodo there are a few hoops to jump through to get this up and running once you get the update downloaded. To wit:

Go into iPhone Settings, find CoPilot and set License Reset to “On.” Once you to that, go to the app, where you’ll be prompted for online activation all over again. (Kinda annoying.) Once you do that, go to Language & Voice settings and choose a voice with an asterisk next to it.

Other features of the CoPilot 8 for iPhone reportedly include improved GPS performance, live weather info, the ability to directly dial a point of interest, the ability to use free LiveLink web-based location sharing, and use of the iPhone’s built-in virtual qwerty keyboard (apparently the virtual keyboard built into the CoPilot iPhone app was rather craptacular). This update also gives users access to premium services for a one-time price of $19.99; these3 include real-time traffic data, fuel prices, and a live local search.

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