It was just last month when Navitel released a mapping app for Windows Phone 7.x devices with promises to release a Windows Phone 8 version in the near future. Today Navitel held true to their word and released the Windows Phone 8 version of their app. In a manner of speaking that is.

Now before you get excited, the release is very limited in what maps are available and it’s only a thirty day trial. After the thirty days you’ll have to pony up and pay as much as 50 Euros for Navitel’s service.

The good news is that Navitel has a decent amount of features and maps are downloaded for off-line use. The bad news is that there are no maps for the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia and other major locations.

What is available for download are maps of Albania, Argentina, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro, Moldova, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Romania, Russia, Salvador, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela. Pricing for each varies after the thirty day period expires.

Key features for the Navitel app include:

• Instant routing
• Extensive POI database
• Free services such as Navitel Friends, Navitel Traffic, Navitel Events, Navitel Weather, and Navitel SMS
• Notification system of places with high attention (speedcams, dangerous roads, radars, etc.)
• Customizable route variables (shortest, avoid ferries, route for car/motorcycle/pedestrian)

Navitel reminds me of some of the early Windows Phone navigation apps that were strong on navigation and not so strong on user interface. On the plus side, Navitel takes advantage of off-line maps to lessen the odds of getting lost if you lose your data connection. Just not sure if turn by turn directions are data dependent.

If you feel like giving Navitel a test drive on your Windows Phone 8 device, you can find the thirty-day trial version here in the Windows Phone Store. Pricing for the available maps can be found here at Navitel’s website.

Source: Windows Phone Central