Their intentions for VZ Navigator are good-hearted. They want to provide a secure GPS system on a wireless device that will not give someone other than yourself your coordinates on request. With that said, they are supposedly in discussions with companies such as Google and TeleNav to offer a product that will utilize the Google or TeleNav interface and maps but securely through the VZ Navigator transport.
...in the end, they should offer customers both the free, built-in GPS functionality and a pay-for service offering for the security and paranoid customers that would be weary otherwise.
Verizon's main issue wasn't that they didn't specify the devices were released with the GPS functionality disabled. They simply didn't mention publically why they disabled the standard functionality and it was long-since rumored on the internet for other purposes. I believe it was more about money, but if they tell the story about 'security concerns' then perhaps others would be more interested in that approach and agree with it (and pay for the premium GPS service).
Needless to say, I wish someone would hack the VZ Navigator transport and just make a mockery out of their security.
