CoPilot navigation app for iPhone hits Europe with massive price hike

American developer ALK Technologies has announced that it’s navigation application, CoPilot Live, is now available for the European market. The service has been available for North America since August 14th for 35 dollars. So I’m somewhat amused that the “Europe” version costs 60 pounds sterling. That’s around 100 dollars.
What does the app do?

It’s a pretty solid map app. It stores the maps on your device, and uses GPS to place you on it. It has pretty much all the navigation features you’d want - a rotatable 3d map, turn-by-turn spoken voice directions, points of interest, route calculator… you know, the suite that you’d expect from a navigation device. It’s even got a “brand search” function, so that you can check where the nearest McDonalds is, and a live weather service that gives you the next five days worth of forecasts.

Pricing:
I can understand the hefty price attached. When compared to your regular $1 or free iPhone app, $35 seems incredibly high. But this app effectively turns your iPhone into a proper sat-nav system. I’d need to run a side-by-side comparison to check if the iPhone is as fast and fluid as, for example, a Garmin device would be. But what you really want in a service like this is detailed maps - and CoPilot is providing that.
But what’s up with the massively inflated European prices? There’s a cheaper “UK and Ireland” only version of the app, but that still goes that goes for over $40. There are counties in America that are bigger than Ireland. If CoPilot are pricing via actual area covered, then yes the States is smaller than Europe. But not but by much. In terms of square kilometers, it’s about 10 million vs. 9 million. The only thing I can think is that whoever provided CoPilot with their European digital maps really took them for a ride. $35 really isn’t bad for a decent sat-nav service on your iPhone. But $100? That’s a total deal breaker. At that price you’re better off just buying a real sat-nav.