Strict new road rules relating to the use of mobile phones by drivers are threatening to kill the burgeoning market in apps and services that enable smartphones to be used as satellite navigation systems.

The legal changes will affect iPhones that use apps made by TomTom, Navigon and Sygic; Nokia phones using its Ovi Maps; Telstra phones using its Whereis Navigator GPS service and any other service or software that enables a mobile phone to be used as an in-car navigation device.

TomTom's new iPhone app in use with the yet-to-be released car-kit.

Victoria will roll out the new rules, which will limit drivers' use of mobile phones and satellite navigation devices, on November 9.

A spokesperson for VicRoads, the Victorian Government's roads and traffic authority, said that under the laws - as applied in Victoria - it would be illegal for drivers to navigate using a mobile that doubles as a satellite navigation device.