You’ll have in-vehicle navigation with Scout for Cars like you’ve ever before thought possible as this next-level system comes through on not just your car’s display, but your phone and your desktop computer as well. With the webpage Scout.me, you’ll have management of your favorite locations, early looking up of places you’ll want to go, and more! With a built-in system in your vehicle you’ll have instant connectivity.

Above: our most recent hands-on experience with Scout in-vehicle integration. Below: Telenav’s official quick spot on Scout for Cars and the ties between it and Scout for Phones!

Key features of the Scout for Cars interface include the following:

• Personalized Information: Favorites, recent trips, and commute times automatically sync between the computer, phone, and car

• Fresh Maps & POIs: Access to up-to-date maps and millions of POIs

• Local Weather: Real-time weather and forecasts

• Local Search: Integrated one-box search with automatic suggestions makes it fast and easy to enter addresses & POIs

• Real-time Traffic: Drivers save time with live traffic overlays and updates that automatically reroute them around traffic jams or road congestion

• Voice Control: Safety is increased as drivers are able to keep their hands on the wheel with voice-activated commands

• Flexible Branding: OEMs can offer embedded navigation in their vehicles under their own brand, look, and feel

• Companion App: OEMs can use Scout for Phones or their own branded smartphone app to bring connectivity and services into the car

From our long history with Telenav – the folks behind Scount and this ever-expanding high-powered GPS navigation environment and experience – you’ll find that this group of workers is second to none when it comes to creating a top-notched program. This isn’t just a system that leads you to the places you need directions to: it’s a companion for you both in and out of your vehicle. With Scout in its many iterations you’ve got your own personal guide wherever you’re going!

Have a peek at a timeline of Scout and Telenav bits and pieces below to see how far the system has come! Also be sure to hit up our Car Hub to see the many different ways the automotive industry is getting technologically powerful and makes forward thinking a must-have for your next-generation vehicle!

TeleNav announced the update via their Twitter account, noting that the new 3D features will “give drivers a better view and navigation experience.” The feature will be available later this year, along with crowd-sourced traffic reporting like we’ve seen in Waze. It’s not said exactly when the update will hit, but hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.

TeleNav will rely on its 34 million subscribers to report various accidents and traffic jams around the country, and the app will update itself in real-time with the traffic information it receives from its users. This means that Scout will suggest faster alternate routes when it detects that you’re about to hit some heavy traffic.

The video above shows off the 3D buildings in a demo, and while you can clearly see the outlines of the buildings, they don’t get in your way of the navigation, and you can still through the buildings and look ahead to what roads you’ll be turning on. When the update eventually does hit, it’ll be available for both free and premium users of the app.

With Scout you’ve got a free model – the download is free either way – and a pay model that includes “Scout Plus” for either 1 year or per-month, the former costing $24.99 and the latter costing $4.99. The premium features you attain when upgrading include real-time traffic updates, lane assist (with highlighted exit lanes), red light camera alerts, posted speed limits, speed trap notifications, and Always There Navigation.

With Always There Navigation you’re getting support for GPS even when you’re offline. You can download maps of your local area to your device, there thereby also relieving you of the charges you’d incur with data from your cell company from accessing the maps on the fly. Without Scout Plus you’re still able to work with turn-by-turn voice navigation though, starting today for free!

Have a peek at Scout on not just the iTunes Appstore today, but also the Android-loving Google Play app store as well. See the timeline below as well to get deeper insight into the world of Scout and its creators at Telenav. And get yellow!

This service allows developers to push free, voice-guided, turn by turn, GPS navigation directly from their app or their website, making full use of the Telenav database with ease. Just as easy as it is to embed a video into your website, you’ll be working with Telenav’s Scout mapping without sacrificing your own brand – the app or website can keep their own brand name on everything throughout the whole navigation session.

This Scout for Apps environment and service is available for developers on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone starting immediately, and Telenav has also brought on a companion for the web as well. Telenav is bringing on a website widget for Scout called the Scout Drive Button, made for small businesses that want to make it super easy for people anywhere in a web browser to find their physical location. Your mobile browser will be able to initiate turn-by-turn directions now with a single tap!

Developers will be able to access the Scout Drive Button for websites as well as the Scout for Apps environment immediately, for all three major mobile platforms! Have a peek below at our other recent encounters with Telenav and Scout, and get to navigating!

Ryan Drake, Scout product manager at Telenav, notes that, “the last thing you want to worry about is losing your GPS navigation if you drive out of wireless coverage and take a wrong turn”, especially when you’re in an unfamiliar area. Thus, Scout is here to bring you the information you need directly from your device’s own memory banks. With no web connection necessary, there’s no need to use up your data for the month either – greatness all around!

Scout also offers speech recognition for searching for nearby destinations with save one-button touch activation. Voice Commands are included in this feature and word combos such as “Find Coffee” or “Drive Home” work right away, no training necessary. Each time you make a new query, Scout will either find the best nearby results or it’ll create the best navigational route to your chosen location based on traffic and your start point.

You’ll be able to update your current Scout app today for free, or if you’re a new users, you can access the app in the Apple App Store on your iPhone. You can download the app for free, then you’ll have a free 30-day trial as well. Offline navigation will cost you $9.99 per year or $2.99 per month – this cost includes additional premium features as well, of course!

This three screen experience starts at home with Scout.ME – this being a website where you can make your experience what you want it using Telenav’s vast database of places, events, and of course navigation. Have a peek at our hands-on video from back at CES to see the next step:

If you check that post out from earlier this year you’ll find that the app in-car was nearly ready to rock at the level we’re seeing now here a bit closer to Summer. Scout for Cars as it’s called is now up and running fully, and all features are live, including Voice Navigation which for several unforeseeable reasons was not available earlier this year.

Telenav’s Scouts are Suburban Trendsetters and Young Adventurers – are you one of those two groups? Have a peek at the app for iPhone now! Telenav apps with Scout abilities will be available on carriers, built-in with Android phones for example, with different branding and a slightly different look throughout the year and over time.

The message this week from Telenav has been those two keys, one Everywhere and Everyday, the other being Everything Local. With Everywhere, Telenav’s goal at the moment is to get 100 million subscribers in the short herm. They’ve got a three screen strategy to get these subscriptions, including web, on your phone, and in your car, and they’ll continue hitting these strategies in both Direct and Indirect sectors. Direct sectors are carriers, automotive manufacturers, and app store, while indirect covers developers with HTML5.

For their Everyday goal, Telenav is aiming for people to use their apps multiple times a day. To make this happen, Telenav is aiming for increased usability in general as well as a continuously expanding set of use functions in Scout – their newest push for subscriber-based GPS app usage. Everything Local includes what Telenav describes at Hype Local marketing services for brick and mortar companies – this includes sending more traffic to stores physically.

Have a peek at our Telenav timeline below to follow their growth over the past few months and expect big things from Scout and the rest of the Telenav family soon!

This version of Scout brings iPhone the not-oft spoken-of ability to do turn-by-turn directions in real time. Where Android has similar features basically right out of the box (that basic bit, anyway), iPhone only otherwise has text-formatted directions: no voice included. Here we’ve got Telenav powering an app that brings that ease and simplicity to the iPhone in a single feature-full app. Have a peek at just the new features included in this version of Scout:

• Automatic rerouting if you miss a turn or take a detour
• Lane Assist that lets you know which lane to be in before your next maneuver
• Audio & visual traffic alerts & rerouting
• Red-light camera alerts that notify you of red-light cameras ahead with both audio and visual alerts
• Speed trap alerts that let you know when to slow down due to upcoming speed traps
• Posted speed limits that give you your current speed limit with an indicator to show if you are speeding

Then see the app in action here courtesy of Telenav as well – this look like a service you’d be interested in paying a measly $10 a year for?

You can grab Scout, aka Scout by Telenav, from the iTunes store right now – upgrade included right out of the box!

What Scout for Apps will allow developers to do is integrate GPS navigation directly into their apps, plain and simple. This framework will allow you to, for example, work with a single app which locates the best restaurants in the area and also drives you there without consuming additional battery life by launching a whole extra app only for GPS. What happens instead is that you’ll be getting a web-based popup (much lighter) which shows you directions then closes when you’re done.

This system exists in addition to TeleNav’s Scout.Me system for IOS launched this past December (see more here). This new release of Scout for Apps will have the world’s FIRST web-based HTML 5 powered navigation system at the fingertips of developers ASAP so this summer we can be rolling out hard with as small an amount of power consumption as possible. A single line of code is all a developer needs to integrate TeleNav navigation in their shopping app, sightseeing app, or whatever they deem applicable!

Developers should head to http://developer.telenav.com/ to expand their vision of GPS navigation today! Integrate this system in your mobile site or email as well! This whole system works with iOS 4.0+ and Android 2.1+, so you’ll be good to go!

BONUS check out our own experience with a Scout app in-vehicle from CES 2012 here:

This system has just been launched this past week with real-time local information as well as integration with your contacts, music, and all of it from the one “My Dashboard” page. You’ll be able to connect with iPhone as well, it having an initial offer of Scout.me integration, the site offering you the ability to plan with friends via Facebook and Twitter and organize and save your favorite spots for later viewing. All of this is then synced to your device where your in-car display will be able to access it whenever you’re plugged in to the system.

Telenav announced that their initial partnership will be with Ford for its SYNC system, and as you’ll be able to see in the hands-on video, the whole system is already working quite slick. Voice guidance is also offered through your stereo, and text prompts are there too if you’re not a fan of being told where to go. All of this is available on the mobile end this week, but as for how soon we’ll see it in cars, there’s no solid date as of yet – soon though!

Grab the phone-based application from the iTunes App Store for your iPhone, check out http://www.scout.me/ as it enters its Beta stages, and grab the Android app in the near future!

What we’ve got here is TeleNav’s award-winning navigation system brought over to an HTML5 world of full-color moving maps, automatic rerouting, and audio directions. Essentially what you’ve got is a very similar experience to what you’ve been using in your regular app-based TeleNav navigation system, only here you’re in the browser and using a very universal HTML5 set of bones. As co-founder and vice president of products for TeleNav Sal Dhanani says:

“This is an enormous amount of added value for any mobile, location-based website or app focused on travel, shopping, local search, deals and more. With one line of code, you can give your customers one-click access to premium, voice-guided turn-by-turn directions to any location, including hotels, restaurants, merchants or deal locations. Customers never need to leave your app.”

What this means for you, the developer of your own app or service, is that you’ll be able to add a button on your “find us here” page that links to a turn-by-turn navigation system that leads the clicker of the button directly there. This is beyond simple and certainly a value proposition we’ll see many businesses pick up in the coming months. The full TeleNav HTML5 service will be launching in early 2012.

This newest version of TeleNav includes three whole new widgets you can place on any of your homescreens, simple blue background and white icons making you feel as though you’re part of a truly graphically conscious organization now. One of these three widgets is a 4×2 sized block that shows essentially all the same controls you get when first logging into your TeleNav app, search bar, commute times, and local map included. All of this includes a new rendering engine that TeleNav lets us know is both smoother and faster – can’t wait to try it out!

And goodies, yes there are goodies, including best of all, customizable car icons for your map. You can now be represented on your own map as a spaceship, a tank, a sports car, and more, all of these floating through the city with great ease. Each little car icon will cost you $0.99, how could you possibly resist? That said, all Android users with compatible devices will be getting the ability to download this update in the near future for free, with unlockable features like graphic lane assist, speed trap and red light camera notifications, and commute reports costing a total of $4.99 per month. Will you update?

These features will be available for the first 30 days after download at which point the advanced navigation features will switch over to pay-as-you-go costs of $2.99 per month or $21.99 per year. On the other hand, GPS map and local search capabilities remain free either way.

Some of the Advanced Navigation features you’ll be receiving if you continue with the subscription service are thus:

• Spoken Turn-by-Turn Directions with Street Names
• 2D and 3D Moving Maps – view in your choice of either, zoom in or out, both options moving in real time as you advance down the map.
• Automatic Reroute – in case of an obstruction.
• Automatic Map Updates – at no additional update cost and totally automatic.
• Nighttime Optimized Navigation – automatic brightness adjustment based on the time of day
• iOS Multitasking Support — TeleNav runs in the background whilst other iPhone apps work in the foreground (like music, for example.)

TeleNav is designed to work with the user to provide as personalized an experience as possible – which is great since leading a fellow around to the places he’s gotta go is about the most personal thing a program can do! Some of the personalization features included in this version of TeleNav are:

• Shake-to-Go – Shake your phone at any point while TeleNav is open to change your destination back to whichever place you’ve designated as “Home.”
• My Favorites – Save a list of your most visited places for easy access.
• My Contacts – Use your contact list’s addresses to find your friends homes and give them a visit!
• Route Preferences – Avoiding HOV lanes, Toll Roads, and just about any other sort of undesirable road condition by telling your TeleNav what your driving preferences are.
• iPod Control – In-app iPod controls allow users to search songs, artists, or playlists from within TeleNav GPS.

Local Search is one of the primary elements in TeleNav GPS in that its both comprehensive and completely up-to-date. You’ll find over 22 million local listings in the USA including businesses, landmarks, airports, ATMs, movie theaters and more. Automatic updates and detailed listings make this experience as accurate and enjoyable as possible. Local Search is available in both the free and the subscription versions of TeleNav GPS for iPhone.

Check out the full press release below:

TeleNav GPS™ Navigation and Local Search App Launching for
iPhone® 4 on Verizon Wireless
Advanced Turn-by-Turn Navigation Features Available for Free for First 30 Days After Download

Sunnyvale, Calif. – Feb. 7, 2011 – TeleNav, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNAV), one of the largest global wireless location-based services providers, today announced that TeleNav GPS (http://www.telenav.com/gps-navigator/apple-iphone/verizon/ ) will be available on the Apple® App Store as a free download on the iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless upon certification following the expected device launch on February 10, 2011. Individuals who download TeleNav GPS will receive free maps and local search capabilities, as well as free access to advanced navigation features, such as spoken turn-by-turn directions and 3D moving maps, for the first 30 days after download. Following the free 30-day period, customers may continue using the advanced navigation features for a pay-as-you-go cost of $2.99 per month or $21.99 per year. Alternatively, they can choose to use only GPS map and local search capabilities for free.

“We designed this app and the pricing structure to give people a choice when it comes to meeting their GPS needs,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for TeleNav. “Users can choose to use the app as a free map and local search application, or choose to upgrade and buy the advanced turn-by-turn navigation features. Our goal is to make it easy for people to find where to go and how to get there with the best choice in personalized navigation.”

Advanced Navigation Features
Users choosing to pay $2.99 per month or $21.99 per year for the advanced TeleNav GPS navigation experience will have access to features including:

· Spoken Turn-by-Turn Directions with Street Names – Unlike basic map applications that show a static route on a map, when using the advanced navigation features available with TeleNav GPS, users receive spoken turn-by-turn directions with street names to guide them to their destination.

· 2D and 3D Moving Maps – Users can see their current location and nearby streets with accurate, moving maps viewable in 2D or 3D with zoom in and out options.

· Automatic Reroute – TeleNav GPS users don’t have to worry about missing a turn while navigating. The application will quickly update the route and redirect them to their destination.

· Automatic Map Updates – TeleNav GPS features regular map updates to ensure that users are being routed using the most up-to-date maps available. Updates are automatic, so users aren’t required to perform a manual installation or buy updated content.

· Nighttime Optimized Navigation – TeleNav GPS adjusts brightness levels to make viewing easier during nighttime driving.

· iOS Multitasking Support—Users can access and use other iPhone applications with TeleNav GPS navigating in the background.

A Personalized Navigation Experience
The advanced TeleNav GPS navigation option also includes a number of personalized features designed to make the navigation experience unique for each user. These features include:

· Shake-to-Go – Allows users to simply shake their iPhone 4 while using TeleNav GPS and they will automatically be routed to a location they have previously set as their home address.

· My Favorites – Users can easily save the locations they visit most often, or would like to visit, for instant access to their favorite places.

· My Contacts – TeleNav GPS connects to contacts stored in the user’s iPhone 4.

· Route Preferences – Users have the option to receive routes based on their driving preferences, such as avoiding HOV lanes and Toll Roads.

· iPod Control – TeleNav GPS users can play their favorite songs while navigating, using enhanced, in-app iPod controls with the ability to search through songs, artists, or playlists from within TeleNav GPS.

More Comprehensive Local Search
TeleNav GPS makes it easy to find where to go and how to get there with accurate, fast, and comprehensive local search. Whether customers choose the advanced navigation experience or the free maps and local search option, they will have access to:

· More Than 22 Million Local Listings in the U.S. – TeleNav GPS provides easy local search capabilities for business locations, historical landmarks, airports, ATMs, movie theaters and more.

· Automatic Listing Updates – TeleNav GPS local search listings are automatically updated to ensure the listings are accurate and new listings are added regularly.

· Detailed Listing Information – Local listings include detailed information to help users make more educated decisions such as ratings, reviews and merchant info.

“We’re constantly monitoring the accuracy and breadth of our local search,” said Dhanani. “We are committed to offering the best experience for customers as they prepare to hit the road and drive to their destination. We’ll continue to update TeleNav GPS on the iPhone 4 and offer new features to enhance our customers’ experience.”

Availability
TeleNav GPS will be available on the Apple App Store as a free download upon certification following the expected device launch on February 10, 2011. The app is free to download and includes free access to advanced navigation features for the first 30 days. Individuals interested in receiving an e-mail notification when TeleNav GPS becomes available on the Apple App Store should visit http://www.telenav.com/gps-navigator/apple-iphone/verizon/ to sign up.

About TeleNav, Inc.
TeleNav, Inc. is a leading provider of consumer location-based services (LBS), enterprise LBS and automotive LBS with more than 20 million paying subscribers as of December 31, 2010. TeleNav’s solutions provide consumers, wireless service providers, enterprises and automakers with location-specific, real-time, personalized services such as GPS navigation, local search, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, location tracking and workflow automation. TeleNav’s technology is available across more than 600 types of mobile phones, all major mobile phone operating systems and a broad range of wireless network protocols. TeleNav’s service providers and partners include AT&T, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, China Mobile, Cincinnati Bell, Ford Motor Company, NII Holdings, Rogers, Sprint Nextel, Telcel, T-Mobile UK, T-Mobile USA, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless and Vivo Brazil.

For more information on TeleNav, please visit www.telenav.com. Follow TeleNav on Twitter at www.twitter.com/telenav or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/telenav.

###

Copyright 2011 TeleNav, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“TeleNav,” the TeleNav logo, and “telenav.com” are registered and unregistered trademarks and/or service marks of TeleNav, Inc., unless otherwise noted, all other trademarks, service marks, and logos used in this press release are the trademarks, service marks or logos of their respective owners.

Next is Speech Recognition, an expanded feature that works at a button click from the home page and includes many commands including phrases such as “How’s the weather?” or “How’s traffic?” Map Overlays, present in the Multiple Route Suggestions feature in addition to other places, gives you one-click options to layers of information on the map screen like locations of traffic cameras (my Grandma would love this) and traffic flow. Expanded POIs, or Points of Interest have been added to the database, having now more that 22 million US business locations, historical landmarks, airports, and just about any other sort of place.

Take a peek at a demo here:

And have another peek at an overview of 6.2 here:

Finally have at the gallery of screenshots from the new version of the app then read over the full press release below. Do it!

TeleNav Enhances Driving Experience with New Version of TeleNav GPS Navigator™
Expanded Speech Recognition, Quick Search, and Multiple Route Suggestions features make it easier and faster to find and navigate to destinations

Sunnyvale, Calif. – Jan. 14, 2011 – TeleNav, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNAV), one of the largest global wireless location-based services providers with more than 18 million paying subscribers, today launched TeleNav GPS Navigator version 6.2 for select Android devices. The latest version of TeleNav GPS Navigator is designed to deliver a faster and more reliable way to navigate, search, and view maps on a mobile device. TeleNav has added new features such as expanded Speech Recognition, Quick Search, Multiple Route Suggestions, enhanced local search content with more listings, and overall improved application speed.

“With this release, we’ve made Navigator easier and faster to use, and also added new capabilities that allow the user to personalize their navigation experience,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for TeleNav. “We’re confident that when our users try this version, they’ll immediately benefit from the enhancements we’ve made and enjoy the faster, simpler, more personalized experience.”

A Personalized Experience: Multiple Route Suggestions and Commute Alerts
TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 now offers Multiple Route Suggestions and allows users to choose which route they prefer to take. Once a destination is entered, users are presented with up to three route suggestions overlaid on a map with route distance and estimated drive times. Users can review information for each route and select the option that best fits their personal driving needs.

TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 also includes a new user interface for the existing Commute Alert feature, making it easier for users to set and receive automatic alerts at a pre-selected time to show current traffic conditions along their daily commute. Users can choose to have these alerts sent via e-mail, SMS, or within the TeleNav GPS Navigator application to receive their personal daily commute information before hitting the road.

Search Made Simple
TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 includes Quick Search, a new feature designed to make finding local places quick and easy. Located on the application’s home page, users can simply touch the Quick Search box and type an address, landmark, category (i.e. Italian Food), or a business name. TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 uses predictive search technology to suggest results as the user types their desired location. Quick Search eliminates the need to navigate menus in order to find and drive to a location.

TeleNav has included an expanded Speech Recognition feature, allowing users to press a single button on the home page and speak a command. In addition to the Speech Recognition commands available in previous versions of TeleNav GPS Navigator used for finding addresses (“1130 Kifer Road”) or businesses (“Find gas stations”), TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 provides voice access to more information, for questions such as “How’s the weather” or “How’s traffic.”

TeleNav has also made its local search functionality easier, faster and more comprehensive, adding millions of new Points of Interest (POIs) to its search database, giving TeleNav users access to more than 22 million U.S. business locations, historical landmarks, airports and more.

“There’s nothing more frustrating when using a GPS product than to search for a location and not get a result. If a user can’t find the destination they’re looking for, the quality of the navigation features doesn’t matter,” said Dhanani. “We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring that our users are able to find the destinations they’re searching for.”

Additional Features and Enhancements
In addition to multiple route options and search enhancements, TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 includes enhanced map performance and design, allowing for faster panning and page refreshes when users view the map screen within the application. The map view also includes one-click options to layer information on the map screen, such as traffic flow information and the locations of traffic cameras.

TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 also features a new POI search screen interface designed to make searching for business categories more simple. When viewing the POI category page, users are presented with an easy to read view of popular business categories and can access those listings with one-click.

Availability

TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 is available immediately on the Android Marketplace to AT&T customers (as AT&T Navigator 2.2) using the Samsung Captivate™, HTC Aria, Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10, or Motorola BACKFLIP™ devices running Android OS version 2.1 or above. The application will be available soon on additional Android devices through other wireless carriers.

Images of TeleNav GPS Navigator 6.2 are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23382466@N03/sets/72157625684926753/ and a demonstration video of new features is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NocouhAMzA.

About TeleNav, Inc.
TeleNav, Inc. is a leading provider of consumer location-based services (LBS), enterprise LBS and automotive LBS with more than 18 million paying subscribers as of September 30, 2010. TeleNav’s solutions provide consumers, wireless service providers, enterprises and automakers with location-specific, real-time, personalized services such as GPS navigation, local search, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, location tracking and workflow automation. TeleNav’s technology is available across more than 500 types of mobile phones, all major mobile phone operating systems and a broad range of wireless network protocols. TeleNav’s service providers and partners include AT&T, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, China Mobile, Cincinnati Bell, Ford Motor Company, NII Holdings, Rogers, Sprint Nextel, Telcel, T-Mobile UK, T-Mobile USA, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless and Vivo Brazil.

For more information on TeleNav, please visit www.telenav.com. Follow TeleNav on Twitter at www.twitter.com/telenav or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/telenav.
###

Copyright 2011 TeleNav, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“TeleNav,” the TeleNav logo, and “telenav.com” are registered and unregistered trademarks and/or service marks of TeleNav, Inc., unless otherwise noted, all other trademarks, service marks, and logos used in this press release are the trademarks, service marks or logos of their respective owners.

Both TeleNav and QNX will be demonstrating their latest innovations to the industry at this CES in Las Vegas.

TeleNav and QNX Team to Demonstrate Navigation and Search
TeleNav’s Connected Navigation and Local Search to Work with the QNX CAR Application Platform

LAS VEGAS, NV — (MARKET WIRE) — 01/04/11 — TeleNav, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNAV), one of the largest global wireless navigation services providers, andQNX Software Systems Co. today announced that QNX and TeleNav have partnered to enable connected GPS navigation to work with the QNX CAR™ Application Platform. Automakers and Tier One suppliers using the QNX CAR Application Platform will soon have the ability to offer connected navigation and search, providing drivers with 3D turn-by-turn navigation and voice/audio prompts, along with real-time information like up-to-date maps, business listings, local places, traffic information, gas prices and more. QNX and TeleNav will demonstrate connected navigation and search in the QNX CAR Application Platform this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV.

“A key goal of the QNX CAR Application Platform is to leverage the latest innovations in mobile devices and consumer electronics in a way that is appropriate for in-vehicle use,” said Andrew Poliak, director of automotive business development, QNX Software Systems. “It just made sense to partner with TeleNav to make sure our products work together to offer the best in navigation technology.”

“QNX is clearly a leader when it comes to automotive operating systems,” said Hassan Wahla, vice president of business development for TeleNav. “We look forward to working with the QNX team to bring OEMs and Tier One suppliers high quality, customized connected navigation and comprehensive local search capabilities.”

QNX Software Systems is the global leader in operating systems and middleware for the in-car telematics and infotainment market, and has licensed its technology for use in more than 20 million in-vehicle systems worldwide. The QNX CAR Application Platform is designed to help the automotive industry reduce the cost and effort of building in-car infotainment systems. It allows customers to evaluate a rich set of pre-integrated technologies.

Video demo after the cut

In fact there are more than 10 million businesses and services listed, together with reviews and ratings, all hooked up to the myTouch 3G’s phone and browser for easy contacting.   A daily commute alert feature will automatically email an optional traffic summary for a preset common journey.

The TeleNav app for the myTouch 3G will be released to the Android Market on Wednesday this week; at the same time you’ll be able to sign up for a free, 30-day trial at the company’s site.  Subscriptions are priced at $9.99 per month. 

Press Release:

T-Mobile myTouch 3G to Launch with GPS Navigation from TeleNav

TeleNav GPS Navigator™ available tomorrow, August 5;

30-Day Free Trial on TeleNav.com

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – August 4, 2009 – TeleNav announced today that TeleNav GPS Navigator will be one of the first turn-by-turn GPS navigation services available to run on the T-Mobile® myTouch™ 3G with Google. TeleNav GPS Navigator will be available for a free 30-day trial beginning tomorrow, August 5, when the device goes on sale in retail stores and online. To sign up for the free trial, T-Mobile MyTouch 3G customers should visit TeleNav’s website.

“TeleNav GPS Navigator on the myTouch 3G turns the phone into a powerful GPS device,” said Sal Dhanani, TeleNav’s co-founder and executive director of marketing. “We invite all myTouch 3G customers to take advantage of the free trial and let us know what they think.”

TeleNav GPS Navigator on the T-Mobile myTouch 3G includes full-color 3D moving maps along with voice and on-screen turn-by-turn driving directions. Navigation is available in both landscape and portrait mode. If drivers miss a turn, they will automatically be rerouted. TeleNav GPS Navigator also includes speech recognition for both address entry and business search. On the T-Mobile myTouch 3G, customers simply press one button and say the name of a business or the address and TeleNav GPS Navigator will provide directions. Subscribers can also preplan trips online by accessing their account through My TeleNav. TeleNav GPS Navigator includes listings of more than 10 million businesses and services, including restaurants, hotels, shopping malls and movie theaters – providing users access to restaurant ratings and reviews as well as phone numbers for business listings.

Once on the road, TeleNav GPS Navigator monitors each specific route and will proactively search for known traffic congestion or incidents. Customers will be alerted to traffic problems, both audibly and on-screen, and can choose to find another route to their location by just pressing one button. TeleNav customers also have the ability to set daily traffic commute alerts. At the requested times, TeleNav GPS Navigator will send an email alert with a summary of current known traffic conditions and delays for their routes, helping users decide when to get on the road in order to avoid traffic congestion.

The service also includes frequently updated gas price listings so drivers can look for the cheapest gas in their area or along their route. Additionally, TeleNav GPS Navigator includes location-based weather information. Customers can see current weather conditions as well as a five-day forecast for their present location or for a destination of their choice in the U.S.

Finally, with advanced preference enhancements, TeleNav customers have the flexibility to choose whether to avoid high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and toll roads. In addition, subscribers can pause and resume the navigation at any time they choose, as well as set the map display colors to a ‘nighttime’ mode for easier viewing at night.

To sign up for a 30-day free trial of TeleNav GPS Navigator, T-Mobile myTouch 3G customers can visit TeleNav’s website or contact TeleNav at 1.88.TeleNav.4 (1.888.353.6284) or at care@telenav.com.

To subscribe to an RSS feed of TeleNav press releases, please go to http://feeds.feedburner.com/telenav/press-releases/. To follow TeleNav on Twitter, please sign up at http://twitter.com/TeleNav.

About TeleNav, Inc.

TeleNav, Inc., a privately-held company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, was the first to launch a cell phone GPS system in the United States. Deployed by 14 carriers in 29 countries, TeleNav is a global leader in wireless location-based services (LBS). Currently, the company’s solutions are available in four continents, including North and South America, Asia and Europe.

TeleNav’s solutions include GPS navigation, Mobile Resource Management (MRM), social networking and local search. The company’s flagship service, TeleNav GPS Navigator™, offers functionalities comparable to in-car systems and standalone navigation devices, such as automatically-updated maps and business locations, full-color 3D moving maps, traffic alerts with one-click rerouting, location-sharing, business reviews, speech recognition, Wi-Fi hotspot finder, gas price finder and more. TeleNav also delivers its award-winning navigation service on the TeleNav Shotgun™, a standalone GPS personal navigation device (PND) tailored specifically for business travelers. TeleNav’s enterprise application, TeleNav Track™, incorporates GPS-enabled tracking, time sheets, wireless forms and navigation. TeleNav Track is a widely adopted service with approximately 9,000 customer organizations using it today.

TeleNav services are available on more than 500 wireless devices and run on most major mobile platforms currently available. TeleNav’s partners include Alltel, AT&T, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, China Mobile, Ford Motor Company, Hewlett-Packard, HTC, INRIX, LG, Motorola, NAVTEQ, NII Holdings, Nokia, Palm, Qualcomm, Research In Motion (RIM), Rogers, Samsung, Sanyo, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile Austria, T-Mobile UK, T-Mobile USA, Telcel, Tele Atlas, Verizon Wireless and Vivo Brazil.

For more information on TeleNav, please visit www.telenav.com.

Those 3D maps are automatically updated in the background, too, as are POIs and street names.  There’s also access to Yellow Pages, for business listings, together with online trip planning; users can set up their journey via their PC or Mac, and then have the route wirelessly delivered to their iPhone.

It’s all sounding great, aside from the price.  AT&T Navigator for iPhone is priced at $9.99 per month, which works out at around $240 if you subscribe for the lifetime of your AT&T contract.  With standalone GPS units going for bargain-basement prices right now, we’re not sure that’s cost-effective. 

Press Release:

AT&T Brings AT&T Navigator Application to Apple App Store

iPhone Customers Benefit From Turn-by-Turn, Voice-Guided GPS Navigation with AT&T Navigator, Powered by TeleNav

DALLAS, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — You have arrived at your destination. For the first time, millions of iPhone customers can now experience one of the most popular turn-by-turn GPS navigation applications. AT&T* (NYSE:T) today announced the availability of its award-winning location based services app – AT&T Navigator – on iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Using the latest iPhone OS 3.0 software the app brings full audible and visual turn-by-turn navigation service over the nation’s fastest 3G network.

Loaded with enhanced functionality and capabilities, AT&T Navigator provides a rich lineup of user-friendly features, including: map updates, speech recognition, ETA updates, more than 10 million business listings, real-time traffic alerts, one-touch rerouting, daily gas prices and more.

“AT&T Navigator has been one of our most popular and best-performing apps since we launched it last year,” said Mark Collins, vice president of voice and data products for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “With the new iPhone OS 3.0 software, we’re expanding the advantages of true turn-by-turn navigation – both voice and on-screen directions – to millions more customers. We’re bringing greater convenience to drivers and travelers nationwide, including providing regular, automatic updates to map information at no charge so customers have the latest at their fingertips.”

Perfect for Parent and Professional

Gone are the days when business travelers are dependent on built-in car GPS devices. Same goes for parents managing caravans and car pools to overnight soccer tournaments. Built to accommodate road warriors of all kinds, AT&T Navigator maximizes the customer experience to provide:

Automatic Content Updates: No manual updates required. The latest map and navigating details are automatically available to subscribers at no extra cost.
Voice and On-Screen Turn-By-Turn Directions: Real-time voice and visual guidance, including street names, automatic re-routes, ETA and total mileage updates. Drivers can also choose among multiple route options, including ‘traffic optimized’; ‘fastest’; ‘prefer streets’;'prefer highways’ and ‘pedestrian mode’ to ensure the most customized navigation experience.
Speech Recognition: Touch and talk capability for instant turn-by-turn directions to destination.
Traffic Alerts: Real-time route monitoring and proactive searches every five minutes for traffic congestion or incident. Voice and on-screen alerts, plus faster route options provided.
3D Maps: Full-color 3D moving map brings navigation to life. Maps provide details on current location, plus streets and interstates within driving distance.
Business Listings: One-touch access to more than 10 million business listings from YELLOWPAGES.COM. Plus, access to business ratings, phone numbers and one-touch dialing.
In-Route Customization: Users have the advantage of finding convenient rest stops for gas, food and other needs along their current route – saving both time and mileage.
Online Trip Planning: Preplan trips, save addresses and manage travel accounts online at www.navpreplan.com. Save locations and send directions straight to iPhone.
Award Winning

AT&T Navigator was recently recognized by global growth and consulting company Frost & Sullivan as the 2009 Consumer Location-Based Service Navigation Application of the Year because of its aggregation of a premier list features into one intuitive application.

The app is available for $9.99 a month from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

As with AT&T Navigator subscriptions on other devices, the app will be billed directly by AT&T and included on the customer’s monthly statement. AT&T Navigator works within the United States. Customers can download the app through Apple’s App Store under the “GPS and Navigation” category. AT&T Navigator on iPhone requires iPhone OS 3.0 software.

Additional information, including other devices programmed for AT&T Navigator, is available at www.att.com/navigator.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. 

[via iPhone Buzz]

As well as spoken and on-screen turn-by-turn directions there are ”millions” of points of interest (POIs), which are regularly updated to include new information and weed out anything no longer accurate.  Although Android Community found the voice recognition to give mixed results, the TeleNav browser plugin – which lets you highlight addresses on your computer, and one-click send them to TeleNav on your G1 – worked seamlessly.

TeleNav will be available to download from the company site as of February 24th, and available through the Android Market later this year; there’s a 30 day trial and then the app costs $9.99 per month.  For the full review – complete with gallery and video demo of TeleNav for Android in action - head over to Android Community.

The database is always growing and Telenav felt that this service needs to be fully updated all the time. Most PNDs are stuck with the same information that has been pre-uploaded to the device, requiring people to manually update the device periodically. Think the Telenav Shotgun only better and built-in to the car.

Aimed to be released sometime this year we are still not sure as to when we will actually be seeing this service. The service will be free as sart of the car with three years of free service.

When you first open the box you see the Getting Started guide, followed by the Terms and Conditions and Warranty books, the last thing there is before you get to what you really want to see is the Samsung SGH-t919 Behold User Manual. Take all of that out and you finally get to the phone itself. Other than the Behold you’ll find the standard 5.0V charger, USB data cable, Samsung headset and a Samsung microSD card adapter.

The Behold is one of the most talked-about upcoming T-Mobile handsets. This device has a beautiful 240 x 400 megapixel 262k TFT touchscreen display for quickly and easily navigating through the user interface.  Up against such phones as the Samsung Instinct and the Samsung Delve (ironically), together with the LG Dare, Samsung Eternity and LG VU. All of these phones have their advantages and disadvantages, and in fact many of the Samsung handsets will resemble the Behold in many ways, but just how do they stack up?

We were more than a little disappointed to find out that the screen is resistive rather than capacitive, meaning rather than the pressure-free touch of the iPhone, the screen has to be pressed more than merely stroked. We have since found that the touch-sensitivity is more responsive than most devices with resistive touch, such as the Samsung Instinct. Still, in comparison to the iPhone, the touch did not feel nearly as precise on the Behold. The one benefit is that the Behold will respond to both a stylus and your finger, rather than only the touch of a finger. We found this to be a great opportunity for the use of a stylus but, unlike Windows Mobile phones, the Behold does not actually come with a stylus.

The GUI of the Behold is surprisingly easy to navigate, and resembles Samsung’s TouchWiz interface as seen on the Omnia i900. The home screen has a “dock” along the bottom that displays basic phone functions including dialer, phone book, web and menu. There is a slide-out menu on the left that can be displayed by simply tapping an arrow. From this menu you can choose one of many options, or if you like, drag any of the options onto the home screen for quicker access. One feature that we found particularly useful is the ability to place icons wherever you like, even overlapping others if you wish.  There is no grid layout such as the one you will find on the iPhone.

The icons, once on the home screen, are fit for your finger, so to speak. They are larger than in the menu so that it is easier to select the option you are looking for without accidentally selecting another. There is a date and time box that can be used for those who need the time to be larger in size. One icon that we fell in love with was the interactive photo album icon. This feature almost acts as a picture frame on your home screen just as on the T-Mobile G1. The advantage the Behold has over the G1 in this department is the ability to flip through the album with a single touch: no need to open the photo album to view a different picture. The slide-out menu is also customizable to a certain extent. You can elect to have icon removed from the list and order them in whichever order you prefer.

The onscreen keyboard fits the screen perfectly. In portrait orientation you get the traditional T9 mode for quick, single hand input. If you have the opportunity to use two hands, all you need do is flip it on its side and the accelerometer instantly detects the change and adapts accordingly. The QWERTY keyboard unfortunately is only available on one side of the screen.  Still, it’s very well laid out for using your thumbs.  Quick typing, though, is not easily achieved with the resistive touchscreen. You have to be a bit rough with the keyboard and type at a moderate speed in order for it to detect all of your key presses.

We are happy to see visual confirmation when pressing a letter to make sure you got the correct one, however the pop-up letter appears next to your finger rather than above making it very hard to see.  The iPhone’s method is, by far, a lot more user-friendly in this department.  When typing a text message, a suggestion box will pop up as the device shows suggested words, this box is utterly annoying because it reformats the message for a moment on the far left side to make room. The Behold is ahead of the iPhone with vibration feedback on every key pressed. This extra confirmation may seem trivial, but it sure does help out.

The preloaded instant messaging application comes ready with AIM, icq, Windows Live and Yahoo. Groups and contacts are displayed in a very simple, easy to read layout. Signing into the instant messaging client takes a little longer than we would like, this may be due to the fact that we were on the EDGE network. One neat visual touch is that the IM icon on the home screen changes to reflect which instant messenger you are signed into at the time. As that might suggest, though, the major drawback of the client is its inability to sign into multiple accounts at the same time.

Email is easy to setup and use, with Samsung loading the Behold with plenty of preset account types, including AIM, AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Compuserve, Earthlink, Gmail, HotPOP, Juno Mac, NetZero, SBC Yahoo! and Verizon. Email is displayed with tabs reading Inbox, Drafts and Sent. Under each tab you can view the headers of the email and, from there, choose which one you would like to open.

In the Inbox you will also find SMS and MMS. In the text Inbox is a drop-down menu that helps you navigate to the Inbox, Outbox, Drafts, My Folders or Templates. Unfortunately text messages are not threaded with the Behold. Videos and picture messages are sent and received quickly with what appears to be no loss in quality.

The built-in browser is a little hard to deal with. The first thing that we noticed is how the web pages scroll. With the iPhone, all you have to do is “flick” a page for it to scroll, the Behold however will only move to your touch. You must manually move the page wherever you would like to look. The browser has a full header including address bar, zoom, home and back and forward buttons. On the right hand side (in landscape mode) you have a Go To button, favorites, page options and hide headers button.  The zoom feature really does not work as well as rival devices, with pages displaying a lot of pixilation when zoomed in.  The address bar shows a loading bar that, while ostensibly showing the loading progress of the page, is actually just for looks; when the bar reaches its full capacity it then resets and starts all over again. The browser takes forever to load pages on both Wi-Fi and the Edge network.

With the headers hidden you can see a scroll bar on the right hand side. The only purpose of this bar is to move you one frame up or down and one frame on the selected web page. The browser does not allow tabs or multiple pages like the iPhone’s Safari browser. Samsung states that you are able to browse in full HTML, but what we have generally found is a mobile adapted version of the HTML web page. Web pages took longer than we would expect to load, and were rendered in poor quality. Flash and video streaming are also not supported within this browser.  After playing with the browser for a significant amount of time we haven’t noticed anything special or significant about it. The absence of true full HTML really is a deal breaker these days.

Unfortunately there is no maps application installed on the Behold, out of the box. We suspect that this is because they wish to push the Telenav turn-by-turn direction application on users. There are not many applications to choose from as this handset is not a smartphone, only the Telenav application in the T-Zones store.  So, due to the lack of available options, we were not able to test out the internal GPS.

The Samsung Behold has 180MB of internal memory and comes with a 1GB microSD card for light users,; those who will be taking a lot of pictures and listening to music can upgrade to a 16GB microSD. The music player supports MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+ files. Tracks are sorted by Playlist, Songs and Artist, we really believe they could have added more sorting options for a better overall experience.

Sound quality from the internal speaker is not bad at all. The volume was loud enough without being so loud that it compromises clarity. The Samsung headset, however, emphasizes more sharp tones than it does bass or depth. As the Behold’s headphone jack is Samsung-specific were unable to try out any other headphones.

Video playback on the Bold was a pleasant surprise. This device is by no means a high definition video player, but it is acceptable for viewing videos that you have taken with the video camera or preloaded onto the memory card. Clips taken with the phone itself looked better than third-party footage, which tended to appear grainy. In comparison to the iPhone, the Behold just doesn’t match up as a media player.

One of the major selling points of the Behold is the 5-megapixel camera. Both camera and video recorder have access to a 4x digital zoom with autofocus and a power LED flash. We were very excited to find out that this handset takes panoramic photos. Unlike the HTC Touch Pro, which shoots 3 frames for a panoramic shot, the Behold shoots up to 6 frames. When you take a picture, pressing the designated camera button down lightly will make the camera focus, with a full press triggering the shot. There are multiple options familiar to anyone who has used a point & shoot camera recently, including Timer, Flash, Brightness, Default destination, Video camera, Photos, Mode and Setup.

You can snap pictures in different modes including Portrait, Landscape, Night, Sports, Sunset, Dawn and, the default, None. The camera also allows you to choose from one of six photo sizes, ranging from 5M (2650 x 1920) through 3M (2480 x 1536), 2M (1600 x 1200), 0.3M (640 x 480), W4M (2460 x 1536) and finally 480 x 240.  It’s also possible to tweak the white balance, add effects such as Black & White, Sepia, Negative and Water Color, or change the ISO speed. The ISO setting allows you to choose from auto, 100, 200 or 400 for those faster shots. Other camera settings include Auto focus, Image quality, Exposure meter, Anti-Shake and WDR.

The video recorder offers many of the basic settings as the camera. One drawback is that you are only able to record in 320 x 240 or 176 x 144 resolution. Nonetheless, video quality is exceptionally good for a camera phone. The resolution is crisp without the blur of most phones.  Night time footage, though, is still lacking; it just doesn’t seem possible with a phone. It’s worth noting that the autofocus is both quick and precise; many other phones we’ve played with have shown a lag in the auto focus when video recording.

The basic function of mobile phones, placing and receiving calls, thankfully hasn’t been forgotten. Sound quality, both on the sending and receiving end, was exceptional.  The voice clarity was right on par with the Touch Pro and iPhone. We experienced no choppy voices or dropped calls the entire time we tested out the Behold. The speakerphone however was not the best. We have heard worse, certainly, but when speaking to someone on the Behold they often sounded more like a robot than a human being.

Pairing the Behold with a Bluetooth headset was not a problem. We tested the handset out with the BlueAnt V1 and the stereo Bluetooth headset iMuffs. When receiving calls, the headsets were very prompt in being notified of an incoming call. There were no noticeable changes in call quality in either of the headsets.  The connection was always very strong and there was never a moment when we heard the devices breaking up, nor were the calls ever prematurely disconnected.  After turning the headset off and back on again, the Behold picked up the signal and connected relatively quickly.

The Samsung Behold backs a Li – Ion 1000 mAh battery with the claim of 5 hours of talk time and 300 hours of standby time.  Based on our experience, we would say that this estimate is relatively close. We have not had the need to charge this handset during the day with average use. The battery life is pretty good with almost constant use; we played with it for several hours before it actually died, something we wish we could do with the iPhone 3G.

Overall, the Samsung Behold is one of the most enjoyable touchscreen phones on the market. We recommend this phone to anyone who finds a smartphone daunting.  With the addition of this handset, T-Mobile really has a nice phone lineup for the holiday season. The main drawback of this device lies in the web browser. The controls are hard to use and web pages are rendered poorly. We really would however like to have seen an alternative browser such as Opera Mini. In the end the Behold is a good non-smartphone alternative to the T-Mobile G1, but lacks the depth and possibilities that the Android platform posses. If having an open ended phone does not matter to you, the Behold is a great choice.

We believe that a larger screen would have made this handset more of a contender with the Samsung Instinct and LG Dare. The Behold takes amazing pictures and fantastic videos. Sending email and text messages are made painless with easy access and the use of the touchscreen. If you are looking to buy a phone for a loved one this holiday season, we recommend the Samsung Behold. You can purchase the Samsung Behold from select T-Mobile retail locations for $149.99 with a two-year agreement.

Other interesting looking announcements include the Samsung Eternity on AT&T, LG Prada II, and the iRiver wave which, for the moment at least, is stuck in Korea.  Still, they’re trailing in the wake of Apple’s iPhone 3G, which finally edged ahead of the Motorola RAZR to become the best selling mobile handset.  Just the right time for rumors to begin that Costco are planning to sell the Apple device for $149.  Whether or not that pans out, if you plan on using your iPhone 3G as Apple intended it then you’ll be wanting to take a look at our Mophie Juice Pack review for the power-guzzling smartphone.

Slightly larger, but using that space to its best advantage – by packing in the connectivity – comes UMID’s Mobile Internet Device.  Blessed with WiBro, WiMAX, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth and a 4.8-inch touchscreen, it leaves us in the bizarre situation of not only hoping it will make it to our shores, but that we’ll have the wireless networks to sate it.

All too often we see slick gadgets in Korea that we’ll never get a chance to play with ourselves; it was nice, then, to be able to exclusively confirm that Nanovision’s MIMO 7-inch USB LCD monitors are coming to the US, UK, Italy and Japan.  We’ve got review samples winging their way to us right now, so expect full coverage this coming week.

For once, netbooks took a backseat over the past seven days, with the only major news being Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12 getting a confirmed price – from $549 – and release timetable.  You’ll be able to pick up the 12.1-inch budget ultraportable from the second week in December.  In gaming, meanwhile, we found out about Sports Active, EA’s upcoming challenge to the Wii Fit.

You’d think we were entirely unable to read a map here at SlashGear this week, with three separate PND devices in for review.  The Navigon 7200T, Mio’s Knight Rider GPS and Telenav’s Shotgun PND all took their turn ordering us about; thankfully we had the Flip MinoHD to document the ordeal.

Winner of the week has to be Bang & Olufsen, who have already whipped commenters into a frenzy by announcing the terribly expensive BeoSound 5 Digital Music System.  Par for the course for the Danish company, really.  Meanwhile loser of the week is Circuit City, who have voluntarily filed for bankruptcy.  The credit crunch claims another victim, but we suppose that means plenty of stock-clearance bargains this holiday season.

As a concept, it sounds a whole lot like the Dash Express: a GPRS-connected PND that can access up-to-date information and web listings. I – and other reviewers – loved the Dash Express, but it seems general buyers didn’t; just this past week the company announced they were ceasing hardware development and concentrating on licensing out their technology.

Part of the issue is that a monthly subscription can be a hard sell for regular consumers.  Telenav seem to be targeting the Shotgun to business travelers, who presumably are less likely to baulk at the $299 purchase price (that includes 3-months of subscription) and the $129 service plan (for one year’s service; two-years costs $239).  Month-to-month plans cost $12 a month.

So what does your money get you?  In the box there’s the Shotgun itself, a 4.4oz 4.9 x 3.1 x 0.75 inch box with a 4.3-inch widescreen 480 x 272 display monopolizing the front.  Telenav have picked a matte-finish touchscreen, which reduces brightness a little but does seriously cut down glare.  Physical controls are limited to the power button up top and a reset button on the back; there’s also a mini-USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack on the left-hand side, and a microSD card slot on the right.

Viewing angles of the LCD are good, which is handy as the standard mount Telenav supply offers less flexibility than that included with rival PNDs.  Only one main point of adjustability is present, in the shape of a ball joint where the Shotgun meets the mount, but the range of its movement is limited.  That, coupled with the fixed arm, means in some vehicles you might be unable to tilt the Shotgun up as far as you’d like.  Not such an issue in an SUV with an upright windshield, but sports cars or anything with a steeply raked window may encounter problems.  Build quality, though, is good, and the suction-clamp proved tenacious.

I’ve only had the Shotgun for a couple of short days, so like the device; my hands-on review is still a work in progress.  I commend Telenav for taking release to market now and improve it over time approach. Shotgun works as advertised and should be an even better PND with additional features and fixes via the automatic updates.  That’s important to note, as every issue I’ve noticed could readily be addressed with a software tweak rather than demanding a hardware change.

Telenav Shotgun ride-along demo:

For instance, when the Shotgun can’t get a satellite signal when you first turn it on, it simply won’t accept an address until it gets a GPS lock.  So I found myself repeatedly trying to create a route, only to be told at the last minute that the unit was not ready.  Telenav needs to at the very least add a notification that a signal fix was made or, preferably, look to rival PNDs that allow you to enter the address and then cache it until navigation data is ready.

That frustration aside, address entry is straightforward.  The Shotgun first takes city and state (offering you your last entered city by default) and then house number and street; there can be a pause during entry as its database is searched, but coming up with a match was generally speedy.  Once found, you can choose to create a new route to that address, save it, or simply look at it on a map.  Routes can be calculated prioritizing the fastest, shortest, traffic optimized, those preferring highways or streets, or for pedestrian directions; however they can only be point-to-point, with no option for multi-destination journeys.

If jabbing at a touchscreen isn’t your idea of fun, then you can do all your address entry before you even leave the house via the Telenav website.  The process is basically the same, except you get to use a full-sized keyboard; you can then send the address wirelessly via the GPRS connection to the Shotgun itself.  Telenav also offer a browser plug-in that lets you highlight an address on any webpage and, with one-click, send it straight to your Shotgun.  What we found equally as useful is the ability to receive shared addresses from friends, handy when you’re already on the move and trying to find a new location.

Of course, the benefit of a permanently connected PND is that the latest Points of Interest (POIs) can be instantly accessed.  The Shotgun gets off to a great start here, with a huge 11 million preloaded and, thankfully, categorized into comprehensive subsets.  That includes restaurants, split into cuisine subsets, but unlike rival systems there are no reviews; similarly, the Shotgun lacks movie theater show times.  You can search POIs based on your current location, a point on your route or an ad-hoc address.

More usefully, the Shotgun can sort gas stations by price rather than just proximity.  This relies on updated fuel costs being downloaded via the GPRS connection; choose your preferred fuel type and you’ll get a page of the cheapest places to get it.  I’m not entirely clear where the pricing data comes from, but it seems relatively accurate in my limited testing; my only request would be for the ability to sort the price-list a second time, by closeness to your current position.

When traveling, all that screen real estate means there’s plenty of room for a bird’s-eye view of the roads, large “upcoming turn” indicator and ETA/direction/battery strength panel without it feeling at all crowded.  In fact, I’d like to see better use of the space: this first-gen PND can’t compete in graphics terms with systems from Garmin, TomTom and others that have 3D cityscapes or even just true-view intersection signs.  Screen refresh is also lacking, being jerkier than the smooth panning on rival PNDs.  Telenav may need to tweak the zoom levels, too; not only do they hold back too much at complex turns, but if you manually zoom in for a temporary closer-look the Shotgun doesn’t automatically draw back again after the junction.  This could be seen as a benefit, if you prefer a completely manual zoom, but I’d like to at least have the option.

There is a day and night mode and, if you’re lazy, you can set it to automatically switch over.  That flips the maps to a color scheme less likely to cause night glare, but it makes no change to the menus and other info screens that are still predominantly bright white.

It feels great in your hand if you’re using it in pedestrian mode to roam around town.  During my test, I only found relatively minor issues and annoyances such as the blue and red blinking status light on the left hand side or having to exit navigation mode just to change the volume.  The voice prompts are, as standard, pretty quiet, but they’re comprehensive and the text-to-speech system mangles surprisingly few addresses.

Traffic status is updated at roughly five-minute intervals and mapped out in the form of different colored roads.  In fact, Telenav make great use of color to indicate delay status; aside from the map there’s a full route road list with each color-coded, showing estimated speeds and offering more in-depth incident information.  Re-routing can be manually triggered or left to automatically calculate if you miss a turn or traffic conditions change.  Here the Shotgun lags behind rival devices, or perhaps gives drivers more credit than they’re feasibly due: several times I’ve been too close to the turn-off for new routes by the time it was suggested.

Despite the 3.5mm headphone jack there’s actually no media player on the Shotgun; in fact extra functionality is notable by its absence.  With so many manufacturers seeing Bluetooth hands-free as an obvious way to add value to their PND, it’s strange that Telenav have missed it out.  One perhaps obvious extra would be the ability to go online via an integrated browser.  Currently there’s no way to do so, and the company tell us that, while they’re considering it, there are still questions over what affect all that extra data access would do to the monthly subscription.

On the positive side is the fact that, because of the data connection, Telenav can push out feature updates small or significant without users being forced to mess with their own downloads or plug in USB cables.  In fact, it’s that fact – and the company’s apparent attitude to feedback – which leaves me feeling positive about what’s so obviously a first-gen product.  Not only is Internet access being considered (I can envisage some sort of server-side caching and reformatting, similar to on the Sidekick, to make the most of that relatively-slow GPRS hook-up) but Telenav tell me that movie times, restaurant reviews and other POI finessing is also a work-in-progress.

Will that be enough to persuade customers to buy into the Shotgun and, more importantly, commit to a service plan?  Let’s not forget that Telenav are already in that business, providing the technology for AT&T’s Navigator system for cellphones.  Navigator is priced at $9.99 per month with data fees on top; compared to that, the Shotgun’s $11.99 month-to-month fee seems reasonable, including as it does data.  Compare the Shotgun to Navigator over two years (paying up front) and the monthly-equivalent fee is actually a few cents less than the AT&T service.

No comparison is so straightforward in real life, and of course there’s the initial $299 for the Shotgun itself, but I can’t find too much to fault with the hardware you get.  If Telenav keep to their promises of rolling out regular, significant feature upgrades then they could succeed where Dash struggled.

I’ll update this review with battery life when I’ve used the Telenav Shotgun for a more extended period; the company themselves estimate a low 2.5hrs from the Li-Ion battery.

An update just come over pertaining to the Telenav Shotgun and Tele Atlas:

Today Tele Atlas and TeleNav, Inc., announced Tele Atlas maps and content will power TeleNav Shotgun™, the company’s first two-way, Internet-connected GPS personal navigation device (PND).  Designed to help users navigate with ease in unfamiliar environments, TeleNav Shotgun is preloaded with Tele Atlas maps of the United States, including Puerto Rico, and Canada. Tele Atlas will also provide content for the TeleNav Shotgun business directory, which includes millions of points of interest (POIs).

Telenav Shotgun unboxing video: