TeleNav sits down with us
We recently had a chance to speak with TeleNav’s Communications Manager and self-proclaimed "best publicist in the world," MaryBeth Lowell. The conversation moved from TeleNav’s software (and it’s rapidly expanding features) to their plans to support the iPhone.
Additionally it seems that the have added a Quasi-Helio Buddy Beacon feature that enables users to broadcast their location to friends and even supply directions on how to get there. Our big question was in regards to the BlackBerry 8820 GPS locking and if TeleNav played a role in that. TeleNav agreed to give us (5) 3-month licenses for any device for 5 of our lucky readers, so if you would like to be included just leave a comment on which feature you would like included in a future version of TeleNav and we’ll pick the 5 people with the best ideas. Hit the jump for some highlights of our conversation!
- Did TeleNav know that the BlackBerry 8820 would be GPS-locked to only TeleNav ? We were advised to contact AT&T, which we did, but for the most part, TeleNav had no knowledge of this.
- They’ve added a new feature that allows users to broadcast their location to friends and provide directions as on how to get there as well.
- TeleNav is making a big push to bolster and create additional features instead of just straight real-time GPS navigation. One such feature is Biz Finder which provides a search feature to find nearby restaurants, movie theatres and more. The "Reviews" feature is one of the coolest components of the technology….Say you’re in Los Angeles and search for "sushi". When the results come back with the nearest restaurants, you will have access to reviews for the specified restaurant, and can even add a review right there from your phone.
- We asked TeleNav what they thought of InfoSpace’s FindIt! program. We were told the difference is that FindIt! doesn’t provide turn-by-turn directions and real-time navigation. (They do, however, provide turn-by-turn directions by voice)
- TeleNav would love to support the iPhone, but obviously at this time there is no internal GPS, and an external Bluetooth device won’t work either. They’re hoping an upcoming iPhone will sport internal GPS and therefore make compatibility and integration more feasible.
- TeleNav offers software on every national wireless carrier in North America except for Verizon (due to Verizon’s notorious stranglehold on GPS and other features). However, strangely enough TeleNav does function on some BlackBerry devices on Verizon as long as you buy the software directly from TeleNav.
Want to get your real-time GPS on? Hit us with some ideas to improve TeleNav, and we’ll pick 5 winners!
On Sep 21, 2007 @ 2:48 pm, Nikolaus Said:
For phones such as the 8820, or any phone with WiFi for what matter, I’d really like to be directed to the closest open WiFi/HotSpot location to me. Maybe I don’t care if it is a Starbucks (T-Mobile) or Barnes & Noble (AT&T) or my small town book/coffee shop. With cities seemingly dropping their plans to blanket their downtowns with free open WiFi for all, one will still need a nice quick method to locate the closet place to get your WiFi fix, whether for your laptop, iP, or faster data on your PDA.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 2:48 pm, Jas Said:
First post!
Yeah, how about make basic GPS features free?
Is that too much to ask? Put the maps on the device and let it just work.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 2:52 pm, Wayne McAllister Said:
It would be nice to be able use TelNav w/ my 8525 on golf courses.
Thanks
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 2:54 pm, Nikolaus Said:
Seems like with GPS is WiFi’s best friend. If I had an 8820, I’d like info on where the closest open WiFi or HotSpot to me is. With cities recently dropping their initially realistic plans to blanket their downtowns with free WiFi, people will still need to hunt around a bit to find a good signal when the need arises. Maybe I don’t care if it’s a Starbucks, a Barnes & Noble, or even the mom&pop book/coffee shop I know. Whether you need it for your laptop, your iP, or other PDA/WiFi device, lots of us would appreciate a little more available WiFi from time to time. GPS in my phone would rock to guide me in the direction of my next connection.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 2:57 pm, ppcmd Said:
Agreed. If my phone comes with GPS I should have the choice and nit be forced. With that I would like to see FREE software upgrades if I am locked into them.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 2:57 pm, Toby Bartlett Said:
*** My TeleNav Feature Idea ***
As a large fan of GPS I think TeleNav could launch a really cool “FamilyFind” feature (my own name I’ve just invented to describe this (ficticious feature) which would make managing life with a family full of cellphones much easier.
The feature would allow family members to always know where each other are by assigning an icon/avitar/uniquely-coloured-dot to each family member and then automatically displaying the moving dots on a map which they all could see.
Then, if you were, say, driving home from work on the freeway, and rememebred you needed milk back at home you could type in “grocery store” and TeleNav would “automagically” figure out who was closest to the nearest grocery store (based on their current location), and would then present you with the option to text them or call them to let that particular family member know that now have an errand to run.
This would be handy not only for the dry-cleaning and groceries but for two busy spouses figuring out who should pick the kids up at soccer or any other activity where knowing where the fam is would benefit.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:08 pm, Raaden Said:
I would love to see them take the buddy beacon to the next level by implementing a feature that would let you determine a meeting place for your friends. Say you and five others want to go out for drinks, it would look at all the bars withing a central area to each person and make suggestions. And if they are really good each person could vote on their choice and it would give directions for each person to the popular choice
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:17 pm, John Said:
I would like to see all maps be downloadable to memory so you can use TeleNav off the network. That way if you are in a place with zero cell coverage but your phone has a GPS receiver you can still be accurately guided.
Thanks,
John
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:18 pm, Earsell Said:
Better trip planning would be great. The ability to have everything lined up for a road trip.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:21 pm, Sammy Said:
I’d like to see some integration of communication with other TeleNav users for the ability to synchronize meeting places, balance appointments, and plan schedules. The current plan lineup includes plans to broadcast one’s location, but for my lifestyle, it may or may not include the features I want. Until more light is shed on the subject, I’ll just hope.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:26 pm, Ben Said:
I went walking the other day out in the middle of nowhere so an OS survey map would be excellent for walkers and cyclists etc.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:26 pm, Beerbaron Said:
Other than having the option of being teleported to the location of my choosing I think the best feature that could be added was a wifi locator, that would be extremely handy!
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:29 pm, C Nguyen Said:
Automatic re-routing based on traffic conditions by examining the posted speed limit for the freeway/road and the actual speed. If the actual travel speed is significantly less, Telenav will scan possible alternative routes and what other users’ actual speeds are relative to posted speed limits and make the best possible recommendations.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:38 pm, Alex Said:
The one feature I really want to see in mapping programs is the ability to leave a trail of where you’ve been on your MicroSD card. Then you can later export that to Google Earth or whatever else to see where you’ve been.
A really cool feature based off that would be for tracking your commute to work. It would be neat to see a time based map of your location so that the program could average out how long a different route takes and you could clearly see which route was historically faster. Yeah, I realized I could just use a stop watch to accomplish the same thing, but this would make it much cooler
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:53 pm, lwade5 Said:
A really cool feature for the telnav gps could be a weekly map that would store on the micro sd card. It would allow the user to plug in meetings or destinations for the week and you could pull the directions ahead of time. It would also allow you to toggle through the destinations for your drive for the week.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 3:59 pm, Geoff Said:
Downloadable maps for us data tight canadians or for telenav to get on rogers back to unlimit our need for wireless data, telenav with emails webpages on 30mb data for $60 equals overage charges of somewhere near the price of my first born!!
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 4:18 pm, Omar Said:
i would add location based ring profile as well as Call Forwarding Profile. Rules like if I am at home, calls to be forwarded to the home phone. I would also add location-embedded photo-features - if the user wants to see where a particular photo was taken, that it would be stored within the photo. Finally route memory: it would be nice to have a memory for routes the user takes without navigation: these maybe short-cuts, or just to retrace your steps (this could work like a Replay TV - while it is not navigating, it is remembering the path that you are presently taking).
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 4:21 pm, Earld Said:
Voice prompts are useless for the Deaf. Even though there are visuals, pop up messages, say for 2 seconds (or however long the voice message takes to say)…u could have it vibrate so you know a message was coming up to be read.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 4:22 pm, K Said:
BG, will you please, please, pretty please use its and it’s correctly? I love your website but your constant misuse of these words is really grating.
Thanks, and keep up the good work!
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 4:29 pm, Toby Bartlett Said:
*** My TeleNav Feature Idea ***
As a large fan of GPS I think TeleNav could launch a really cool “FamilyFind” feature (my own name I’ve just invented to describe this (ficticious feature) which would make managing life with a family full of cellphones much easier.
The feature would allow family members to always know where each other are by assigning an icon/avitar/uniquely-coloured-dot to each family member and then automatically displaying the moving dots on a map which they all could see.
Then, if you were, say, driving home from work on the freeway, and rememebred you needed milk back at home you could type in “grocery store” and TeleNav would “automagically” figure out who was closest to the nearest grocery store (based on their current location), and would then present you with the option to text them or call them to let that particular family member know that now have an errand to run.
This would be handy not only for the dry-cleaning and groceries but for two busy spouses figuring out who should pick the kids up at soccer or any other activity where knowing where the fam is would benefit.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 5:04 pm, amith74 Said:
A nice feature in Telenav is being able to scroll through different routes instead of having to end a navigation session in to change the route style.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 5:14 pm, Dominic Said:
Wow!!! A whole 3 months!! Then more recurring charges…..thanks, but no thanks.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 5:19 pm, isthereanyotherphone Said:
TeleNav should license Navizon’s technology? Sure it’s not as ball’s on accurate as GPS, but for local restaurants or traffic conditions, it works a treat. And given it’ll work w/o GPS, it broadens their market considerably.
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 5:32 pm, Mary Beth Said:
Hey all - Mary Beth from TeleNav here. I love all of the ideas flowing in on new features but I see a couple that we already have available and wanted to make sure to mention them:
–Nikolaus/Beerbaron - ask and you shall receive - we have WiFi Hotspots already in our business listings - you can find the closest WiFi Hotspot near you and get turn-by-turn directions there. This is included as a category listing in our Business Finder.
–Earsall - not sure if this is what you had in mind but you can preplan your trip online via http://www.telenav.com - just click on “My TeleNav” and search and add businesses like hotels, restaurants, etc. You can also manually enter addresses there. These addresses and locations will automatically synch with your mobile device when you launch the application.
–Ben - Pedestrian mode - already available for those of you who prefer to walk vs. drive - this is especially helpful in downtown areas.
–C Nguyen - Traffic commutes with ETA updates - this is currently available on multiple devices - including the new 8820. Our traffic service will monitor traffic along your specific route and proactively alert you have congestion or accidents. You have the option of choosing a quicker route with just one-click. The screen will also always show an ETA to your destination.
–Geoff - not sure if I understood your comment but we are currently available in Canada through Rogers and Bell.
Keep the ideas coming - I’ll make sure our product team sees all of them.
Thanks!
Mary Beth
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On Sep 21, 2007 @ 6:26 pm, Jeff B. Said:
How about a top down view maybe license with google in its earth section to get some real pics and relevance to where you are?
How about throwing in a touch screen interface?
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