Candid conversations about using GPS and wireless technology for work and fun.
Live from CES 2012 – Introducing Scout: Your Daily Personal Navigator
Jan 9th
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Do you remember 1999?
It was the year:
- Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace was highest grossing film at the box office
- John Elway led the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl Victory over the Atlanta Falcons
- The Furby was the “must have” gift of the holiday season
- The Backstreet Boys were at the height of their teen heart-throb peak, owning the most successful album of the year
- The Y2K scare that everyone in a panic
One other thing about 1999? It was the year that four regular guys founded Telenav when they saw a chance to use the emerging mobile & GPS technology to change the way we navigated through our lives.
Taking a look back…
The four original founders of Telenav were HP Jin, Bob Rennard, Y.C. Chao, and Sal Dhanani and to the group, each brought a unique skill set. HP brought an expertise in location and wireless internet technologies, as well as several years a senior business strategist. Bob, on the other hand, was the engineer of the bunch and was one of the original designers of the Global Positioning System, which is why we fondly call him ‘the father of GPS’. Y.C. brought extensive experience in navigation technology implementation, as well as software and hardware development. And last but not least, Sal brought years of experience in product marketing, product management, business strategy and operations within the telecom industry. With this team in place, our co-founders were ready.
Um… ready to do what exactly?
Well, from the start, these four had one mission in mind: To make people’s lives easier, less stressful, more fun, and more productive when they are on the go. Simple, right?
As we reflect 12 years later, we feel like we’ve done a pretty good job of fulfilling our original mission. We’ve created TeleNav GPS Navigator, two of the top rated navigation iPhone apps, and we power several popular mobile navigation apps across almost every major U.S. mobile phone carrier. Not bad, right?
Reflecting upon our journey since 1999, we’re pretty proud of how far we’ve come and what we’ve been able to accomplish.
Taking a look ahead…
But now, it’s 2012 and the world is a different place than when we set out in 1999. It’s connected, it’s real-time, and the way we relate to the world is very different. We now live in a time where we access information from multiple screens at several different points our day – on the computer, on the web, and when we’re on the go with our mobile device.
These are huge shifts in how we operate throughout our day and it’s really changed the way we live our lives. But despite all of these shifts in technology, one thing hasn’t changed – our mission to make people’s lives easier, less stressful, more fun, and more productive when they are on the go.
Now, as we ring in 2012, I’m excited to share with you that we have announced – live at CES – the next step in our commitment to our mission and to you. Today we unveiled Scout, the first daily personal navigator that will be seamlessly available on your phone, your computer, and in your car.
What is Scout exactly?
To find out, jump on over to the Scout blog. Don’t forget to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and YouTube.
Announcing the world’s first browser-based voice guided turn-by-turn navigation & how you can join our select developer’s program! #HTML5
Dec 14th
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Imagine this. You’re traveling and using your mobile phone and you discover a great restaurant you want to try. Now, what if on that restaurant’s mobile website, they made it easy for you to get there by adding a feature which instantly launches a free 2D voice guided navigation session directly from your mobile browser? It’s a simple process and in the time it took to write this sentence, you would already be on your way to satisfying your empty stomach. 
Different situation. Imagine you’re a developer of a mobile website or of an app with local content – maybe you run a website with restaurant reviews or a mobile travel app. What if, by just adding one line of code, you could integrate a full GPS turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation service experience into your website? That way, without having to open any other apps or programs, your audience can have an easy way to get to destinations important to you.
Well, whether you’re a developer of a location-based website or app that focuses on things like travel, shopping, local search, deals, or connecting people via social media, or just a customer who wants an easy way to get to the important people and places, you’ll want to hear this. Today I’m happy to let you know that we’ve created the first HTML5 browser based navigation service for mobile devices!
With our new navigation service, it’s easy to get anyone with a HTML5 supported mobile browser just about anywhere – without having to leave your website or do any additional searches multiple other applications.
HTML5 Browser Navigation Features
Included in the new service are a lot of the features you’ve come to expect from us – navigation with full-color moving maps, spoken directions and automatic rerouting if you miss a turn. The best part? It’s all absolutely free.
Developers: Want access to our new service?
Are you a developer interested in playing with our new HTML5 service? We’d like to partner with you! We’re currently looking for select mobile software developers to test and provide feedback for our APIs and help shape the future of location based services. For more information, please go to www.telenav.com/developer/HTML5 and follow the instructions.
As for when it will be available publicly, we expect to open it up in early 2012.
As you could imagine, here at TeleNav, we’re pretty excited about this because our goal has always been to make it easier for people to get to places most important to them and with this announcement, we’re confident we’re helping to fulfill that. Whether you’re a business that wants an easier way to connect customers with locations or you’re a person who just wants an easier way to get around, our free mobile web browser-based turn-by-turn navigation service can help do both.
Special thanks to our team here for making this possible. This is a great accomplishment and kudos to you for your tireless work on this project.
Have any questions about our new service? Let me know below and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.
Did you just win a subscription to TeleNav GPS Plus & a Car Mount? 5 people just did!
Nov 18th
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Why are these people jumping for joy?
Two reasons: It’s Friday (!) and they know that today, I’m announcing the 5 winners of the TeleNav GPS Plus for the iPhone & Car Mount Giveaway!
So who won?
- Daniela C.
- Santiago
- Vanessa M.
- Jeremy S.
- Dan A.
Thanks to everyone who entered! We’re planning on doing more giveaways in the future so there will be more opportunities to win great prizes.
Photo Credit: PaleonTour Flickr – Creative Commons License
Contest: Why Food is Awesome & How You Could Win 1 of 5 One-Year subscriptions of TeleNav GPS Plus on the iPhone and a Car Mount!
Nov 14th
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All pizza is good pizza. Photo credit: Maveric2003 - Flickr
Is there anything better than discovering a great meal? Not if you ask me. In fact, trying new foods is literally one of my favorite things to do. I absolutely love discovering new flavors and exploring different cuisines. It should probably come as no surprise then that as a kid, my mom had a never had a problem with me cleaning my plate – unless, of course, there were olives on it. To this day, I still have a hard time with them (read: I think they’re awful) but everything else is fair game.
Now that I’m an adult (according to the dictionary at least), exploring and discovering new foods is still a big part of who I am and I’m still constantly looking for my next big experience in flavor. Of course, this is only reinforced by the fact I’m lucky enough to work for a company that specializes in GPS navigation and that we’re also quite good at helping people to discover and get to places (like restaurants). In fact, I love knowing that people are using our app to find their next great culinary adventure and that’s why last week on our Facebook page, I decided to ask our fans about their favorite meal. Knowing what other food experiences people have had can help me search out my next big culinary adventure. ;)
Here’s what you said:
Robin D. said: I would go to Maryland for Chesapeake Steamed Crabs!!!
Roger G. said: I’d go to my hometown of Elmhurst, IL and have my favorite Chicago-style thin crust pizza from Roberto’s! Sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms and black olives.
Sam K. said: The Prime Grill, in New York City – best steak dinner I’ve ever had!
David S. said: Shan Restaurant.
Rashad O. said: Olive Garden, Chicken Alfredo.
Is anyone else drooling at their keyboard? *awkward*
iPhone Fans: Enter to win 1 of 5 one-year subscriptions to TeleNav GPS Plus AND a Car Mount
Are you rockin’ an iPhone? To help you find and discover your next great meal, we’re giving away one-year subscriptions to TeleNav GPS Plus AND car mounts to 5 lucky people!
To enter:
- Follow us on Twitter, @TeleNav
- Leave a comment below with your name about why you need TeleNav GPS Plus – include your Twitter username (example: @telenav)
- EXTRA ENTRY: Follow us on Facebook and leave a link to your profile in the comments
The sweepstakes starts today and will end on Friday, November 18th!
Rules here.
Good luck everyone! I’ll announce the winner’s this Friday right here on our blog. :)
New Custom Car Icons: Represent Your Own Style
Oct 28th
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Thinking back upon my younger days, one of my most vivid memories was the first time I drove after getting my license. It was in the mid-90′s, I was 16, and was rockin’ a pretty gnarly bowl cut. I think I must have been sophmore in high school and honestly couldn’t believe that the state had agreed that it was okay to put me on the road. I decided against bringing this to their attention, however.
As is the case with most people, I remember the exact car I drove the first time I got on the road after receiving my license – a 1990 beige Ford Probe. I LOVED this machine. It had those headlights that flipped up and down, which made me feel like I was driving Kit from Knight Rider – without the voice, of course.
Right from the start, I really liked this car. Not because it was flashy, nor was it the fastest car on the road; it was far from both. I liked it because it was simple, nice without being flashy, and always reliable. And maybe it’s because of that, I felt a connection to it. In a lot of ways, I would say that those are things which describe my own style
But for some people, a sedan doesn’t really match their personality. In fact, chances are you might be someone who prefers to drive a truck, motorcycle, or even a sports car. Whichever best represents your style, in TeleNav GPS Navigator 7.1, we wanted to give you choices to have a car which matches. That’s why you can now choose from up to 12 different custom car icons to use while navigating to your destination, ranging from monster truck to space fighter and more. Whatever your style, there is a car icon for you. And if cars aren’t really your thing, there’s also a space ship for those who prefer intergalactic travel. So now the only question is, which will you choose?
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