TeleNav GPS Navigator Available Today on the Android-Powered T-Mobile G1

I am impressed with the great quality of this app, and in some ways, this sets the standard for Android software. I used it for a couple of days, but it was all temporary for me. I learned that it will not work with my unlocked G1 on AT&T service. The kind folks (David L, in particular) in customer support tried a great deal but something in the startup validation prevented the app from starting with an AT&T SIM in the phone.

But it all worked well when the G1 had the T-Mobile SIM. Voice recognition was pretty accurate, speech was great (but don’t expect to hear the voice well through the G1 speaker), the maps were accurate and on track. The GPS in the G1 seems to not be as accurate as my standalone PND and Telenav Navigator adapted fairly well to that. As a consequence, it seemed a little too forgiving of GPS accuracy and had a hard time recognizing that I had taken an exit and was driving alongside the highway on the access road rather than the highway route it plotted.

The only feature I found missing is a display of dashboard-like functions: speedometer (yes, that is somewhat redundant) and distance travelled. It does show an ETA.

Overall, it worked very well and I highly recommend it. I only wish it worked for me on AT&T.

@Mary Beth, for GPS, I use a dedicated TomTom One 3rd Edition without the traffic service.

I was hoping to switch to Telenav with the G1 (on AT&T service) and discover that the traffic data integrated into Telenav was fantastic and would help my daily commute.

I can’t comment on the usefulness of the traffic in Telenav, but I can comment on the useLESSness of the Google Maps traffic in San Antonio, Texas. The Google Maps traffic is very outdated and inaccurate, usually lagging by one to three hours behind actual traffic conditions. When you’re driving to work, that is completely useless.

Having thought for years about how an interactive traffic system might work, Dash eventually brought to market such a system. I imagine there may be patent issues, but the timeliness and accuracy of traffic data acquired live from real devices while they’re on the road is what I’m looking for. I hope that Telenav can bring these features to us G1 users.

Mary Beth, it is good to know you’re out there listening. I wish you great success with the G1 / Android version of Telenav.

@Mary Beth: I did drive into work one morning with Telenav and traffic alerts enabled. I got a traffic alert about the congestion, Telenav re-routed, but I did not follow the new route. It was true that my original route had congestion ahead (it usually does), but I also knew that it was still the fastest route.

For me, what would set Telenav apart from other products/services is a very good traffic alert system. It would have to include knowledge of current traffic *speeds* on highways (not just accidents) and the small (or at least mid-capacity) streets. Since Telenav did not show specifics about its traffic data (currency or detail), I don’t have an opinion about its value in the current form.

I sure wish I could run it some more. (hint hint) If you have a need for testing any of this, let me know.

@Mary Beth: The page on traffic (that link you sent) is indeed exactly what I’m looking for. Glad to see your company making progress in this area. How does TN get the traffic data?

@Mary Beth: I have been getting the daily commute updates by email and all the traffic speeds are “n/a”, so it looks like the speed data from the service provider does not have good coverage for San Antonio.

@Mary Beth – I only have two side streets in the commute to get out of the neighborhood. After that, it’s all major highways.

There are side streets that I can take when a highway has really slow traffic, but I have to know ahead of time (before getting on the highway), as the alternatives require no highway travel at all – they are purely small & mid-size streets.

The incidents listed are of little value to me on their own. Most of the time, an ancident does not slow traffic considerably. So I usually ignore incident reports. Combined with speed data, they would be more valuable. An incident with slow speed, for example, suggest that the slowness will probably last a while.