Archive for February, 2010

TeleNav First Look Kickoff!

Feb 26th

Posted by Kenji Onozawa in Community Stories

No comments

At TeleNav, part of what we want to do is be the best GPS solution out there – period. So day-in and day-out, we work hard to improve and create new features which ultimately make our customer’s lives in their cars, simpler. And in the 10 years we’ve been doing this, we are very proud at how far we’ve come.

But now it’s 2010, the start of a new decade, and we’re are kicking it up another level. One way we want to do that actually starts with YOU, our customers. You see, we’re dedicated to constantly improving and we think the best way to do that doesn’t start with talking about what we’re doing but by listening to what you have to say and what really matters to you.

As some of you may recall, a couple of months back, we put out a call for participants to our First Look program. For this program, we were looking for our most passionate and loyal customers in the Seattle and Bay Area who wanted to give us feedback on some of the things we’re working on. Well, recently we held kickoff events in both cities where we invited the participants out just for a night of food and drinks. We enjoyed getting to know everyone who came and we think they had a good time as well. Thanks to all of the participants!

We also wanted to thank everyone who responded to us during our search for participants for the First Look program. What we learned while recruiting people to join the group is that there are many passionate TeleNav users who don’t live in the two First Look cities who wanted to participate. We’ve definitely heard you and we will look at expanding to greater parts of the country in the future.

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HOW TO: Share Your Address & Location with Anyone’s Cell Phone

Feb 24th

Posted by DavidS in Tips & Tricks

3 comments

Wait, You're Where?

“Hey, come find me in the middle of the park, by the big fountain and the blond wearing a red shirt”

“Where are you tailgating? I’m right by Gate D”

“Can you come pick me up? I’m by the Macy’s entrance at the Mall”

Ever had one of those conversations? Probably. Each of these quotes are from real conversations I’ve had in the last six

months. I was somewhere completely new to me or usually, somewhere that didn’t have a road or intersection right by it.

Think about all the times you’ve ever wanted to tell someone where you are, but either
A) You don’t know the exact address,
B) You’re too busy or it’s too complicated to type in the exact address into a text,
C) There’s no exact address for your location

This happens more often than you think and for all of you out there, TeleNav has actually created a solution just for this problem: It’s called “Share Location”. The dirty secret, though, is that you can share a lot more than just addresses, you can share exact coordinates, to within 10ft. It’s kind of like having a homing device from a James Bond movie in your phone. And more importantly, you can send your location to almost anyone. It doesn’t matter what kind of phone they have or what network they are on. All they need is to have internet access on their phone. They do not need to have the TeleNav app.

Here’s how it works (sorry, iPhone folks – we haven’t enabled it yet on the iPhone):
1) Open up your TeleNav app
2) Click on “Maps” to see a map of where you’re at
3) Click on your Menu button (for Blackberry users and most others)
4) Click on “Share Location”
5) Pick a contact or enter the phone number of someone you want to send the address to, and you’re done!

So what does your contact receive? They get text message that has a custom, temporary link to a map they can open up on their mobile browser that shows them where you are.

Here’s the best part. We automatically know if the person you shared your location with has TeleNav. If they do, it’ll open up right in their TeleNav Navigator application, and they can even get driving directions to that exact spot, if roads lead there.

So the next time you are in a random location, use your TeleNav App to share your location and let your friends figure out how to get to you!

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VIDEO: TeleNav Waypoint Reviewed

Feb 22nd

Posted by Kenji Onozawa in Everything Else

3 comments

Earlier this month, we held our very first Waypoint event down near our headquarters in San Jose, CA. For the event, we invited 20 tech bloggers from all around the country to come spend a day with us to discuss TeleNav, the future of GPS, and to get their opinions on a lot of things going on in the marketplace. It was a fantastic event and the conversations which took place there were fascinating.

All of us here at TeleNav really enjoyed speaking with and getting to know all of the Waypoint participants, which included many people from your favorite blogs like CrackBerry, ZDNet, LifeOnMyMobile, SlashGear, BlackBerryCool, and a whole lot more!

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TeleNav-er’s Are Romantics

Feb 19th

Posted by Kenji Onozawa in TeleNav News

12 comments

Photo by Will Ockenden

Ahhh, TeleNav Nation – who knew you were such a big group of heart felt romantics? You may be trying to hide it (I know you’re blushing) but all of the facts and figures tell us that you are, in fact, a bunch of Romeos and Juliets. 

As you’re all aware, we just passed the single most romantic holiday of the year – Valentine’s Day. It’s on this day that many relationships are solidified and in some more unfortunate situations, a few come crashing down in flames – what do you mean you didn’t want season tickets to the Yankees? But according to our data, most of you are in the former and are paving the way to your loved-one’s hearts.

How do we know this? Recently, we were able to pull some very interesting data surrounding flower searches on the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. This anonymous data was pulled from TeleNav GPS Navigator and other TeleNav-powered GPS navigation services and includes the search terms florist, florists, flowers, flower shop, flower shops, flower, and flower stores.

Here’s what we found:

  • Searches for flowers were nearly 5.5 times greater during Valentine’s Week (2/8 – 2/14) than the non-holiday week of 2/1 – 2/7.

  • Searches on Valentine’s Day alone exceeded the entire first week of Feb.

  • Some people may have been buying make-up flowers (or possibly, “I’m sorry for the Yankees tickets” flowers) – On Feb. 15th, the Monday after Valentine’s day, there were double the amount of flower searches of a normal, non-holiday Monday.

So there it is, TeleNav-ers and there’s no hiding from it – You’re all a bunch of big softies. And we love it.  Unfortunately, however, we aren’t able to find any data that supports the theory that TeleNav-er’s received more kisses on Valentine’s Day. We’ll keep you posted.

Did you search for flowers using TeleNav this Valentine’s Day?

We would love to hear about it! Share in the comments section below.

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Win an Apple iPad?

Feb 16th

Posted by Kenji Onozawa in Contests

5 comments

We’re giving away an Apple iPad!

Ooooh... Shiny!

So what is an Apple iPad? Just in case you’ve been living under a rock (or possibly a very large pine-cone), let’s review why the Apple iPad rocks:

  • Features a large 9.7 inch multi-touch display which can work in any orientation.
  • On the iPad, you can watch anything from HD movies and TV shows to podcasts and music videos.
  • It can run almost 140,000 apps from the Apple App Store.
  • With the iBooks app, you can read and buy books using the iPad’s high resolution, LED-backlit screen display.
  • It features an impressive email, photos, notes, calendars, and contact apps.
  • Only 1.5 lbs (no, that means pounds – not location based services)
  • Do you seriously need more reasons??

The winner will also receive a 12-month subscription to TeleNav GPS Navigator for their cellphone (not the iPad) and an Arkon Universal Phone Mount. Four runners up will receive a 12-month subscription to TeleNav GPS Navigator for their cellphone (again, not the iPad), a Arkon Universal Phone Mount, and a TeleNav t-shirt.

So We’re Giving Away an Apple iPad- Now What?

Here at TeleNav, we’re all about getting you to the places you love. With that in mind, we thought it would be fun to run a contest that allowed you to showcase your favorite place while allowing you to have some fun. Hence, the idea for the 7 Words Contest was born.

How To Enter The 7 Words Contest?

Starting Monday, February 22nd until Sunday, March 7th, all you have to do is (1) take a photo of yourself at your favorite place holding up a note (can be handwritten) that clearly starts “Dear TeleNav,” and in the following seven words state why you love that place! Then (2) submit the photo directly on the wall of our TeleNav Facebook Page. All entries must be received by 11:59PM PST on March 7th.

For example, if you’re at a coffee shop, you might hold up a sign saying, “Dear TeleNav, I love their really big blueberry scones!” or if you’re at a restaurant, you might have a note that says, “Dear TeleNav, they have the most incredible pepperoni pizzas!”

Need some more help? Look at this example.

I really enjoy poo poo platters.

On Wednesday, March 10th, as judged by TeleNav’s most esteemed photo panel, on our blog we will announce the top five photos based on creativity and overall quality.

Make Your Voices Heard!

After the top 5 photos are selected, we will then open up the final stage of voting to you and the rest of the people of the interwebs! On Friday, March 12th, we will post the five finalist’s photos on our blog and voting will continue until Friday, March 19th.

The winner of the 7 Words Contest and the Apple iPad will be announced on Monday, March 22nd!

If you have any questions, please email Kenji at KenjiO@TeleNav.com. Good luck!

Rules Here

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FAQ

Can the photo include two people? Example: My wife and I?

Yup, you sure are able to do that.

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