This looks promising for those who are not interested or cannot afford a standard GPS unit. It doesn't look like it's available 'yet' for the 6700, but a fair amount of begging with TelNav may have some desired effect (that's just an uneducated opinion of course).
Here's the link, then the writeup:
http://nextel.com/en/services/gps/telenav.shtml
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1941904,00.asp
TeleNav GPS Navigator 4.0
REVIEW DATE: 03.23.06
Total posts: 1
$9.99
By Davis D. Janowski
Sprint Nextel customers who travel frequently and never want to be without a handy GPS navigation solution will find a lot to like about TeleNav. It's a relatively inexpensive, server-based GPS application that runs on your cell phone using Java. The service offers a lot of the flexibility found in much more expensive portable standalone GPS devices.
The TeleNav GPS Navigator is a server-based Java-enabled GPS application and service, not an autonomous GPS navigation product. It's available from Sprint Nextel on both its CDMA and iDEN national networks, as well as on a few handsets on the Cingular and T-Mobile networks (though on the latter devices, you'd order the service separately from TeleNav and use it as part of your general data plan). The service plans available from Sprint Nextel cost from $9.99 a month for a basic plan limited to ten routes to $20 a month for unlimited use.
Navigation Systems Get Cheaper, Better, or Both
GPS Offers More Than Just Directions
What To Do if RIM Dims
Sirf's Mini GPS Chips Designed For Mobile Phones
RIM Unveils Workaround Details
I tested the TeleNav GPS Navigator on the RIM BlackBerry 7520. With its large, 2.5-inch screen, the 7520 is a great fit for the very graphic service. The service is also available on the BlackBerry 7100i and on the dozen GPS-capable cell-phone models that Nextel offers. Among compatible Sprint handsets are multimedia phones, including the MM-5600 and the MM-7400, both by Sanyo, and the MM-535 from LG.
Currently, the way you get TeleNav is via an over-the-air download. The specifics will vary somewhat among Sprint Nextel devices and the other carriers, but generally you launch your device's WAP browser and either click a preexisting download link for TeleNav or make your way to TeleNav's WAP site. When using the BlackBerry 7520 you'll need the BlackBerry Email Plan, and then you'll need to download the TeleNav software application directly onto the device. Finally, you'll need to activate the TeleNav Unlimited Plan.
Competitors are offering similar services on certain smartphones, such as Garmin Mobile, Motorola's ViaMoto, and ALK's CoPilot Live.
From the outset it's important to keep in mind that the server-based portion of the system is really the brains of the service, whereas your device is its eyes, ears, and voice. While you are viewing maps and directions on your TeleNav device or listening to the audible turn-by-turn instructions, the application generating all the info is running remotely on a server. That server-based application works in tandem with the GPS chipset built into the BlackBerry 7520 (or 7100i or mobile phone, as the case may be). That chipset is computing your current position and feeding it back to the remote server. As you request turn-by-turn directions for a location, either by keying them in or by speaking them into your handset via a phone call (a feature we love), those communications are sent via the mobile carrier's network to a server that calculates and creates the route. This information is then sent right back to you for display on the screen of your mobile phone or, in this case, the BlackBerry 7520. All this generally occurs within a few seconds.
You can't lump the TeleNav system in with the many autonomous, self-contained, and (admittedly) expensive GPS navigation products we've reviewed, especially products like the Garmin nüvi 350, the Lowrance iWAY 500C, the Magellan RoadMate 760, or the TomTom GO 300, which cost from $500 to $1,000. Doing so would be an apples-to-oranges comparison. Similarly, other alternatives to TeleNav, such as PDAs with either integrated GPS receivers (the Garmin iQue or the Evesham CoPilot Live bundle from ALK) or separate Bluetooth GPS receivers paired with Pocket PCs or Palm devices (such as those available from TomTom) might look similar, but are self-contained, autonomous devices that come in at around $500.
The absolute lowest-cost choice for those desiring dedicated in-car navigation remains a GPS receiver tethered to a laptop via USB. Examples of these include the Delorme Earthmate GPS LT-20 with Street Atlas USA 2006 or Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006 with GPS Locator (each about $100). Of course, these are certainly not as portable as a mobile-phone handset or a BlackBerry.
What all the devices above share is that they have their own onboard processors and map data. All of them rely on hard drives, onboard RAM, or SD/MMC cards for storing large amounts of map data. In some cases, you also receive bundled mapping software that you can run on your PC for trip planning and for downloading maps and routes to your device. Having all that storage capacity means you can store all your maps and waypoint data for a given trip or trips on the device itself. More important, this means that if you can establish your position with the device and have the requisite map data on board, you can generate directions anywhere you might find yourself. TeleNav, on the other hand, depends on that remote server, at least to create your initial route: Lose your network connectivity and this ability is gone.
When using TeleNav, other than the slight lag in receiving your data back from the remote server (usually no more than a few seconds and generally much less than a minute), you'll find the service very much like using a standalone or in-car device. One reason it is so ideal when used with the BlackBerry is that the large color map is much easier to read on the 2.5-inch BlackBerry screen than on the screens of most mobile phones.
Navigation Systems Get Cheaper, Better, or Both
GPS Offers More Than Just Directions
What To Do if RIM Dims
Sirf's Mini GPS Chips Designed For Mobile Phones
RIM Unveils Workaround Details
Among the information displayed along with your map view is current speed and course, current and upcoming street names, and distances to next turns and destination. On each map that you pull up, you can scroll around and zoom in or out. The device also lists the latitude and longitude of your current location. Audible prompts provide early warning to prepare you for making a turn. You'll also be presented with the time and distance to your destination, and you'll get automatic notification and be rerouted when you've gone off-course. You can also mark waypoints and record points of interest. You won't, however, be able to do multisegment routes, as you can with some of the higher-end standalone devices (Point A to Point B only, not A to B to C to D).
One of the features I especially like is the ability to call in a location using a toll-free number over the BlackBerry's phone. The only place I found this feature difficult to use was amid the din of traffic in New York's Times Square (in many respects a truly hostile environment for testing GPS products, let alone microphones). Canceling out all the traffic noise was just a bit too much to ask of either the included microphone or the processing system at the other end. The voice recognition system performed quite well inside the car or in relatively quiet areas outside. Another feature I like is the ability to use the addresses and locations stored in the BlackBerry's address book. You can also save items as favorites and easily generate routes to or from them. I found the GPS chipset on board fast, quite sensitive, and able to maintain a lock on its position in much of midtown Manhattan.
Once you've subscribed to the TeleNav service, you can conduct trip planning on your PC via telenav.com. Free tools are available there as well (pretty much everything you can get at any of the free mapping sites like MapQuest, Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, and the like) for generating printable directions and maps.
One thing that's convenient about a server-based system is that those providing the service can constantly update what's being served up. This goes for TeleNav's Business Finder features, where you can search and find not only businesses and restaurants, but the nearest gas station and even the location with the best gas prices within a five-mile radius. You can also search for restaurants based on type of cuisine.
Many of the higher-end standalone products provide such information as well, but in most such devices the map and location data is never updated beyond what was on the unit at the time of purchase. Even when the devices can be updated, the techniques tend to be cumbersome, and at worst, they can render the device inoperable.
We did find a few gripes with the TeleNav system. First you must provide either a city or ZIP code when getting a route. Seldom will you know the ZIP code if you aren't on your immediate home turf, and who ever knows it when you're in unfamiliar territory, say on a business trip to a new place? And what if you find yourself lost in the countryside and don't know the name of the nearest city? Many of the higher-end standalone devices have solved this using a predictive search of street, road, and highway names that are cross-referenced to your current position.
Here's a specific example: I wanted to navigate from Princeton, New Jersey to Washington's Crossing State Park. The service required either a city or ZIP code; I had neither. I think most state parks should be in the database, but this wasn't the case here. Luckily I always carry a print map (in this case, my faithful New Jersey Gazetteer from DeLorme) and found that the park is closest to Titusville. Using this information, I came up with Washington Crossing Road, which I guessed would lead me to my destination.
Another feature I like about TeleNav that's missing on many in-car units (usually because they are too big to carry) is a well-rounded Pedestrian navigation mode. As the name implies, this feature is used when you want to leave the car behind and hoof it. We'd just like to see it a bit more prominently displayed and easier to find, rather than buried a couple layers deep in the Options menu. The service seemed to lag a bit more in pedestrian mode, but that could have been coincidental.
Our only other gripe is that there isn't really any way of determining your current position from within TeleNav without having network connectivity. I think that most of the devices that currently are capable of running TeleNav probably have enough processing power and memory to determine their position based on receipt of a GPS signal without talking to the network. They should be able to display at least a very general map showing cities and perhaps Interstate highways.
If you are a Sprint Nextel customer, especially one with a BlackBerry 7520 or 700i, and you're seeking a GPS solution, go for it! If you are after both portability and self-contained GPS navigation no matter where you are, you'll find one of the many other GPS products a better fit.
Login
Panel
