One of the primary reasons I have carried a PDAPhone for several years was that I liked the idea of being able to access mapping and navigation software without carrying a separate GPS device. Up until now, that has only been a partial reality because I have always carted around a Bluetooth GPS in my pocket to use with my PDAPhone. Now with the new AT&T Tilt (HTC Kaiser / TyTN II) and its built-in GPS hardware, this is truly a reality. This has turned out to be a big advantage not having to rely on the Bluetooth GPS, but that is not the primary purpose of this review. What I hope to do here is to review the latest version of TeleNav's navigation software and compare it to some other navigation programs that I've used.
The first thing to explain about TeleNav is that it is primarily distributed through carriers as a monthly service fee. Currently, TeleNav is available for selected PDAPhones from AT&T Wireless, Alltel, Rogers, SouthernLINC, Sprint-Nextel, and Verizon Wireless. It is also also developed and made available in device specific versions. They will not let you sign up with one Windows Mobile device, just because its available on another Windows Mobile device. They want to customize and test it on each individual model device. This is good, but could delay availability for newer PDAPhones. There was a bit of a lag before they released V5.2 for the Mogul, while through testing a number of users found that V4 for the PPC-6700 worked reasonably well on the Mogul.
Aside from the monthly rental fee, there is a significant difference in how TeleNav works when compared to other purchased nagivation applications. With most other programs, you must load all of the maps that you intend to load onto your PDAPhone. With some programs like iGuidance, they have you load all the US maps on at one time, so its easy to do, but takes up a significant amount of your microSD card. For other programs like Mapopolis, you have to select the maps you are going to use by state and county, and load them before a trip. None of this is done with TeleNav... there are no maps ever resident on your PDAPhone. TeleNav is a client/server type application. You select where you want to go, and it accesses a large server and pulls the data for the trip or location back to your device for display. On the one hand, this is bad because you need a data connection to use TeleNav. But on the other hand it is good because the maps are always updated, AND, the points of interest and location search capability is much more powerful using a server than what you can do on your PDAPhone. I will now go over some of the basic functions of TeleNav.
I concur. I have used Telenav since it became available and it just keeps getting better. I also use TomTom and find that the Telenav maps are generally more accurate due to their more frequent updates.
I love how they use the term "rental fee" which is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. Do I "rent" my phone service? Do I "rent" my satellite TV service even if I own the dish? Do I "rent" my electricity? Do I "rent" my water because I pay monthly for it? Lets get real .... the software is free. The use of the SERVICE costs money. Everything is live and comes from their servers. This keeps everything relatively up to date. I am not renting their server ... I have absolutely no control. I am simply USING a service provided by their servers.
I love how they use the term "rental fee" which is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. Do I "rent" my phone service? Do I "rent" my satellite TV service even if I own the dish? Do I "rent" my electricity? Do I "rent" my water because I pay monthly for it? Lets get real .... the software is free. The use of the SERVICE costs money. Everything is live and comes from their servers. This keeps everything relatively up to date. I am not renting their server ... I have absolutely no control. I am simply USING a service provided by their servers.
Actually, there may be some legal reason why they use the term rental. I know that there is a distinct difference between renting software, buying a license for software, etc. If you go back about 25 years, the only option that existed was to rent software. No one sold it. Today when you buy it, you aren't really buying it... you are buying a license, which is legally different. Who knows if there is a valid reason behind it or not, but they can call it whatever they want if it works. This link talks about the topic a bit... Small Business Software; Renting Software as a Service for Small Businesses . In the case of TeleNav, you are actually installing and running software on your device, but it can't really do anything without the software and data on the server.
Actually, there may be some legal reason why they use the term rental. I know that there is a distinct difference between renting software, buying a license for software, etc. If you go back about 25 years, the only option that existed was to rent software. No one sold it. Today when you buy it, you aren't really buying it... you are buying a license, which is legally different. Who knows if there is a valid reason behind it or not, but they can call it whatever they want if it works. This link talks about the topic a bit... Small Business Software; Renting Software as a Service for Small Businesses . In the case of TeleNav, you are actually installing and running software on your device, but it can't really do anything without the software and data on the server.
Well, this is much like me having a cable box. The box itself is actually useless without the data from the server, but nobody will say I am renting the service. I may rent the box from my cable provider, AND pay for the service that runs on it. But, there is an a inherent different between renting the device, and paying for the service that runs on it. Much is the same with this software. You are GIVEN the software, which is in fact useless without the service that goes with it, but this is no different than the cable box vs cable service analogy.
Well someone called me "Mr. Tangent" this week, so I guess I'll live up to the name and keep this one going... I love a good debate. Its interesting that there are no terms or license agreement that you have to deal with when you run install and run TeleNav... at least I don't remember seeing any. Perhaps that's why the rental term is used... because they probably aren't "giving" you the software. On the cable box, there is software too... so you are renting that software in a sense. You have to return the cable box when you stop renting it or they charge you for it. I guess there is no way to return the software though is there?
At the end of the day its most important that the thing works, more than what they call the agreement you have with them, I guess. So do you like the service (other than them calling it a rental fee)?
This is the next nail in the coffin for my i730. If the traffic alternate pathing works as advertised here in LA, I'll be a happy camper. I've been getting by with LiveSearch traffic maps and manually re-routing (with one-hand on the wheel mind you, and a peripheral eye on the road . Getting through LA traffic would be a blessing with this.
-Convergent- did you multi-task any media apps while navigating? I'm curious to know if listening to music affected performance.
I didn't try it with simultaneous music, but I have with the Mogul (half the RAM) and it works fine. I'm sure you may get a skip in the music every once in a while, but not a big deal. I will try to test that a bit today.
TeleNav should have a better traffic routing situation than any other navigation program because all of that activity is handled on its servers, not on your device. The maps, the routing, the traffic, the points of interest... all centralized on their server. This "should" let them maintain the best information available, and have unlimited computing power to crunch it all. With support from all the US carriers, I can't see them doing anything but getting better. All they have to do is keep developing the client end for each new device, and their subscriber base should keep growing. The amount of change from v4 to v5 was pretty significant too... so any thing they lack in comparison to the standalone programs should slowly get filled.
Its highly likely that the i760 will get TelNav... since Verizon has also been rolling it out on its new devices.
I didn't try it with simultaneous music, but I have with the Mogul (half the RAM) and it works fine. I'm sure you may get a skip in the music every once in a while, but not a big deal. I will try to test that a bit today.
TeleNav should have a better traffic routing situation than any other navigation program because all of that activity is handled on its servers, not on your device. The maps, the routing, the traffic, the points of interest... all centralized on their server. This "should" let them maintain the best information available, and have unlimited computing power to crunch it all. With support from all the US carriers, I can't see them doing anything but getting better. All they have to do is keep developing the client end for each new device, and their subscriber base should keep growing. The amount of change from v4 to v5 was pretty significant too... so any thing they lack in comparison to the standalone programs should slowly get filled.
Its highly likely that the i760 will get TelNav... since Verizon has also been rolling it out on its new devices.
Thanks, look forward to your results. My concern with the i760 is how the CPU woud handle GPS plus the phone. Seems the Tilt's dual-core architecture is well suited for this, given the favorable reviews thus far.
I'm a proud new owner of the Tilt...I too have been a TeleNav user for quite sometime. My inital thoughts of 5.2 were great...lots of great improvements. However, I have noticed a glitch on the 8925. Once installed, my Today screen constantly flashes...similar to hitting F5 on a PC...a consistent flashing or refreshing....I uninstalled Telenav, and the problem went away. Have you heard any other complaints of this with Telenav?
I believe its not TeleNav thats doing that, its the TeleNav Today Screen button (which I think is just an AT&T thing on the Tilt) ... if you turn that off in your Today Screen settings, the problem will go away. I had the same thing happen to me. I think the button is kind of useless anyways, because I have Spb Mobile Shell and use that to access my programs.
Nice review, but I think Garmin Mobile XT is a better fit for the Tilt. You get Garmin maps for $99 on an SD card; there's no monthly fee and you get to keep the maps forever and can use it on other phones. It doesn't need a standalone GPS because the Tilt has built-in GPS. And, the maps redraw faster becasue they're on a card, not on a server like TeleNav. With Garmin you also get free traffic and fuel price info.
Nice review, but I think Garmin Mobile XT is a better fit for the Tilt. You get Garmin maps for $99 on an SD card; there's no monthly fee and you get to keep the maps forever and can use it on other phones. It doesn't need a standalone GPS because the Tilt has built-in GPS. And, the maps redraw faster becasue they're on a card, not on a server like TeleNav. With Garmin you also get free traffic and fuel price info.
I'm not familiar with Garmin's product, but I've used most of the resident products like iGuidance, Tom-Tom, Mapopolis, Pharos, etc. I tried to discuss the pros/cons of "those" products vs. TeleNav, which I think is unique in how its different. Whether the redraw is faster or not, I don't know... you certainly won't have the Downloads that need to occur, but once the maps are in the device the redraw times should be similar... and the TeleNav maps are optimized to be small so they may actually redraw faster. Running on EDGE, the Downloads are noticable but certainly don't hinder use of the program. When I've run it on EVDO, the Downloads were hardly noticable.
Even though you get to keep the maps, the bottom line is that they will become outdated, and in my past use I generally updated the maps about once a year. If you use this approach, the cost factor of TeleNav vs. a "bought" navigation program is minimal. And for any difference in cost, you are getting maps and point of interest data that is updated on an ongoing basis. I found the business search capability of TeleNav to be superior to the standalone programs.
Competition is good and there are many good alternatives for PDAPhone based navigation. Contrast this to just a few years ago when you had to use a wire attached GPS receiver, and the software was pretty weak. Things will only get better in years to come as the market is kind of crowded with products that look similar at present. The one that is very different is TeleNav, and I think we'll see them to exploit their differences as time goes on. I hope thats what we see, because I find it boring to have all products look essentially the same.
I would love it if TeleNav would release a software version that would include server access for map updates, traffic, gas prices etc. I'd gladly still pay a monthy service/software rental at the same time . This would also save some of TeleNav's bandwidth. My only complaint about TeleNav is the constant need for a data connection. It may force me to switch away from their server based service. When you need GPS you need GPS, and that's the bottom line for me. I sure do love it though.
I too like to buy my GPS software rather than "rent" it. I already had a Garmin GPS 10x when I got my Tilt. It works extremely well and is so sensitive that the tiny GPS 10x receiver can be in your pocket or in your glove box and still work just fine. I will probably get a Garmin XT sometime soon so I won't need to carry my 10x, but I will wait until Garmin puts it on a larger microSD card. Right now I would rather have my 6 gb microSD card and the Garmin 10x in my pocket than the garmin XT on the 2 gb microSD card that comes on now.
Actually, there may be some legal reason why they use the term rental. I know that there is a distinct difference between renting software, buying a license for software, etc. If you go back about 25 years, the only option that existed was to rent software. No one sold it. Today when you buy it, you aren't really buying it... you are buying a license, which is legally different. Who knows if there is a valid reason behind it or not, but they can call it whatever they want if it works. This link talks about the topic a bit... Small Business Software; Renting Software as a Service for Small Businesses . In the case of TeleNav, you are actually installing and running software on your device, but it can't really do anything without the software and data on the server.
Convergent - Mary Beth from TeleNav here. Thanks for the great review. Regarding the term "rental fee" - we don't actually use that term that I'm aware of - if you've seen it somewhere let me know as we should not be. The term we normally use is "monthly subscription fee" or "monthly recurring charge."
Great review though - and please keep the feedback coming - we love to hear it.
I just wanted to add that, I agree to Garmin Moible XT. It is clearly superior to TeleNav mainly because it will still work without cell phone service! There are actually a lot of other reasons, Ive tried them all, TomTom, Navigon, CoPilot, VZ Navigator and Garmin. Garmin is the very best option as of right now.
This link talks about the topic a bit... 
. Getting through LA traffic would be a blessing with this. 
. This would also save some of TeleNav's bandwidth. My only complaint about TeleNav is the constant need for a data connection. It may force me to switch away from their server based service. When you need GPS you need GPS, and that's the bottom line for me. I sure do love it though.
Rental Fee vs. monthly subscription
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