Gadgetell How To: GPS directions on Smartphone

Posted July 20, 2007 at 09:16 PM by JG Mason

Section: Communications, Accessories, Cellphones, Smartphones, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Transportation, Features, How To

GPS is a hot industry today.  There are new stand alone devices announced almost everyday with added functionality like photos, music and in Asia, TV.  But do you need another device to lug around?  I believe the answer is in your phone.

Set Up

Can the phone be an easy-to-use GPS device?  To find out, I contacted Telenav (listed on AT&Ts site) about doing so.  My phone, a Samsung Blackjack, requires an external GPS receiver that connects via Bluetooth, their application and an account with Telenav.

I chose to install the software OTA (over the air) instead of the optional sync process).  The file loaded easily with no issues.  Upon running the software it found the GPS receiver, which brilliantly turns off after 10 minutes of non use, without me even turning on the phones Bluetooth.  It did it all automatically.  Within minutes my location was fixed.

Initial Impression

The software takes a few seconds to load.  The user interface is pretty good, simply logical.  When you think about it, GPS is just a receiver and software and this software worked excellently.  Inputing where I want to go was easy to do and directions were located and validated by Telenav, a nice feature.  Directions flowed almost instantaneously.  Wrong turns are quickly re-routed.

Costs

Be prepared to shell about a little less than $100 for a GPS receiver if your phone doesn’t have internal GPS.  After that the monthly service charge from Telenav is $9.99.  Be advised that using the system will use some voice minutes and some data minutes.

Summary

So far, I am very pleased with Telenav.  It’s directions have been spot on (even better than other GPS devices).  I’ll be doing a head to head test in the coming weeks, pitting Telenav against the popular Tom Tom One.  Stay tuned for that head to head plus a full report on the Telenav system.

Product Page [Telenav]