[bwhyte]

I was messing around last night with my phone and noticed that if I have an address in my phone book, i can view it on a map, then i can get directions to it (kinda like mapquest). I would assume that is free. Now i see the telenav on my phone and that is $9.99/month, what's the difference?
I would assume that the telenav is more like GPS as opposed to just getting directions, am i correct?

Thanks

[ncc1701p]

Telenav has some extra bundled stuff that I havent seen. I speak as a telenav user who has it on my work blackberry.
I can say find my current position.. then find me a Starbucks based on my location. It will give me all starbucks' in the immediate 5 mile vicinity, i select one and say 'take me there'. it will audio prompt me and take me to my starbucks. If i mess up on the way it auto corrects itself and makes me take a new router. This applies to looking for anything by title of if you want to find the best BBQ or fast food or gas or supermarket it'll help you locate whats in your vicinity.

Another feature of telenav is that you can pre-program your destinations on the website a day before a trip then pull them down on your blackberry. Then you can just select destination A , b, c , etc... I dont think this is offered by any other GPS mapping device unless u have a TOMTOM or something.

Again i like telenav but i like how its free cuz my work pays for it. The audio prompting is veryyyyyy nice. But like any GPS it can get a little wacky..

My 2 cents.. hope it helps

[GeorgeCee]

I just started using TelNav. It rocks. Why buy a garmin Nav unit for $400 when you can use TelNav.

I also have Blackberry Maps and Google Maps on my 8830. TelNav is by far the easiest to use and the most effective when it comes to actually having a real aid in driving. You can't follow those Google or Blackberry maps when driving around in dense metropolitan traffic.

Telnav and it's voice prompting rock!

[Digital]

There are a lot of free mapping programs out there, some of the most popular ones are InfoSpace FindIt!, Google Maps, amAze GPS, and the one not too many seem to know about but the people who use it say it's the best, Nav4All.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any that give me what TeleNav gives. I'm afraid I'm going to continue to pay the $9.99 a month for it, because it just does some things that the others don't seem to do.

As NC1701p mentioned (gotta be a Star Trek fan like me to have that name ), TeleNav's voice directions actually re-routes you. I live in the metro Washington, DC area, and traffic is ****. Furthermore, streets just plain stop and then resume further down, but aren't connected. So, being able to have that in the car and go a different route than the one set for me is crucial. When I stray from the pre-programmed route, it simply re-routes me based upon where I am and recalculates my estimated arrival time. So, it's virtually impossible to get lost, because no matter where you go, it simply reroutes you.

InfoSpace FindIt! has voice directions, but it's kinda like MapQuest, it programs the route and translates it to voice directions, but it has no idea where you are since it doesn't really use your GPS at all. So, it cannot reroute you; you have to program a new route yourself all over again. For turn-by-turn directions it requires you to click for each new turn, which kind of defeats the advantage of having a hands-free GPS system in your vehicle IMHO.

I haven't tried Nav4All, but I'm told that's possibly the best. Google Maps is great, but it's not really as good as TeleNav for getting you where you want to go IMHO. Some of the programs have extra services like the take me to Starbucks story NCC1701p mentioned, but TeleNav is the only one I know that you can really use in a car without pulling over and finding the stuff yourself. Most of the others are kinda like having a laptop next to you in the car ... while nice and helpful, it's not too safe to use while driving. Hands free and effortless is what makes TeleNav the best I've found ... so yeah, I'm afraid I'm going to continue paying the $9.99 a month.

[ncc1701p]

Digital: yeah im a trek fan.. tee-hee


But yeah.. The closest thing i found to telenav is maybe the mapquest software. I dont have GPS on my 8830 (obviously) but I might get the BT GPS puck here soon. Though again.. telenav is $9.99 a month. I think some people will get turned off by this. But again we will see how VZNavigator turns out. I think this is the best competitor to telenav... So its a waiting game.

to bwhyte:

Wait for VZNav.... It could be the best alternative...

[bwhyte]

Thanks you all for replying! you have made me see the difference.

Is the VZNav for Verizon or can any carrier use it? i am on alltel!

[markaaro]

Telenav is 9.99 a month? WTHeck? Just realizing that I never knew that and I am going to delete it from my phone. That being said, by deleting it from the phone, will that discontinue the service from it or will I be billed still? I haven't seen my first phone bill yet with my BB on it, now I'm kinda scared.

[Digital]

Markaaro, you will still be billed. What you need to do is contact your service provider and tell them that you no longer want the TeleNav on your bill, and they'll disable it. Then you will have the software on your phone and it will not be usable. Deleting the software doesn't stop the billing unfortunately.

[Optimus_Prime]

I just started using TelNav. It rocks. Why buy a garmin Nav unit for $400 when you can use TelNav.

Because if you don't get any Signal you lose the Telenav :>
it seems that GPS built in using Data signal , instead of the actual GPS signal from the GPS satelitte.

Can anyone confirm this?


By the way, can anyone tell me how to delete the TeleNAv?
I can't seem to find it on my Option-> Application.

[aprylgem]

Unless you subscribed to it, you are not getting billed. The icon is just there for set up.. But if you did subscribe, you just need to call your service subscriber to take it off.

[Optimus_Prime]

Unless you subscribed to it, you are not getting billed. The icon is just there for set up.. But if you did subscribe, you just need to call your service subscriber to take it off.

I see,

Thanks for the info

[mfaubert]

Because if you don't get any Signal you lose the Telenav :>
it seems that GPS built in using Data signal , instead of the actual GPS signal from the GPS satelitte.

Can anyone confirm this?

You still get the GPS signal, but the app downloads maps, POI and other items live. This is the biggest fault with all these programs, if you're out in the boonies the app stops working. This is why when I travel the interstates in the midwest I use my Palm with a TomTom app and GPS reciever on it.

I think I read the latest Mapquest version downloads the maps along your route in advance which would alleviate this problem.

[wallysquier]

Maybe i missed something here?
I download nav4all a couple of weeks ago, however it can not pick up a gps signal?
I can do mapping but no "where am I' or the directions as you are driving stuff?
Can you use these feature on the programs or do you have to pay for the Verizon 'navpac" whatever it is called to enable these features?
And if you pay verizon do the features only work with their program/application or will the GPS work with any application as long as you pay verizon 9.99 per month?

[goosebuster]

if you have sprint and the unlimited blackberry package then you have sprint navigation powered by telenav(which is the same as my nextels telenav i pay an extra $10 a month for) for free. also have on demand for free too, it has a ton of cool features! i love it!

[midlifez]

if you have sprint and the unlimited blackberry package then you have sprint navigation powered by telenav(which is the same as my nextels telenav i pay an extra $10 a month for) for free. also have on demand for free too, it has a ton of cool features! i love it!

As an FYI.. the free Telenav service via Sprint only applies if you have the $29.95 plan which does not include BES or internet modem service. IF you have the BES and internet modem service plan, $39.95, it does not include the Telenav service which means you have to fork out $10 a month to Telenav directly.