TeleNav Offers GPS on More Cell Phones

Considering GPS for a holiday present? I've had a hunch that people who hadn't considered GPS before are doing so now, particularly for their parents and children. A few friends have asked me for recommendations for portable GPS units, and I've suggested the TomTom One. It's a well-designed GPS unit for the first-time navigation user.

But here's a reminder about another way you can check out whether you or someone you know likes using GPS through something we carry with us almost everywhere: a cell phone.

TeleNav offers GPS services through cell phone carriers. I reviewed TeleNav in September, when it was offered only on Sprint Nextel phones. It's now also offered as a $9.99-a-month service by these carriers on these phones:

• Cingular - Several phones, including the RIM BlackBerry Pearl, Samsung BlackJack, Nokia, E62, Cingular 8525, and the HP iPAQ hw6920 series Mobile Messenger
• Alltel - RIM BlackBerry 8703e, Samsung u520
• All Palm Treo phones, including the Treo 680
• SouthernLINC phones
• Boost Mobile - available on most phones

TeleNav provides colorful, 3D moving maps with voice and onscreen turn-by-turn directions. It's got some other nice features, too, including Biz Finder, which helps you quickly find ATMs, restaurants, and stores, then allows you to press a button and get onscreen directions to them or call them without incurring 411 charges; Fuel Finder for locate the lowest nearby gas prices; and My Favorites, a directory to save common destinations. (Away-game gyms for my three traveling basketball players come to mind right now.)

You can also enter destinations a few different ways. At home, you can plan trips on the TeleNav web site. Or you can type in destinations on your phone keypad or dictate it using TeleNav's voice-recognition system via an 800 number.

Using a cell phone screen for in-car navigation is not for everyone. Even with the voice directions, many will find it even more distracting than eyeing a larger, portable GPS unit screen. But if you're uncertain you will like using navigation at all and want to give it a try, this is a good way. I like that you can turn the service on one month, then off the next, so you're using it only when you need it. It's also a great tool to use as a pedestrian or tourist traveling an unknown city on foot.

Related links:

Hands-on Review: TeleNav GPS Navigator 5.0 
A GPS with a Certain Je Ne Sais Quois