Telenav on Tuesday announced the company’s “Scout for Apps” HTML5 voice-guided GPS navigation service. The service is being offered to developers who are looking for a free, turn-by-turn, voice-guided GPS navigation solution that can be built directly into their apps or websites, and the first mobile apps to incorporate Telenav’s service are scheduled to roll out soon. Avantar’s popular Yellow Pages app, which serves more than 90 million listings each month, will be among the first to incorporate the Scout for Apps service. “Currently, when users click on an address in our Yellow Pages app, we provide a standard map experience to help users get to their desired destinations,” said Adrian Ochoa, CEO of Avantar. “Once we launch with Scout for Apps, our customers will receive full-blown turn-by-turn, voice-guided directions, and they will never have to leave our app to get those directions and guidance. We love being able to offer this type of service on our platform.” Read on for more.
Telenav has also updated its browser-based Scout.me navigation service to allow users to send HTML5 voice-guided navigation instructions directly to their smartphones through either a text message or email. Users can also share their locations with Facebook friends and Twitter followers, allowing others to navigate to the same location.
“Because Scout for Apps is browser-based, we will be able to rapidly and consistently update the service moving forward,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for Telenav. “Further, these updates will roll out immediately to consumers, so developers know that their customers will continue to receive our most updated technology. We will continue to work with developers to add or update features and enhance usability based on feedback.”
Dhanani continued, “Launching Scout for Apps allows us to offer our services to more people and is a huge milestone for us as we continue to work toward our vision of bringing daily personalized navigation to people wherever they go and whenever they need it.”
I was able to test the company’s new “send to phone navigation” feature and while I found it useful, there were a few hiccups. The service is able to suggest interesting and rather unique places to visit, however at times I found it quite sluggish, with cluttered and sometimes outdated results. Once I selected a location, however, the GPS worked as intended. Telenav’s press release follows below.
Scout™ for Apps, Telenav’s HTML5 Voice-Guided GPS Navigation Service, Now Open to All Developers
First available for consumers on Scout.me and shareable via text, email, Facebook and Twitter;
Launching soon on several mobile apps including Yellow Pages, AroundMe, Life360 and WedViteSunnyvale, Calif. — March 27, 2012 — Telenav, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNAV), the leader in personalized navigation, today opened its free Scout for Apps service to all mobile web and app developers. Scout for Apps gives developers an easy way to offer consumers free, turn-by-turn, voice-guided GPS navigation, directly from their app or website.
Scout for Apps is the first HTML5, browser-based, voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation service for mobile phones. Developers can integrate the service by simply adding one line of code, making it ideal for social, travel and shopping apps, or any other app or website that includes points of interest, places or addresses.
The first mobile apps incorporating Scout for Apps are scheduled to roll out soon, including an update to Avantar’s popular Yellow Pages app serving more than 90 million listings every month.
“Currently, when users click on an address in our Yellow Pages app, we provide a standard map experience to help users get to their desired destinations,” said Adrian Ochoa, CEO of Avantar. “Once we launch with Scout for Apps, our customers will receive full-blown turn-by-turn, voice-guided directions, and they will never have to leave our app to get those directions and guidance. We love being able to offer this type of service on our platform.”
Additionally, Telenav has integrated its browser-based navigation service on the Scout website (www.scout.me), which helps people discover and explore new places and events before they hit the road. Once a user has found an event or place on Scout.me, they can select “Navigate” and choose “Phone” or “Email” in order to send the link to themselves or to someone else via a text message or email. In addition, they can post it to their Facebook wall or share the link via Twitter. Users with compatible phones can then click on the link to launch voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions from Scout for Apps.
“Because Scout for Apps is browser-based, we will be able to rapidly and consistently update the service moving forward,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for Telenav. “Further, these updates will roll out immediately to consumers, so developers know that their customers will continue to receive our most updated technology. We will continue to work with developers to add or update features and enhance usability based on feedback.”
Other developers who are already working to implement Scout for Apps and plan on soon launching the HTML5 navigation service as part of their apps include:
AroundMe provides its users the ability to search for nearby restaurants, hotels, movie theaters and other businesses based on category and distance from their current location. AroundMe will integrate Scout for Apps to give users navigation to any location they select.
Life360 Family Locator uses GPS and other location technology that allows more than 14 million people to locate their family members using their phones, providing a convenient safety tool that delivers peace of mind. Life360 Family Locator will include Scout for Apps so that, for example, parents can navigate with turn-by-turn directions to pick up their kids at their current locations.
WedVite is a mobile invitation app that allows brides and grooms the ability to share their wedding day information with guests. The app includes details such as directions to the venue, the guest list and gift registry information. WedVite will soon include Scout for Apps to provide guests with the ability to get directions to the wedding and reception.
“Kids aren’t always great about keeping track of what time it is and where they should be. Maybe soccer practice runs over and then they head to the nearby store for a treat afterwards without notifying their parents. Knowing where your kids are at any moment provides peace of mind in these situations,” said Chris Hulls, CEO of Life360. “Scout for Apps means there’s one less thing for our customers to have to worry about when it’s time to pick their kids up – no more following a dot on a map, reading written directions, or cutting and pasting an address into a GPS device. Scout for Apps was so simple to add to our app and it offers so much value to our customers. If you have a location component to your app, I don’t know why you wouldn’t use it.”
Scout for Apps is currently optimized for the iOS platform. Telenav plans to optimize Scout for Apps on Android later this year.
“Launching Scout for Apps allows us to offer our services to more people and is a huge milestone for us as we continue to work toward our vision of bringing daily personalized navigation to people wherever they go and whenever they need it,” added Dhanani.
