January 8, 2007

TeleNav Traffic Announced; Data from Inrix

Inrix and TeleNav announced an agreement at CES 2007 that they are teaming up to be the first to launch a GPS navigation system on mobile phones in the US, under which Inrix will provide traffic data to TeleNav for the first mobile phone-based GPS navigation service with intelligent traffic notification and one-click rerouting functionality. Definitely a requirement going forward of any GPS navigation solution. I'll still say that I don't know if all this mobile phone navigation will slow all in one GPS unit growth or drive it, as more people realize that GPS navigation is great, and that doing it on a micro mobile phone screen is not???? We'll see.

At the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today in Las Vegas, TeleNav announced immediate availability of TeleNav Traffic, the latest feature of TeleNav GPS Navigator, a turn-by-turn, GPS-enabled voice and on-screen navigation service. TeleNav Traffic, initially available on certain phones, regularly monitors traffic and proactively alerts users of slowdowns and incidents along their routes. With just one click, TeleNav Traffic will reroute users in order to minimize travel time, taking into account the latest traffic conditions.

TeleNav’s president and CEO, Dr. H.P. Jin, said TeleNav chose Inrix as its traffic data provider based upon the company's comprehensive market coverage, superior data quality and unique portfolio of traffic solutions. "TeleNav is committed to providing our customers with the best content and services in the market and we are pleased to feature Inrix content with the introduction of our new traffic service."

TeleNav Traffic leverages Inrix's Smart Dust Network, which consists of traffic-related data from over 250 public and private sources including traditional road sensors, the world’s largest network of GPS-enabled vehicles, and traffic incident and construction data from Clear Channel Traffic. Inrix's unique Traffic Fusion Engine utilizes advanced, proprietary statistical analysis to aggregate, combine and enhance traffic-related information, ensuring highly accurate road speeds and the broadest market and road coverage available.

“With the introduction of TeleNav Traffic, TeleNav is continuing its leading-edge innovations in the mobile phone GPS navigation market,” said Bryan Mistele, Inrix president and CEO. “We are excited to partner with a market leader like TeleNav in providing an easy-to-use and highly portable solution for avoiding traffic congestion.”