TeleNav: Old School, New School Cool!

Recently I was invited to be a part of a panel of dads who would share their experiences around using a particular piece of technology. Software to be exact. Having written for some international paintball magazines, one of the things I always enjoyed was the fact that as the tech editor it was easy to get product to review that I knew was top quality. That didn’t mean that any one product was flawless but what it did mean was that I didn’t have to bash the product (I’m a big softie). I’m all about constructive criticism, but downright, “your product sucks and everyone should run fast and as far as possible from it” just isn’t my thing. Well, when I was told which product I was asked to be an ambassador for I was giddy… TeleNav Navigator.

Why “giddy” you might ask? Well, TeleNav and I go way back like babies and pacifiers. Ok, maybe not that far back, but how about to my Nextel i730 days, circa 2005/2006. Yeah, back when many high-end GPS units were still very pricey I was rocking TeleNav on my GPS enabled cellphone like a champ. Turn-by-turn directions and beautiful graphics on my celly was actually a big deal back then and I used to love geeking out with any of my non-techy friends and showing it to them! Those early days of TeleNav has saw me through some serious navigational scenarios and being an ambassador for them is actually a pleasure. One such scenario was my brief stint as a Process Server (ie, the guy you don’t want knocking at your door at home or the office because I was there to hand you a summons) and my range was about 70 miles from my home in all directions. Serving people with papers any further out than that wasn’t cost effective but what was cost effective was the minimal fee Nextel charged me for the service and the cigarette lighter/travel charger I used to ensure my phone always had juice while “navigating.” TeleNav got me to places I’d never been and back again. Sure, I could’ve used a Thomas Guide but not having to go through the pages or look at a map while trying to find a location was just so much more efficient. Plus, I’m a geek! What fun would it have been not incorporating tech into giving people summons’? The job sucked (like I said, I’m a softie and handing out bad news is no fun) but using the nav was at least one bright spot in the task.

Fast forward to today, 2011. A product I began using in it’s early days has grown so much and kept pace with the times. I’m no longer using it on a Motorola “dumb phone” (though I thought it was pretty “smart” at the time), no, now I’m with Sprint who bought out Nextel and I’m running TeleNav Navigator on Samsung’s Epic 4G… an Android device. Over the next couple months I will be posting from time to time about my use of the product and, hopefully, showing you how you can use it with some tips and tricks to make your drive time easier! Oh, and I’m quite qualified to do this… one of the most hated, most congested freeways in the known world United States is smack dab in the middle of my daily commute to work; Interstate 405 or “the 4-0-5” as it is known locally.

So, if you haven’t yet purchased a stand-alone GPS unit, or have one in your car already, you’re going to want to keep up with these posts and find out for yourself whether or not TeleNav Navigator is a product you will want to use on your smartphone (in addition, they have versions available for Windows Phone 7, and iPhone as well).  Matter of fact, I’m not the only dad who blogs who will be putting TeleNav through it’s paces! You can follow the exploits of these guys, TeleNav Navigator in Chief Dad Panelists, who will also be giving you their take on the product on their iPhones. You can follow on their blogs and on twitter as we use the #TeleNavDad hashtag:

Adam Cohen (@dadarocks) of DadaRocks, Josh Becker (@DadStreet) of DadStreet, John Taylor (@TheDaddyYoDude) of The DaddyYo Blog and Andrew Bennet (@benspark) of BenSpark.com

Join us on twitter, comment across the blogs! I believe this is a piece of software that you will place atop your short list of “must haves apps.”

If you’d like to find out more about TeleNav, you can check them out through these different outlets.

Navigating Life (blog): http://blog.telenav.com/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/telenav
Twitter: http://twitter.com/telenav
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/telenav
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23382466@N03/

Disclosure: I am a member of the TeleNav Navigator in Chief dad panel and was provided compensation to participate. While I have received compensation to participate in the program as I’ve said before, it’ll take a few million more to get me to drop a fixed review on you guys. And when I do, I’ll tell you I was paid very handsomely for that review so you’ll know that it’s shady. Promise! Cross my heart…

About Tshaka Armstrong

Tshaka Armstrong is the husband to one awesome wife, dad to three awesome children. On any given day you may find him posting internet & tech family safety info here and on his personal blog www.digitalshepherds.com, or chatting with his tweeps when he's not dadvocating here. Join in the conversation, drop a line, share a joke and join him in encouraging each other to be awesome!