Location-based service provider TeleNav on Wednesday announced an HTML 5 browser-based navigation service for mobile devices that will give users the ability to receive free voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions when using an app or visiting a Web site for a restaurant or other destination.
The service will launch in early 2012, a TeleNav spokeswoman said via email, but TeleNav is asking developers to test the service now by applying at the Telenav Web site .
Developers will be able to add one line of code into a mobile app or Web site to offer customers free turn-by-turn navigation, which will be available to anyone who has an HTML5-enabled phone or smartphone , she explained.
In one example, a developer with a hotel reservation app or Web site could allow customers to click on the hotel's address from within the app or site and get voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions to the hotel. "Customers will not need to be TeleNav customers nor even download an additional app," the spokeswoman said in an email. To use the service, customers won't need to leave the app or site to go to a mapping service such as Google Maps, she added.
The voice-guided navigation will also feature automatic re-routing if a driver misses a turn, TeleNav said.
TeleNav, founded in 1999, has provides GPS navigation for 26 million paying subscribers, including automakers and other enterprises. The technology works across 1,200 different mobile phones and all mobile OSes. TeleNav has partnered with many carriers, including all the major U.S. wireless carriers.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is mhamblen@computerworld.com .
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