TeleNav, one of the largest back-end providers of GPS navigation services for smartphones and other in-car turn-by-turn navigation systems, has announced the upcoming release of a free HTML5-based voice-guided GPS navigation service that works on your iPhone through the Safari Mobile Browser.

“This is an enormous amount of added value for any mobile, location-based website or app focused on travel, shopping, local search, deals and more,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder and vice president of products for TeleNav. “With one line of code, you can give your customers one-click access to premium, voice-guided turn-by-turn directions to any location, including hotels, restaurants, merchants or deal locations. Customers never need to leave your app.”

As mentioned, the service will be completely browser-based allowing it to run on just about any smartphone, including the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Developers will have the opportunity to add just a single line of code to their existing website or apps, which will allow users to jump directly into the browser for turn-by-turn navigation from within any app, or directly from Safari itself.

If all goes according to plan, we should start seeing it in apps come 2012.

Source: TeleNav

TiPb's developer spotlights are like DVD/iTunes Extras for the App Store -- a weekly look behind the scenes at the programers and designers that bring you the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games you love. This week Rene talks with Ryan, Abhishek, and Feng from TeleNav...

...And with the help of Todd, they responded with the fantastic video posted above. Many thanks to everyone at TeleNav for this!

Giving away 3 one-year subscriptions to the TeleNav powered AT&T Navigator isn't cool. You know what's cool? Giving away 30 one-year subscriptions. To celebrate the launch of AT&T Navigator 1.8i (for the AT&T iPhone - iTunes link) -- the first app to takes advantage of TeleNav’s hybrid navigation service! -- that's exactly what they're doing.

And here's all you have to do to enter:

1. Like TeleNav on Facebook and TiPb on Facebook (be sure to like both!)
2. Leave a comment below telling us where you're going to use TeleNav to take you

That's it! We'll pick 30 of you at random from the comments and if you've liked both TeleNav and TiPb on Facebook, you'll get one of the thirty (30!) one year subscriptions!

What are you waiting for, do it now!

[Not sure if your device is supported? Check out TeleNav's AT&T support page!]

Looks like Verizon iPhone users will be getting access to the same Verizon Navigator app that other Verizon smartphone users have been enjoying for a while now -- but our sources at Verizon are now telling us it will only cost $4.99.

Sweet deal if you like subscription-based online maps. If the price proves to be true, anyone going to be taking them up on it?

Thanks to everyone who joined TeleNav and TiPb on Facebook for the AT&T Navigator/Rogers Navigator 1-year subscription give-away!

The entry was simple, all you had to do was:

• Become a fan of TeleNav
• Become a fan of TiPb

Tons of you did, and we very much appreciate it. Without further ado, here are the winners this time around (and if you're not one of them, stay tuned, we have more great give-aways coming your way)

• mgoff
• cpeluso
• beingdrew
• devonair
• Crissy557

Today's top 5 is directed towards iPhone users who travel for work, for fun, or for a little bit of both. From booking to preparing, finding your way to finding your food, and keeping yourself entertained while go, the iPhone really does have plenty of apps for all of that. Just like our other top 5 must-have iPhone app posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

TripIt

Tripit [free - iTunes link] is an iPhone front-end to the free TripIt.com online service. With TripIt, once you book your online hotel and flight information, you just forward them the email and they automagically create a itinerary for you include flight times, airport maps, hotel maps, etc. Basically, all you travel has belong to them -- but they'll package and present it to you in a hyper convenient and consolidated manner.

If you're a hardcore traveler, TripIt.com also provides a pro version with added functionality.

Alternative: WorldMate [free - iTunes link] or [$14.99 - iTunes link], recommended by Alli.

Appigo Todo

Making a list and checking it twice isn't just for Santa's once-a-year trip, it's for everyone who needs to keep track of what to pack, where they want to go, and what they want to see. Appigo's Todo Lite [free - iTunes link] is a great starting point for task and list manager, and if you need more, there's a full version of Todo [$9.99 - iTunes] with a feature set that syncs with just about everything.

Alternatives: If you prefer to keep your lists in note-taking apps, check out our top 5 iPhone note apps roundup!

AT&T Navigator or NAVIGON MobileNavigator

If you're driving rather than flying, turn-by-turn navigation and your sense of direction is anything other than perfect, turn-by-turn navigation is a must and there are two major types for you to choose from -- online vs. on-device and subscription vs. paid outright.

AT&T Navigator [subscription - iTunes link] provides online maps and if you only need them for a summer road-trip through areas with good AT&T coverage, you can pay $9.99 grab it and go. (Powered by TeleNav, you can find other carrier-branded versions, like Rogers Navigator in Canada, in international App Store).

If you're going off-grid, however, you'll have to go offline and NAVIGON provides everything from the 1.5GB North America [$79.00 - iTunes link] to (for example) just the US East Coast ($29.00 - iTunes link]. They have a variety of international versions as well.

Alternative: whmurray recommends the built-in Maps app, which isn't turn-by-turn but is GPS-enabled and powered by Google.

ZAGAT To Go

Yes, it's complete overkill and yes, there are a numerous free/cheap ways to find restaurants with your iPhone but once in a while when you're traveling you just want to do it in style and that's ZAGAT To Go [$9.99 a year - iTunes link]. You get ratings and reviews from ZAGAT's famous guide, and an offline mode so you can download it all to your iPhone, iPod touch (or iPad -- it's a universal binary!).

Alternative: Yelp [free - iTunes link] was suggested by Jamesus.

iPod

It's built right into your iPhone and iPod touch (separated as Music and Video) and can keep you entertained with music, audio books, TV shows, movies, and podcasts everywhere from the airport to the airplane, hotel to restaurant. You can either transfer your own media from home before you leave or use the iTunes Store app to buy and rent the latest from Hollywood or download the best free content on the go. When Apple said the iPhone was the best iPod they'd ever made, they weren't exaggerating. (Sure, the iPad gets 10 hours of video out of its battery, but it's still not easy to pocket as the iPhone!)

Alternative: If you've got a SlingBox at home and want to keep up with your local sports teams or favorite shows while you're out of town, SlingPlayer Mobile [$29.99 - iTunes link] will transport your TV to your iPhone anywhere you have a Wi-Fi or 3G signal.

Conclusion

Well there you have them, our top 5 iPhone travel apps. Did we many any of your favorites? Be sure to check out our iPhone App and Games Forum for more of our members' recommendations, and leave yours in the thread -- or in the comments below!

The first of Apple's big iPhone OS 4 announcements was multitasking, and the first set of multitasking announcements were APIs to let streaming music (think internet radio), location services (think navigation, check-in games, social networks), and VoIP services (think internet telephony) register threads in the background. For users this means you can keep listening to your songs, getting your turn-by-turn directions, and answering your virtual phone all while surfing the web or playing a game.

To find out what it means for developers, we asked some. Read what they had to say after the break!

NAVIGON, which makes MobileNavigator [$79 -- iTunes link]:

We are very excited about the background location feature and will work on implementing this into our app, so that the app can run in the background and provide directions when, for example, taking a call. We’ve really been waiting for this, so it’s great to see this happening now.

TeleNav, which powers AT&T Navigator [Subscription - iTunes link], Rogers Navigator [Subscription - iTunes link] and other location-aware services and apps:

Overall, we are very excited about the new multitasking and background location features as it opens up a variety of new capabilities for navigation and other location-based services on the iPhone. We’re actively working on new features and capabilities and look forward to sharing these with consumers soon.

Slacker, which offers Slacker Radio [Subscription - iTunes link]:

Right now 4 out of 5 of our mobile apps are on platforms that support multitasking and our listeners have let us know they enjoy being able to utilize their smartphone's functions while listening to their favorite music. We are elated that soon Slacker listeners using their iPhone will have this same capability.

Fring, which makes the VoIP service of the same name [Free - iTunes link]

fring is congratulating Apple for reaching this decision, which will only enhance the iPhone/ iPad's user experience. With the allowance for VoIP calls over 3G and now the background VoIP functionality, Apple is taking great steps allowing for the freedom of choice fring has been a big supporter of, since day one.

Seems like they're happy. While some internet chatter has revolved around whether iPhone OS 4 is providing "true" multitasking or not, the end result for the user is that they're getting these 3 types of functionality in the next update. Of course, we'd enjoy other services as well, including persistent connections for SSH and like protocols, and background updates for timelines like IM, but from zero to this for 3rd parties is certainly a good start.

Yesterday Navigon MobileNavigator received a pretty nice update, today Telenav released a update of their own for AT&T Navigator that includes some very nice new features. They are as follows:

• Shake-to-Go(tm): Users can now shake their iPhone at any time while in an AT&T Navigator menu screen and it will automatically initiate a route to a pre-designated "home" address the user has set.
• Speed Limit Display & Alerts: Navigation screen includes speed limit information and provides visual alerts if the limit is exceeded.
• Last Trip Origin: Once a trip is completed, users can easily return to the origin of their last trip by accessing the "Recent Places" menu.
• Nighttime Maps: The brightness levels of map screens are adjusted for nighttime driving for easier viewing.
• Improved Route Avoidance Options: Drivers may now choose to avoid routes that make use of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes or choose to avoid routes that include toll roads.
• Improved Pedestrian Mode: Users will be able to clearly identify when they are navigating in pedestrian mode with the introduction of a new pedestrian icon on the map screen.

AT&T Navigator version 1.5i is now available to download within the App Store. The app is free to download with a subscription cost of $9.99 per month, or $69 for a year.

Check out this latest version in action after the break!

Both TiPb and TeleNav are here at CES, so when better to announced the winners of our AT&T Navigator Give Away?

Grand prize winner: @JBaby_9783!

Congrats! You win the grand prize consisting of the “Ultimate Car Pack” which includes one year of AT&T Navigator (Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $69.99), a dashboard mount for a cell phone (ARV: $25), a mobile phone charger (ARV: $20), a $100 gift certificate to the iPhone Blog iPhone Store, and a $100 donation in their name to Toys for Tots. – (Total ARV of grand prize: $214.99)

Second place winners: @rmt5034 and @sgold2061!

Congrats! You receive a one-year subscription to AT&T Navigator. (ARV: $69.99 each)

Thanks again to TeleNav for teaming with TiPb for this give away! Happy 2010!

Who says gift giving is done? New Year is still to come and here's a reminder if you missed it the first time -- TiPb is teaming up with TeleNav to offer TiPb's TeleNav AT&T Navigator Give Away! And since we're already running the huge Round Robin contest in the forums, we figured this one would be perfect for the social networks.

How can you win?

1. Follow both @theiphoneblog and @telenav on Twitter
2. Become a fan of both theiPhoneblog and TeleNav on Facebook
3. Tweet from your Twitter account: "I want to win @theiPhoneBlog’s Ultimate @TeleNav Travel Pack! http://bit.ly/8gan2b"

What can you win?

1. Grand prize: The first place winner will receive one grand prize consisting of the "Ultimate Car Pack" which includes one year of AT&T Navigator (Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $69.99), a dashboard mount for a cell phone (ARV: $25), a mobile phone charger (ARV: $20), a $100 gift certificate to the iPhone Blog iPhone Store, and a $100 donation in their name to Toys for Tots. – (Total ARV of grand prize: $214.99)
2. Second prizes: Two second place winners will receive a one-year subscription to AT&T Navigator. (ARV: $69.99 each) All prizes will be awarded.

It's US only (AT&T Navigator requires AT&T after all!) but you only need to enter once, and winners will be announced on January 2, 2010 -- so what are you waiting for? Ready, set, follow, fan, and tweet!

The holidays are upon us soon the new year will be here, and to celebrate TiPb is teaming up with TeleNav to offer TiPb's TeleNav AT&T Navigator Give Away! And since we're already running the huge Round Robin contest in the forums, we figured this one would be perfect for the social networks.

How can you win?

1. Follow both @theiphoneblog and @telenav on Twitter
2. Become a fan of both theiPhoneblog and TeleNav on Facebook
3. Tweet from your Twitter account: "I want to win @theiPhoneBlog’s Ultimate @TeleNav Travel Pack! http://bit.ly/8gan2b"

What can you win?

1. Grand prize: The first place winner will receive one grand prize consisting of the "Ultimate Car Pack" which includes one year of AT&T Navigator (Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $69.99), a dashboard mount for a cell phone (ARV: $25), a mobile phone charger (ARV: $20), a $100 gift certificate to the iPhone Blog iPhone Store, and a $100 donation in their name to Toys for Tots. – (Total ARV of grand prize: $214.99)
2. Second prizes: Two second place winners will receive a one-year subscription to AT&T Navigator. (ARV: $69.99 each) All prizes will be awarded.

It's US only (AT&T Navigator requires AT&T after all!) but you only need to enter once, and winners will be announced on January 2, 2010 -- so what are you waiting for? Ready, set, follow, fan, and tweet!

So while the dust is by no means settling following Google's bombshell announcement of their free Google Maps Navigation app for Android 2.0, it's thinning enough that we can start to survey the landscape again.

In terms of the iPhone, Google is saying they're working with Apple to add the same or similar navigation features to the iPhone's built in Maps application that Android 2.0 now enjoys. TechCrunch thinks that, in light of the Google Voice situation, Google should make Apple beg for what they say is best car navigation software, with the richest feature set in the space (or at least the US space, since it's not international yet). They see it as a replay of when Apple had to beg Microsoft to keep Office on the Mac, with the cloud being the modern "killer app" equivalent of productivity software then.

Apple is in a terrible position here because the future of mobile apps are Web apps, and Google excels at making those. Apple needs Google, it’s most dangerous competitor in the mobile Web market, to keep building apps for the iPhone. Google would be foolish not to since the iPhone still has the largest reach of any modern Web phone. But it will no longer be a priority.

However, Google delivering Google services to Android -- Google's own OS -- makes sense. Android got native push Gmail before anyone else (something most handsets still don't enjoy, GoogleSync being the alternative). Likewise, Google Street View was first shown off on the Android during it's initial unveiling.

For arguments sake then, let's say Google does indeed work with Apple to bring Google Maps Navigation to the iPhone Maps app and to all those search-happy, high-value iPhone users' eyeballs -- again, for free -- where does that leave existing, premium priced, iPhone turn-by-turn software makers?

Navigon, one of the highest grossing apps in the iTunes App Store, told TiPb:

[Google's] app is not available for the iPhone yet and on Android it’s just launching, so we’ll have to see how professional the navigation experience really is and how well the map material supports navigation functionalities. We have over 18 years of experience in the navigation field which lets us develop unique and high quality features not found on other navigation software and we are using maps that were created specifically for this use case. We provide excellent features such as Text-to-speech, Reality View™ Pro and Traffic Live and are convinced that consumers will pay extra dollars for a better, and more premium navigation experience. Besides, their solution is off-board which means that the navigation is interrupted when there is no cell phone signal available while our iPhone app is on-board and therefore works like a traditional navigation device – you will continue to get directions even without cell phone signal. This is particularly relevant in Europe where you have to pay extra roaming fees when using an off-board solution and traveling from one country to another. In addition, we already have navigation solutions for Android as well as WindowsMobile and Symbian smart phones on the market in Europe and are currently evaluating the options for launching some of these in the US as well – including Android. Our iPhone app is currently the top 3 grossing app in the App Store.

TeleNav, which supplies the service behind the subscription-based iPhone's AT&T Navigator app, had this to say:

It's premature to assume that this will have any dramatic impact on the industry. We will see how many phones the service launches on, the content and usability, as well as consumer feedback before we make any assumptions or conclusions about any impact on the industry. We know that people value navigation and are willing to pay for a high-quality, differentiated service.

Certainly there are many industries where people are willing to pay a premium price for premium services. Will navigation software for mobile devices be one of them? Or is paid navigation software about to go the way of paid web browsers?

(AT&T Navigator for iPhone Forum Review by cjvitek For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

AT&T Navigator [Free with subscription - iTunes link] is the AT&T branded version of Telenav, GPS Turn-By-Turn software provided by AT&T. It is free to download, but requires a $10 monthly subscription paid through your AT&T bill. It also provides maps OTA (over-the-air), downloading any maps and data as needed through the AT&T network. This is both beneficial (takes up less space on the iPhone) and detrimental (can’t use if you have no signal).

In general, the app provided solid directions. For the local stuff, it generally gave the same directions that I have “learned” over time to use. For the long distance route, it gave me a path that someone else had recommended but was different from the Google Maps suggested route. When creating a route, you can either choose a destination to drive to (based on recent locations, address, find a business, airport, etc), or you can search for a POI. Searching for a POI on interest is a little cumbersome. First you choose the category, then the sub category (no problem so far). It then begins the search. The cumbersome issue is if you want to change the search parameters (change from “nearby” to a specific town). Before the search finishes, you need to tap the “where” option, and choose current location, recent places, address, etc. The cumbersome aspect is that the search begins even if you don’t want to search your current area. In addition, you can’t define the current area, so I am not sure if you are searching a 5 mile radius or a 30 mile radius (probably closer to the latter than the former). When searching for a nearby gas station once, I got “no results found” even though I knew there was one 30 miles away. I wanted to know if there was one closer (since I was almost on empty) and the search POI didn’t help at all.

Unfortunately, there is no contact integration for directions. You can cut and paste an address from your contact book, but it will require some additional work on your part. From what I hear, contact integration is going to be included shortly.

As for the routes, I generally had no problem with them. One really nice feature is that it reads the street name, so I don’t need to look at the app to determine what street is my turn. I had some small quibbles about the actual route choices in some cases (in one case, I got off the highway, drove about 20 miles in little back roads at 20 mph, including one dirt road with chickens on it…then got back on the 70mph highway I had just recently left). There are no options to include an interim stop, or to show a preference to avoid (or drive on) a specific road. You can choose the general (fastest, traffic optimized, shortest) for route type, but can also choose to prefer highways or streets. When creating a route, it checks the traffic. This is great for short trips, but I am not sure if it continually checks traffic (which would make more sense for longer trips).

After the route is created, there are great options for an “overview” of your trip. You can get a route summary (turn by turn) or a map summary (showing the whole route). This is great just to look over what you are doing, or if you want to see what the next three turns are going to be (if you like to look ahead, like I do).

One side note with a pet peeve. Why is it that when I get directions for a return route, I don’t simply get my directions in reverse? One would think that is I had the fastest route going one way then the reverse would be the fastest to get back!

The time estimates were generally spot on for short trips, but got more and more off base for longer trips. For my long excursion (630 miles) it had initially predicted 16 or 17 hours, when in reality it took about 11 hours. As I got closer, I found exiting the app and the restarting (and re-routing the directions) increased the accuracy (when I was about 60 miles away, it still said it would take three hours. I exited, started again, and then it said 1.2 hours). Speaking on exiting, because the app is OTA, if you exit you need to re-download the maps. There is no ability to “cache” or save directions once they have been created. In addition, when I exited and went back it, sometimes it would ask me if I wanted to resume the previous trip (still downloading new maps) and sometimes it would simply “forget” that I was in the middle of a trip. Not sure why.

The POI library was very strong (although it still didn’t find the Brownsville Zoo, even when I was 1 mile away!). It had a wide variety of “hits” when searching for any given POI, and this was a solid plus for the app. Even in an out of the area location like Terlingua, TX, it had a reasonable list of hotel accommodations (all three of them) and eating locations. My biggest issue with the POI is that you can’t define a search radius, but this seems to be common on most apps.

All in all this is a solid TBT GPS app. It provides accurate maps and a great library of POIs, and it picked up a GPS signal very quickly. The biggest issues I had were the occasional route choice and what to do if I didn’t have an AT&T signal. Lack of contact integration is a big minus IMO, but it makes up for that slightly by including traffic and reading the street names. If you don’t mind a monthly subscription, and live in an area where you don’t need to worry about an AT&T signal, this app would probably suit your needs perfectly. Four out of five stars.

Pros:

• Solid library of POI’s
• Street names read out loud
• Includes traffic updates
• Great trip overview options

Cons:

• Needs an AT&T signal
• Searching outside of local area can be cumbersome
• No contacts integration

TiPb Review Rating

Our sibling site, Android Central, has posted up a story about TeleNav making a turn-by-turn GPS navigation app for Google's Android G1:

The TeleNav software will include full color 3D graphics, speech recognition, one-click rerouting, traffic alerts, weather updates, gas prices, and restaurant reviews.

Sure, it's not all roses. After a 30-day free trial, you need to fork over $9.99 a month, $99 a year, or $249 for four years to keep the service, but at least they have the option.

So what's happening with the iPhone app? We asked, and this was what we got in response:

We have to stay mum at this point on an iPhone app other than to say that we're working on it. Please stay tuned!

If it's hard to stay mum, imagine how hard it is to "stay tuned" after months and month (and months) of waiting.

Dieter mentions that Apple, flush with success battering around the music industry and Google, may not know how to zip their lip and make nice with the map licensors. Could that be the hold up?

We won't ask if you want turn-by-turn GPS navigation -- we know you do -- so we'll just tell Apple and TeleNav to suck it up and get this done (before more people jailbreak just for xGPS), and we'll leave the comments open for you to do likewise...

TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that's why we have them forums!). Today's question comes from Chris:

"Why doesn't the iPhone have real GPS?! Even the [redacted] Samsung Instinct has turn by turn! Why does Apple add [redacted] like street view [but] not the things users really want?"

TiPb answers after the break!

We've covered iPhone GPS and turn-by-turn navigation quite a bit here at TiPb, especially Dieter who lives out in the middle of somewhere and claims he needs it quite a bit. Why wouldn't Apple add it indeed? Should be a no-brainer, right?

Well, here's a few things:

1. Apple doesn't really supply the GPS middlewhere on the iPhone. They have the chip, of course, and they made the UI (Steve's even boasted about it on stage!), but the App itself is "powered" by Google Maps. So, the functionality of the App is in some ways limited to the functionality provided by Google. For example, we're seeing street-view, transit, and walking directions in iPhone 2.2 Beta 2. Why? Because Google has been rolling that out across smartphone platforms, starting with Android. Do any devices have Google-powered tun-by-turn yet? Not to our knowledge. And there may be a reason for that...
2. Licensing conflicts. Google doesn't own the maps they serve. They license them from Tele Atlas and Navteq. Dieter pointed out a while back that Google's "API only provides Tele Atlas data, it appears that it’s prohibited from serving Navteq data. As early as ‘05 there has been speculation that there was some sort of license fight between Google and Navteq and both sides decided to take their ball and go home." This looks like a pretty complicated and potentially deal-breaking deadlock (read the whole article for more). And it's not the only legal problem...
3. Apple's iPhone SDK agreement currently prohibits 3rd party turn-by-turn Apps. This could be to avoid the licensing issues mentioned previously, to leave the door open for an "officially licensed" version if Apple and Google can come to an agreement with the licensors (who may not want to see a competitive convergent device like the iPhone get that functionality), or because Apple feels they'll be sued by the first brainiac who tries to switch between turn-by-turn and SMS and back while driving into a lake.
4. Why can't TomTom or another dedicated GPS manufacturer release an iPhone App directly, using their own Apps? After all, TomTom has already said they've made their system run on the iPhone. The App Store has a reported 2GB size limit, so there's likely space enough for a robust install. Despite the SDK licensing restrictions, however, would a company like TomTom feel iPhone App sales would make up for the loss of dedicated hardware unit sales they'd face? There have been stories about the dedicated GPS players fearing the iPhone (and other convergence devices) would put them out of business. Let's remember when Popular Mechanics asked the president of a GPS navigation system manufacturer how he felt about the prospect of a GPS-enabled iPhone, the president said he was: "Scared [expletive]-less".
5. Could all of the above issues be at play? Apple's head of iPhone Marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, previously said: "there are some murky “complicated issues” preventing driving directions apps at the moment. 'It will evolve. I think our developers will amaze us.' "