The TeleNav Group Helping Out at Second Harvest Food Bank

If you read the blog last week, you may remember this post from Selena G. regarding the kick-off of TeleNav’s Season of Giving. As Selena mentioned, this year we’re supporting the efforts of our local food bank, Second Harvest, through a food collection competition among the various departments here at TeleNav. We also became an official sponsor of Second Harvest’s Food and Fund Drive, which helps to make sure everyone has food on their table during the holiday season.

In addition to the competition we’re having in the office, we decided to head out of the office to support Second Harvest’s efforts to feed those in our local community. A couple of nights ago a few of us headed down to their warehouse and joined a large group of volunteers to help pack up some food packages for families in need. The people at Second Harvest were great and we really enjoyed meeting all of the volunteers and getting to know each other outside of the office walls.

Hong C. Having Fun Packing Food

If you have some extra time on your hands this holiday season, I’d strongly encourage you to volunteer at your local food bank or one of the many non-profit organizations serving your community. They truly depend on volunteers to help those in need and I can tell you that it’s a great experience. It’s also a good team building activity, so you may want to suggest to your manager or HR department that your company get involved in a similar program. Those of us from TeleNav who volunteered had a great time and we’re already talking about the next opportunity.

Selena G. Working Hard at Second Harvest Food Bank

We’d love to hear stories you may have about volunteering as an individual or with your company.

So here’s a nice treat for all of you on a Friday evening. We got our hands on an early version of T-Mobile’s upcoming BlackBerry Bold 9700 and took some time to shoot a brief, sneak-peek video of TeleNav GPS Navigator running on the phone. While there are a number of videos of the phone posted out there on that “series of connected tubes” the rest of us like to call the Internet, I think we’re the first blog to deliver this exclusive demo of our navigation app running on the phone. That’s right, consider it our little gift to you before you head out and pick up the phone next Monday, Nov. 16. If you’re thinking about picking up the phone, I can personally say that it’s a very impressive device. The folks over at RIM did away with the trackball and introduced a new touchpad, which worked very well for me while I was testing the device. The phone’s also very sleek in terms of design, so you can definitely count on it making your friends jealous when you pull it.

As you can see in the video, not only do I assume that all of you out there watching are “party people,” but TeleNav GPS Navigator does a great job of getting me and my camera man Ryan to the local Bank of America. Some of the features I bring up in the video include the ability to share addresses with your contacts, day/night mode, smart spell recognition and the quality of the text-to-speech function.

Enjoy the video and let us know what you think of TeleNav GPS Navigator on the new BlackBerry Bold 9700 or any of the other phones we support. We always appreciate your feedback. Have a great weekend.

Instead of flying home or trying to wrangle up an invitation with nearby friends I decided to volunteer at a battered women’s shelter. A local chef volunteered his services to provide the meal that day. I and a handful of other volunteers happily served his meal while a stray volunteer, dressed as a clown, did face paintings for the kids.

When we were done with our duties the chef invited all of the volunteers over to his place for a Thanksgiving meal. I sat at the table with the rest of the rag-tag bunch who had come together and I had the best time I could remember. We laughed so hard, and even made balloon animals at the table after dinner!

It meant a lot to me to feel so welcome at a stranger’s table when I had no family nearby. For the rest of my years in Florida I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my house for anyone I knew who didn’t have family in the area and it was great every year. Those holidays will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Those years are gone, but I still strive to give back by sharing my food and my time with Second Harvest Food Bank. I’m thankful for the opportunity to share what I can throughout the year and I’m very thankful that TeleNav has done so much to support this cause.

We know our customers are awesome, but we still love to hear about it from you. If you’re giving a gift that matters this holiday season please let us know which charities are your favorite to give back to.

The Holiday season is upon us. And, for all of us here at TeleNav, this means that it is time to kick-off our 2009 Season of Giving! TeleNav employees come together each year to collect food and gifts for needy families and children in our local community. Each year, TeleNav departments go head-to-head against each other to collect the most food and raise the most money for our Annual Food and Fund Drive competition. Bragging rights and a TeleNav trophy are on the line and many have already begun to talk strategy. This year we will also collect gifts and help grant wishes for needy children in the Bay Area with the Family Giving Tree organization.

All of us here at TeleNav are thankful to our customers and feel fortunate to have just celebrated our 10 year anniversary. As a company, we are committed to doing what we can to support the community in which we work. We are excited to begin the coming year with fresh ideas and a new approach to corporate giving. In 2010, TeleNav will take more time to serve our community with volunteer efforts.

Please take a moment to watch the clip above. Our CEO, HP Jin, filmed a brief clip in support of the Second Harvest Food Bank.

All of us here at TeleNav wish you and your family Happy Holidays!

What is the “Thanksgiving on @TeleNav” contest? Imagine being able to feed up to eight of your closest friends and family with a full Turkey & Trimmings Dinner without having to get the giblets out of the bird, peel the potatoes, or turn off the smoke detector after the pie decided it was a bit too hot. By entering the Thanksgiving on TeleNav contest, you have a chance to do just that and the best part is, it’s all on us!

So how do you enter? It’s simple and takes just a few seconds:

* Follow @TeleNav on Twitter
* Become a fan of our Facebook Page
* Tweet out, I want Thanksgiving on @TeleNav! #TeleNavWin

It’s just that easy! The contest runs through this Friday at 12pm (PST) and the winner will be announced the same day!

Please be sure to read all of the official rules below. Good luck!

Note: Turkey & Trimmings Dinner is in the form of a $150 gift certificate from OmahaSteaks.com

__________________________________________________________________

TeleNav, Inc. Blog Contest Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

1. How to Enter: Beginning November 10, at 12:00 p.m. (PST) through November 13, at 12:00 p.m. (PST) go to [Blog Link]

2. Winner Selection: Winner will be selected at random using TweetAways.com.

3. Prizes and Approximate Retail Values: $150.00 Gift Certificate to OmahaSteaks.com

4. Entries: To enter, applicants must follow the official TeleNav Twitter account, become a “fan” on TeleNav’s Facebook Page, and tweet on Twitter, “I want Thanksgiving on @TeleNav!” Limit one (1) entry per person and per e-mail address for contest. Entries using macro, robotic, script, or other forms of automatic entry will be disqualified. Entries become the property of TeleNav and will not be returned. If there is a dispute as to the identity of an online entrant, the prize will be awarded to the authorized account holder of the e-mail address. The “authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person to whom the e-mail address is assigned by an Internet service provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

5. Eligibility: Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada who have reached the age of majority in their state or province of residence at time of entry. Void where prohibited by law. Employees of TeleNav, its affiliates, and subsidiaries (and members of their immediate family and/or those living in the same of household of each such employee) are not eligible.

6. Conditions of Participation: All participants must have a valid e-mail address, and it is entrant’s responsibility to update TeleNav of any change in e-mail address. Expenses not specifically included in prize description and all taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. No transfer, assignment, or substitution of a prize permitted. All federal, state, provincial, and local laws and regulations apply. Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of TeleNav, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this Contest. All Participants may be required to sign any documents necessary to transfer copyright of the entry to TeleNav within 7 days following the date of first attempted notification. Submission of an entry constitutes permission for TeleNav and its agencies to use the Participant’s name and/or likeness, biographical material, and/or entry (including an altered form of the entry) for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law.

7. Internet: TeleNav is not responsible for electronic transmission errors resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware, or software malfunctions or limitations of any kind, or inaccurate transmissions of or failure to receive entry information by TeleNav on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Website or any combination thereof. TeleNav reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest. Any attempt by a participant to deliberately damage any Website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, TeleNav reserves the right to seek damages from any such participant to the fullest extent of the law.

8. Disputes/Choice of Law: Except where prohibited, each entrant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by state or federal courts situated in Santa Clara, California; (2) any and all claims, judgments, and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, but in no event attorneys’ fees; (3) no punitive, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages, including without limitation lost profits may be awarded (collectively, “Special Damages”); and (4) entrant hereby waives all rights to claim Special Damages and all rights to have such damages multiplied or increased. California state law, without reference to California’s choice of law rules, governs the Promotion and all aspects related thereto.

9. TELENAV: If you have questions about this Contest you may reach TeleNav at KenjiO@TeleNav.com.

The world is much more connected, isn’t it? Whether we’re typing messages in 140 characters on Twitter or throwing our favorite farm animals at each other on Facebook, it seems these social media websites have become very integrated into our daily lives. As such, here at TeleNav, we wanted to dedicate an entire role to handling our social media efforts and recently, we’ve done just that.

Please meet Kenji Onozawa, TeleNav’s new social media “guy.”

Outside of answering your questions and listening to your comments, part of Kenji’s role here will be to provide you with some behind-the-scenes TeleNav videos. As such, we thought what a better way to introduce him than put him in front of a Flipcam? And that’s exactly what we did.

Well, the new phones continue to come down the pipeline and the latest is the Samsung Moment for the Sprint Network. The Moment is an Android based device and after having the chance to play around with it, I must say it’s one very slick device. And even better, Sprint Navigation (powered by TeleNav) worked beautifully on the device, with the large touch screen providing an excellent view of the application for easy navigation.

We decided to hop in the car and take the Samsung Moment and Sprint Navigation for a quick spin. It was around lunch time and I was craving some Indian food, so you’ll see in the video that we conducted a search for Indian restaurants in our area. Some of the features you’ll see in the demo video include visual and audio turn-by-turn directions, full text-to-speech including spoken street names, real-time traffic information and our point of interests search including rated listings.

The Samsung Moment hit stores this past Sunday, November 1. If you’re looking for a new phone and want something that will make your friends jealous, the Samsung Moment may be the phone for you. If you’ve already picked one up, tell us what you think about Sprint Navigation. We always appreciate your feedback.

As you may know, the SEC has strict guidelines about what a company can communicate when it is in registration. We’re officially in a quiet period (or waiting period). Because of that, we cannot answer questions or provide comments about the IPO, our registration statement or other topics that would cause us to run afoul of the SEC’s rules.

However, we will continue to share news and other product information on our blog and will also continue to answer questions you have about our products. In other words, business as usual for the most part so please keep your comments and questions coming as we appreciate all of your feedback.

Have a great week!

The Bay Bridge

For those of you living in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may have been impacted (like many of us here working at the TeleNav headquarters) by the sudden closing of the Bay Bridge last night due to a cable breaking. Thousands of people depend on the Bay Bridge each day to drive to and from work, so this closing has a heavy impact on drivers all around the area. People who use the bridge on a daily basis now have to depend on using other roadways, which has added more traffic to the already congested freeways the area is so well known for. I myself had the privilege of my commute taking twice as long as normal today due to increased traffic.

In order to assist users of our applications driving in the Bay Area, our engineers acted quickly on the news of the closing and adjusted our routing engine to avoid the Bay Bridge. This not only helps visitors to the area who might not be aware of the closing, but also those people who use the Bay Bridge and may not be sure of the best alternate route to use while it’s closed. Our real-time traffic information is also another nice feature in times like these when roadways for miles in each direction are impacted by the closure.

If you recall, our engineers were able to shut the Bay Bridge down on a previous occasion when it was closed for construction during the Labor Day Weekend. As we mentioned at that time, this is a significant advantage of having a connected navigation experience such as that provided by the applications TeleNav develops. This connectivity enables our team to act quickly in these situations and ultimately help our customers in times when they need it most. The personal navigation device you bought last year can’t do that. So, if you’re traveling in the Bay Area while the Bay Bridge is being repaired, you can feel comfortable knowing you won’t be routed over the bridge.

I have to admit that I’ve barely paid for my Asian adventure, but I’m such a travel bug that I’ve already started planning for my next trip. I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans and this December I’m finally going.

As always, TeleNav has been a huge help to me in planning my trip. Since I’m planning to stay in the heart of the French Quarter and I won’t be renting a car for the duration of my trip, I’ve been making good use of TeleNav Maps to scout out locations within walking distance from my hotel.

The thing I’m looking forward to most in New Orelans is definitely the food, so my first priority was to make sure I’d be able to walk to Cafe du Monde for their famous beignets and cafe au lait with chicory. From beignets to the French Old Market, TeleNav Maps has helped me find everything I need for a great food lover’s vacation, including a couple of restaurants by the famed Emeril Lagasse. I’m still on the lookout for the best gumbo in the French Quarter so please let me know if you have any suggestions!

Of course New Orleans has a lot to offer aside from the food. I’m excited to take a mule drawn carriage through the French Quarter, listen to jazz at Jackson Square, explore the bayous of Jean Lafitte National Park and soak in the history of Oak Alley Plantation, not to mention the fabulous NOLA night life! And who knows, maybe I’ll even see a ghost at New Orleans Cemetery #1. Be sure to check back in January to find out!