Female Drivers Look to GPS as Permanent In-Car Buddy

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The majority of women drivers in the US look to GPS to give them a sense of security and reassurance, especially while driving in new or unfamiliar neighborhoods, according to a survey.

“With GPS available on an increasing number of mobile handsets and offered on many phones worldwide, drivers can now simply reach for their phone and have instant access to a full-featured GPS service, steering them in the right direction within seconds.”

A recent poll¹, sponsored by TeleNav, reveals that 60 percent of women said they would feel safer on the road with a GPS service by their side, ensuring they do not get lost or drive into an unknown neighborhood.

To make GPS readily available to more drivers, many wireless carriers now offer navigation applications on mobile phones and PDAs. It is becoming so popular that ABI Research² predicts 335 million consumers will subscribe to such services within the next five years. Navigation on mobile phones brings users the comfort and convenience of having a GPS device that is always with them, in any car or even while walking.

TeleNav’s survey also found that 45 percent of 273 female respondents admit they have become lost while driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood. GPS eliminates the potential risks associated with taking a wrong turn and provides accurate directions for a trip to any destination.

Navigation on mobile phones can include turn-by-turn voice and on-screen driving and walking directions and will even reroute drivers if they take a wrong turn. With these applications, offered at a fraction of the price of stand-alone personal navigation devices, female drivers can now have a GPS security blanket with them wherever they go.

“GPS navigation on mobile devices is a simple and convenient way to eliminate frustrations and security issues associated with getting lost while traveling,” said HP Jin, CEO at TeleNav. “With GPS available on an increasing number of mobile handsets and offered on many phones worldwide, drivers can now simply reach for their phone and have instant access to a full-featured GPS service, steering them in the right direction within seconds.”

TeleNav offers TeleNav GPS Navigator™, the first GPS service on mobile phones. To learn more about the product, services and carrier availability, please visit www.telenav.com.

About TeleNav, Inc.

TeleNav, Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, was the first company to launch a GPS navigation system on mobile phones in the United States. TeleNav is a global leader in wireless location-based services (LBS), including GPS navigation, Mobile Resource Management (MRM), asset GPS tracking (AVL) and local search. The company’s flagship product, TeleNav GPS Navigator™, is comparable to in-car systems found in luxury vehicles, but offers a superior experience with functionality such as automatically updated maps and business locations, full color 3D moving maps, traffic alerts and one-click rerouting, speech recognition, Wi-Fi hotspot finder, lowest price fuel finder and more.

TeleNav offers its services internationally through leading wireless carriers including Sprint Nextel, Cingular, Alltel, Boost Mobile, Qwest, SouthernLINC, Rogers, China Mobile and Vivo Brazil. TeleNav partners include Research In Motion (RIM), Motorola, Samsung, Sanyo, LG, Palm, HTC, Hewlett Packard, Nokia, NAVTEQ, Tele Atlas, deCarta, Qualcomm and SiRF Technology Holdings.

¹ Zoomerang online poll, December 2006

² ABI Research Web site, November 28, 2006