The folks over at ars technica got their lucky hands on a TeleNav Shotgun already (note to TeleNav: we’d so like to take one for a spin too), and initial impressions were nothing but positive, with the exception of the device-embedded power outlets that result in quite visible cords. But ultimately, ars decided that while the unit shows promise, it needs a little more work. GPS acquisition times were, in San Francisco, slower than the Dash Express, Garmin 330 or Garmin 880. Additionally, the Shotgun didn’t intuitively understand street names when a destination was entered, requiring the driver to narrow down the choices himself. Route recalculations were relatively slow and the Shotgun had a definite preference for U-turns.
Searching for a POI resulted in an accurate route and distance calculation but unfortunately didn’t update on the map throughout the drive, which seems useless compared to search capabilities of less expensive devices on the market. But I definitely have to say, ars was a negative reviewer. While the writer does point out that it’s not a poorly functioning device, the review is overwhelmingly negative. Either way, TeleNav has something Dash Navigation didn’t have: a backup business model. TeleNav is already established in the software and mobile handset industries. If they can find a way to fix some of the problems with the Shotgun, I think they’re in a great position to succeed where Dash failed.
On a slightly different note, press releases were issued today revealing a little bit more about the software powering the Shotgun. INRIX is the provider of real-time traffic information for the Shotgun. No surprise given the company provides the same for TeleNav’s GPS Navigator, the company’s mobile phone navigation service offered in the United States. Not surprisingly, TeleAtlas is the provider of the Shotgun’s maps and business directory supplying 11 million POIs. TeleNav’s GPS Navigator also uses TeleAtlas maps.
