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Event options rerouting around traffic two features of Telenav system
<p><strong>Event options, rerouting around traffic two features of Telenav system.</strong></p>

Telenav Promotes Personalized Navigation as Next Frontier

The software-and-services supplier is pitching potential customers on the system, which includes vehicle tracking and advertising.

SOUTHFIELD, MI – What if your vehicle’s navigation system could predict where you want to eat for lunch or help you set your weekend plans?

If software-and-services provider Telenav has its way, it will.

Telenav, a supplier to all Ford models and General Motors’ Lambda large CUVs, is promoting a more personalized approach as the next frontier of in-vehicle information, a feature already seen in the supplier’s Scout mobile app.

“I think that everyone gets that personalizing (the user experience) and analyzing the data is going to bring forward a lot of new enhancements in the car,” Sooner Heath, senior customer solutions manager for the supplier, tells WardsAuto in a demo here at Telenav’s small-but-growing Detroit-area office.

Heath demonstrates how the system works via a fictitious profile of a user, “Michael.” Based on his direct inputs and information gleaned from his prior behavior, the navigation system in Michael’s car knows on Monday mornings he will go either to his San Francisco-area office or to a semi-regular meeting at a client’s office nearby.

On this Monday morning, Michael is able to use a single click to access navigation and directions to his own office, after which he will get traffic data, aggregated from a variety of sources including Tom Tom HD, SiriusXM, Inrix or Telenav. Michael also can choose to report traffic data to other users of Telenav’s products.

In the demo here, traffic from Michael’s home in Daly City, CA, to his San Francisco office is moving smoothly. But if it weren’t, a prominent warning would be displayed with a reroute option, Heath says.

At 12:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, Michael’s navigation system knows he likely is heading out to lunch. A list of food options are presented to him, based on the distance he normally drives for lunch and the type of cuisine he prefers.

A tap of a heart icon stores a favorite restaurant; Yelp reviews and hours of operation are displayed for restaurant choices.

“It makes it more like what we expect when we use our mobile device,” Heath says of the added data points beyond the typical address.

Different point-of-interest categories will display different types of content. A search for fueling stations will return fuel-price data, while a movie-listings search will show nearby theaters.

At 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning, Telenav’s personalized system displays a list of weekend events for Michael to pick from, based on his prior destinations and searches.

“The system is going to make a recommendation that says, ‘Saturday Stroll Art Walk,’” Heath says. “That may not be his cup of tea, but he can click ‘more’ and view the other options nearby. (There’s a) hockey game (under an) arts, sports, and music (category) which kind of aligns with his preferences and profile.”

Telenav’s personalized system also puts forth the controversial notion of in-vehicle advertising.

“It’s a revenue opportunity, but it has to be done right,” Heath says, adding what share a vehicle owner gets of that revenue, or if he gets any revenue, ultimately will be determined by an OEM selecting the in-car ad option.

Ads at Odds With Driver-Distraction Guidelines

Telenav is invested in an ad platform that’s applicable to both its smartphone apps and automotive products, Heath says. Based on Michael’s preference for Asian food, an ad for a free appetizer at an area sushi restaurant is displayed on his car’s screen.

“If I’m interested, I click it and get the same level of information as with the other POIs,” Heath says. “If I want to go there, I click ‘drive’ and I’m on my way.’”

Advertisements with photos such as those shown here likely will run afoul of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Admin.’s voluntary driver-distraction guidelines, but Heath notes Telenav’s system is á la carte. If an OEM customer decides to abide by the NHTSA guidelines, photo ads can be omitted or relegated to displaying when a vehicle is in park.

The issue of being tracked while driving also is a potential privacy minefield, but a customer may opt of this feature, as well.

“There certainly are those people that don’t want to be tracked and are sensitive to those issues, (so) it’s very easy to opt out through the settings menu,” with profile deletion or removal possible, Heath notes. However, not tracking user behavior would make the personalized system akin to today’s embedded-and-connected navigation systems.

“We often receive questions (from potential customers) about privacy (in regards to personalized navigation,) but ultimately people are more interested in the types of features and functionality (the system) can bring and the scalable nature of the solution.”

Telenav maintains a 7-person office in this Detroit suburb but is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, where most of its engineering work is done. A slightly larger office in Shanghai handles software development.

While it doesn’t yet have an automotive customer for the personalized system it presents here, Telenav is winning new business for existing products, spokesman Mark Burfeind says. Besides Ford and GM, Telenav in January inked a contract with a “top five” global automaker for connected navigation systems with real-time traffic and weather in vehicles to be sold in 100 countries.

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