Location-based services provider TeleNav has already proved itself a formidable competitor to turn-by-turn direction apps such as Google Maps. But the company isn’t resting on its laurels, having just announced a new HTML5 browser-based navigation service for mobile devices. Mobile website and app developers will be able to integrate TeleNav’s turn-by-turn directions into their code free of charge.

Though free and paid versions of the TeleNav app are available for Android, iOS, and BlackBerry, the new HTML5 navigation service means location-based apps in the vein of Foursquare and Shopkick can provide directions without requiring users to leave their app. According to 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. Read the rest of this entry »

GPS has established itself as the navigation technology people turn to when cruising roads and highways, but what about simpler predicaments—like when you’ve lost a friend inside the mall? Navizon has the answer for that.

The company’s new location technology, Navizon Indoor Triangulation System (I.T.S.), is touted as the first global micropositioning system that works both outdoors and indoors. It combines GPS, Wi-Fi and cellular signals to detect the location of Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones, tablets, and laptops, all with real-time accuracy. The technology even works in three-dimensional areas–so you’re covered, even when you dither around multi-level buildings or multi-building campuses. Read the rest of this entry »

Owners of Android phones will now never lose their cars in a parking lot. Available from AppBrain, the app, called Car Finder AR, uses augmented reality to help you find your car when you can’t remember what section of lot at the mall it was in or which side street you left it on.

The app uses the phone’s camera image of your surroundings and projects directions for you to follow. It also has a map, can manage up to three cars at once and includes features such as a parking meter alarm. You can also email the car’s location to another device, though that seems more useful as an anti-theft measure.

The app comes in a free demo version and a full one for $3.14.

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Each weekday on TechNewsDaily, That’s Useful! finds practical new gadgets, computing hardware, apps, appliances and other electronics that make sense and simply make life better.

Yes, this is an obvious one, but it’s hard to beat free spoken turn-by-turn directions built right into the Android OS. On iOS the Maps app delivers directions but they’re not spoken, and you don’t get a 3D view of your route either. If you want a bona fide GPS navigation experience, you’ll have to download an additional app, most of which are paid.

Step by Step

1. Open the Maps application and search for an address.
2. Once you see the business or specific address you want to navigate to, tap on it.
3. On the next screen tap the button that looks like a right turn sign.
4. You’ll be presented with three options. Choose Driving Navigation.
5. If your phone has more than one GPS application, tap Navigation under “Complete Action using.”
6. Click Accept on the next screen when you see Google Maps Navigation is in beta. Use caution.

Your Android phone will now calculate driving directions and search for a GPS signal.

A new handheld GPS device can find your position and update your social networks, even if you’re in a region that doesn’t have a cellphone signal or Wi-Fi access.

Made by DeLorme, the Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT satellite communicator provides a way to check in with friends and family from remote locations and signal for help in an emergency. The handheld GPS pairs DeLorme aerial, topo and nautical maps with the ability to type and send one-way text messages via a satellite called SPOT for check-ins and emergency response.

The SPOT communicator uses the GPS satellite network to determine a person’s location and the Globalstar network to transmit messages and GPS coordinates to others, including an international rescue coordination center.

The SPOT device can be set up to send information to your Facebook, Twitter and Geocaching.com accounts as well as sending text messages. Friends can track a user’s progress via a shared SPOT page integrated with Google Maps. Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve shed your puffy coat and multiple layers of clothing, but you picked up a few pounds this past winter. That’s right, it’s time to shape up. The good news is that today’s mobile technology makes it easier than ever to start a fitness regimen—and stick to it.  The smart phone has had an impact on virtually every facet of modern life, so it should come as no surprise that the iPhone, Android handsets, and other devices have penetrated the fitness realm. As they say, there’s an app for everything, and healthy living is no exception. At the same time, there are plenty of standalone gadgets that can help you shed those pounds, including some that work hand in hand with smart apps. From pounding the pavement and pumping iron to watching what you eat, our top software and hardware picks are the key to a chiseled new physique.

Top 10 Fitness Gadgets & Apps

• Introduction
• Top Fitness Apps
• Top Fitness Gadgets

RIM has officially entered the tablet wars today with the release of its 7-inch PlayBook Tablet. If you just bought one and want to learn some new tips and tricks—or just want more information before you spend your hard-earned cash—check out our comprehensive coverage below.

• BlackBerry PlayBook Review: The BlackBerry PlayBook is a powerful and good-looking tablet, but buggy software and the need to tether a phone to get BlackBerry e-mail and other key apps hold it back.
  

CTIA Wireless 2011 is a wrap! Read on for our full coverage, which includes hands-on videos and extensive image galleries. Which of these mobile marvels are you most excited about?

Industry News

• AT&T Announces $39 Billion Acquisition of T-Mobile
• AT&T/T-Mobile Deal: Winners and Losers
• Total Verizon LTE Markets to Reach 145 by Years’ End

Smart Phones

Even though the HTC Evo 3D stole the show, we were impressed by several phones this year. There’s a lot to get excited about over the coming months, not least of which is the return of the Sidekick.

Hands-on With…

• HTC’s EVO 3D [Best of CTIA Winner]
• T-Mobile’s Sidekick 4G
• Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play
• T-Mobile’s G2x by LG

Other Smart Phone News

• AT&T Announces LG Thrill 4G
• Nexus S 4G Hitting Sprint for $199

Click here for Tablets, Apps, and Accessories.

In the 1800s, Charles Babbage created the first mechanical computer. But it was Countess Ada Lovelace who wrote the first computer program in 1842. While women have played a critical role in technology’s evolution since the  beginning, they only make up between 2 and 15 percent of the C-level jobs at the top Fortune 500 IT companies. That means men account for at least 85 percent of all CEOs, CTOs, CFOs, and other top-level positions.

The lack of women in tech is a complex problem with no clear solution. But that doesn’t mean truly important females aren’t out there making a difference and shaping your mobile life. Here are 20 role models and inspirations who are changing the face of our world through their influence in the mobile tech industry.

The Most Important Women in Mobile Tech

• Introduction
• Genevieve Bell – Intel Fellow
• Claire Boonstra – Co-founder of Layar
• Lisa Brewster – Developer relations administrator, HP-Palm
• Leah Buechley – Assistant professor at the MIT Media Lab, director of the High-Low Tech Group
• Shaherose Charania – CEO and co-founder, Women 2.0
• Danese Cooper – CTO, Wikimedia Foundation
• Weili Dai – Co-founder and COO, Marvell
• Mary N. Dillon – CEO, U.S. Cellular
• Mary Jo Foley – Technology journalist
• Mary Lou Jepsen – Founder and CEO, Pixel Qi
• Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud – Founder and CEO, Boston Power
• Marissa Mayer – Vice president of geographic and local services, Google
• Stormy Peters – Head of developer engagement, Mozilla
• Sheryl Sandberg – COO, Facebook
• Chris Shipley – Chairman and CEO, Guidewire Group
• Jane Silber – CEO, Canonical Ltd.
• Gina Trapani – Blogger, programmer, entrepreneur
• Cher Wang – Co-founder and chairwoman of HTC and VIA Technologies
• Padmasree Warrior – CTO, Cisco Systems
• Christy Wyatt – Corporate vice president of software applications and ecosystem, Motorola

Have you ever seen a green robot move so fast? We haven’t. More than 300,000 devices running Google’s Android software are activated every day. And among people buying new smart phones, 40.8 percent of them are choosing Android, which beats Apple’s iOS (26.9 percent) by a wide margin (according to a Nielsen Wire). Yes, plenty of people are flocking to the iPhone 4 on AT&T and Verizon Wireless, but Google has already established itself as a smart phone superpower—and it’s not looking back.

It’s not easy to keep tabs on Android’s rapid evolution, and there are plenty of basic features that newbies and experienced users alike probably don’t know about. We’re here to help. Here are 54 tips to help you keep up with that nimble green robot and make the most of Google’s powerful and versatile OS.

Android Tips

• Introduction
• General Advice
• Battery Boosters
• Keyboard & Input Guidance
• Email & Storage
• GPS
• Security & Search
• Web