Love it or hate it, AT&T's been offering TeleNav navigation services on a number of devices for a while now -- but it looks like the carrier's trying to up its clout just a smidge by rechristening the service with its own name. We've been hearing that TeleNav will become AT&T Navigator tomorrow -- on AT&T, anyway -- and to commemorate the occasion, the Motorola Z9 slider will be launched as the inaugural device to use the rebranded service. We should be able to validate or debunk this in just a few hours now, so stay tuned.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, with special thanks to Rick for the image]

For some data subscribers, Sprint's TeleNav-sourced navigation service just got a little more accessible. The Power Vision "Ultimate Pack" and "Business Pack" bundled data packages now include unlimited nav use -- great for folks prone to getting hopelessly lost on a regular basis -- instead of paying for it a la carte. An entirely new package, Power Vision "Navigation Pack," also includes unlimited use plus the usual suspects (unlimited on-device data, mobile email, and so on, but don't even think about tethering) for $20 / month. Not worried about losing your bearings daily? Subscribers to any other Sprint data pack can now get their nav on for $2.99 per 24-hour period, too.

Telecom Italia -- aka TIM -- is going to have TeleNav's mobile GPS navigation solution inside some of its handsets soon, according to an announcement that TeleNav, Softec and Telecom Italia at 3GSM today. First off will be TeleNav's solution on RIM Blackberry handsets, which will receive TeleNav's GPS Navigator software. It's all nice to have, say, turn-by-turn voice and on-screen driving directions and addresses -- because the roads and streets of Italy are beautiful but scary to the uninitiated. Canada's Rogers Wireless gets the TeleNav love also, which is good for those up North from where we are at the moment. As soon as it is humanly possible, dealers of TIM (no, that's not an indie movie) and will begin the all-out effort to promote TeleNav GPS Navigator. Softec will provide in-the-field sales support and will ensure anyone who have those pesky in-depth navigation questions sits down to get load of answers from TeleNav's solution. TIM customers using the Blackberry 8707, 8700, 7130 and the Pearl can download the TeleNav software as of now according to TIM, and Rogers customers can get the app directly from Rogers starting March 6th. One caveat -- a Bluetooth GPS receiver will be a requirement for non-GPS enabled RIM handsets, though.


Read - Telecom Italia
Read - Rogers

Sure, you can get all fancy and download your traffic reports via MSN Direct straight to an appropriately equipped Garmin, but Sprint and TeleNav have a slightly older-school idea (if you can really call EV-DO old-school) in mind. TeleNav Traffic supplements the company's phone-based GPS navigation software with traffic data updated every five minutes; problematic situations on your route can be delivered both via voice and on-screen prompt. Best of all, it'll route around jams, fiery wrecks, and other disasters automatically at the user's whim. Right now, availability is limited to Sprint's RAZR, KRZR, and Katana -- that's the bad news -- but the good news is that it's free for folks who pick up the basic GPS Navigator between now and June 30. After that, $3.99 / month is the magic number.

Not only should you be able to stroll into a Cingular store in the next few days and pick up a Blackberry Pearl (ahead of schedule, no less), but now we're finding out there's no way you'll get lost getting back home. Cingular's variant of the Pearl -- a device already launched to much fanfare on T-Mobile -- will be the first carrier-launched device in the US to feature TeleNav Maps, providing users with static maps (that is, no GPS link) and driving directions free of charge. Of course, folks ponying up the cash for an external GPS receiver will also be able to use the dynamic TeleNav navigation services already offered on several other Cingular devices. Other than this Pearl's push-to-talk capability, the spec sheet reads very much like its T-Mobile predecessor -- 260 x 240 display, 1.3 megapixel cam, SureType, crappy keys -- and it can be yours starting tomorrow for $200 on a two-year contract.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

After initially announcing availability on a handful of devices last month, Cingular and TeleNav are expanding their partnership by bringing navigation to the recently-launched Nokia E62 (and, oh yeah, the Treo 680, too -- though there's no specific mention of Big Orange involvement on that one). The software package rings in at $6/month for 10 trips and $10/month for unlimited use, offering all the same navigational features that you'd find on TeleNav's previous Cingular offerings -- the 8125 / 8525, Treo 650, and HP hw6925 -- with a couple of added bonuses on the E62: the new "fuzzy search" feature, as the name implies, completes user entries based on predictive logic and previous searches, while 3D maps also make an appearance for the first time. Sorry, 680 users... maybe next version.

[Via Slashgear]

Read - Nokia E62
Read - Treo 680

Following its CDMA and iDEN competitors headlong into the hot location-based services game, Cingular is finally poised mark their first wide-scale LBS deployment by hooking up with TeleNav to offer turn-by-turn navigation to its customers. Though the service will be marketed mainly toward the carrier's business users, pretty much anyone with a lousy sense of direction stands to benefit, with both auto and pedestrian modes included in the box. It'll be offered starting at $5.99 a month for 10 uses or $9.99 for unlimited use on the HP hw6920, Treo 650, Cingular 8125, and the just-'round-the-corner 8525, though handsets without GPS receivers (that is, pretty much anything but the HP) will need to hook up to an external Bluetooth unit to make it all happen.