gps

While Bing is sure a swanky search option for Windows Phone 7, it has zero navigation properties as of v1.0. Rumor has it that it will be getting a significant bump with this feature sometime in 2011, but for now we don't have to much for navigation.

TeleMap is the first to launch a full search and navigation option for our new OS, though initially they will only have service maps in Singapore/Malaysia. In looking at their website though, TeleMaps does have maps in the U.S. including live traffic, so perhaps we'll see an offering from them soon. And if not them, we're sure the carriers and/or TomTom will be entering the market soon.

The software has the following features and looks to keep with minimalist look of Windows Phone 7:

• in-car turn-by-turn navigation with 3D moving maps, voice and text instructions announcing street names and Points of Interest such as gas stations and parking lots along the way, a dedicated pedestrian navigation, local search and content enhanced specifically for the Windows Phone 7
• Full Singapore and Malaysia maps
• Real-time traffic information
• Cell-ID function that enables you to check your location and plan a route even when indoors

Update: We're reminded by @mearsfan25 that the T-Mobile HD7 has TeleNav already on board, so TeleMap's claim is a little dubious. Though perhaps they mean "not carrier endorsed" or something.

Source: TeleMap Press Release

We've mentioned in the past about 'Orion', the geolocation service/API for Windows Phone 7 which allows developers access to many forms of locating the phone's location extremely quickly.

Now that same service looks to be leveraged, eventually, for gaming.

Makes sense to us. Such a feature could be used to unlock levels or weapons by requiring the user to be at a certain location or establishment. Going further, the level-up could be time-constrained, requiring the player to be at a certain place, at a certain time.

Of course with our corporate overlords, we could also imagine commercially sponsored games by chain-stores, such as coffee shops or your local Best Buy. We're not too sure about the 'coolness' of the latter as we can't think of any hip corporate-branded games, but the potential at least exists.

Finally, the potential to leverage such geolocation gaming could result in 'flash mobs', at least according to  Microsoft's independent software vendor developer evangelist Paul Foster and OS and mobile product manager lead William Coleman, who in an interview detailed WP7s GPS potential. It should be noted that all of this is up to the developers to take advantage of and so far, only Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst uses such technology.

[the Inquirer via 1800PocketPC]

Tabs seem to be popping up out of nowhere these days. You have a tabs for Facebook, Call History, Twitter, Documents, eReader, and now there's one for GPS.

XDA Developers Forum member xaoc747 has developed posted a GPS tab designed for Sense 2.5 and the HTC HD2. The tab defines your current position and object motion parameters for calculation between the current and previous points. It will record tracks in a Yandex map format along with an analysis of the tracks (distance, speeds, time, etc.).

In skimming over the discussion on this Sense 2.5 tab, there is no mention of it being compatible with any Windows Phone running Sense 2.5 other than the HD2. The Russian Developer has released a similar tab for the HTC Touch Diamond but there is no mention as to whether or not this tab will function on a Touch Pro 2 running Sense 2.5. There is some discussion that some of the settings menus are not translating from Russian to English as well.

If you're in an adventurous mood, you can find the full discussion on the custom tab as well as the download here. Keep in mind this is a home-grown modification that may or may not have bugs and is essentially in the Beta stages.

Correction: This mod was posted over at XDA by xaoc747.  The mod was actually developed by member, MoonNah.  

[read: wmpoweruser.com]

Today in a press release, Navizon announced their partnership with Microsoft to share their global location database. Presumably, this database will be used with Windows phone 7 although no word on Windows Mobile 6.5.

Navizon, for those who don't remember, have a Windows Mobile program called Mobifindr, which allows you to find your phone via text message or locate your friends. More importantly, they featured a "virtual GPS" system whereby your location could be ascertained via WiFi and/or cell-tower triangulation. This was a bigger deal in 2008 when GPS was still not the norm on many WM phones.

This deal actually makes a lot of sense since we know Windows Phone 7 Series uses 'Orion', the same location-bases service found in Windows 7. It too uses WiFi, cell-tower triangulation, IP detection and straight up GPS to identify your location with a simple API. So Microsoft has the hardware/software to find your location (coordinates), but what they don't have is access to some type of database of locations.

Unlike Google, who can collect your geo-location information via millions of cell phones (read that user agreement), Microsoft is still new to the whole location-based services game.  This deal with Navizon seems to give them that extra edge to compete with Google.

[Navizon press release]

For those who use Verizon's Navigator service, you'll be pleased to know v5.0 comes out today and features some nice updates.

The biggest is allowing you send your location to Facebook, which we suppose is all the rage these days with you social-network kids.

You also get roadside assistance, which seems perhaps more useful with a GPS navigator program.

Finally, you also get these updates, which aren't too shabby:

• Improved Customer Experience – No need to wait for the entire route to download before starting their voyage because data will now be streamed, causing display screens to populate more quickly
• Enhanced Points of Interest – Access to premium places of interest with detailed descriptions, clearly branded by Map Icons
• Traffic Crowd Sourcing – Opt-in to anonymously send real-time location and speed to the VZ Navigator traffic reporting service, allowing quicker notifications and improved accuracy for all VZ Navigator users
• Alerts for Other Road Attributes – Graphic notifications for tunnels, U-turns, traffic circles and toll plazas
• “Say it Mode” – Select BlackBerry® smartphones and Windows Mobile® handsets allow customers to verbally search for and update destinations

Touch Pro 2 and Omnia users (no Omnia II?) can update today by downloading "...the service from Get It Now®/Media Center and VZ Start or can add the feature through My Verizon".  The service, like other carriers, is $9.99 a month or $2.99 a day.

Read more from the official Verizon press release here.

[Images via TechCrunch]

We first introduced you to Waze back in September. Waze is a free, turn-by-turn GPS application that uses crowd sourcing to detect traffic conditions in real time. A social network for motorists of sorts.

Today Waze is releasing a holiday version of it's navigation application that includes holiday-themed "road goodies", a treasure hunt contest, bi-lingual support and integration with the location based, geo-game foursquare.

Ease on past the break to read more about Waze's holiday version.