Monthly Archives: January 2012

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INFOGRAPHIC: 1 in 5 People Can’t Give Directions to Their Nearest Emergency Room

Think you know your home town? It might not be as well as you may think – at least according to the results of a recent survey we conducted.

In our survey, we asked people a variety of questions to gauge their familiarity with a place most, if not all people claim to know pretty really well – their hometown.  In addition to this, we were also curious about how they actually discover new restaurants, retailers & activities and if they do, what actually drives them to decide to try something out.

Here’s what we found:

  • Even in their hometown, people can have a hard time providing directions to some pretty common places & 1 in 5 people can’t give directions to their nearest emergency room – yikes
  • When looking to discover a new place to go, most of the time it’s “just to try something new”
  • Nearly half of all respondents have a hard time trying something new though because they don’t know what’s good
  • When searching for places to try, search is dominated by the computer, but almost 20% people prefer to search on their smartphone

Want to see the rest of the results? Check out our infographic below.

 

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Scouting: We’re All on a Journey

“What is one thing you wish you knew earlier in life?”

This was a question a friend of mine had asked me last weekend. At the time, I wasn’t really sure how to answer it and after I stalled a bit (not very gracefully, I might add), I told her I’d get back to her. It was an interesting question and one I wanted to put some thought into. Just one thing? Man, there are so many…

So like I told my friend I would, I gave it some thought – all weekend long.

I started as I left the restaurant and it continued well into the night on Friday. “Think, think think,” I told myself, but nothing came. It was really frustrating, but I continued trying to think of an answer. As the weekend went on, I still had nothing and even before my eyes had opened on Sunday morning, my thoughts were focused on finding an answer.

Then about mid-afternoon, it me like a freight train. Boom. There it was.

“Life is a Videogame”

When I was younger, to me, life was a simple thing – really simple. As I saw it, it was just a series of accomplishments that everyone goes through – or strives to go through. For example, when you turn 16 years old, you get a driver’s license. After that, you graduate from high school, go to college and get a degree. From there, you get a job. Eventually, you settle down, buy a house, and have a family. Easy, right? Why was everyone so confused about it? It seemed very straight forward. At least it did to me and this is really how I saw things.

As a result, this is how I lived: I plodded through life, knocking out goals, almost like a real-life video game. 200 points for this accomplishment. Power up. Warp zone. On to the next level and so on. It was great. I hit a lot of my goals and if all you want is to reach the end, it’s perfect. But the problem is (and what I later found out) life isn’t a video game and it isn’t about how many levels you get through or points you score. (Btw, is this the nerdiest metaphor for life you’ve ever heard?)

I wish I had known earlier…

What I learned as I grew older – and to answer my friend’s question about something I wish I had known earlier – is that life isn’t just about getting from Point A to Point B. It isn’t only about knocking out levels and reaching the end; it’s also about the stories, experiences and discoveries which are created in between. An old friend of mine put it best when he told me, “The goal of hiking isn’t about getting to the top. It’s about discovering the world around you, experiencing the mountain, and creating stories worth telling.”

At this point, I can see it on your face. You’re asking yourself, “That’s great, but tell me why this is on the Scout blog?” Simply put, I’m sharing my answer here because this pretty well defines what “scouting” means to me.

As you could imagine, the way I see life (vs. the way I saw it when I was younger), has given me a completely different outlook on how I wake up each morning. Now, life isn’t about only about goals (which, of course, still have their place), but also about the journey, the discoveries, and the experiences which are made while on it. To me, the journey is the most fun part and at any given point, we’re all on one. We’re all scouting.

My Personal Journey

No matter who or where we are, all of us are in the middle of a journey. Some of them might be bigger ones, like raising a family or moving to a new area, or starting a job, while for others they are simpler, like learning a new recipe or discovering and trying a new experience. If any of you have ever felt the rush of experiencing something new – even a new restaurant, you know how much fun it can be.

Personally, I’m on several journeys.  Some of them include:

  • Learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
  • Volunteering for local non-profit organizations
  • Blogging about places I love
  • Learning the guitar
  • Going on “every day adventures” – a term I use to have more fun

Of course, it’s likely that the things you’re involved in and the journeys you’re on are as unique are much different than mine, as they are personalized to you. But whatever they are, scouting is about getting out and doing your part to not just passively let life pass you by. It’s about making an active decision to boldly go out into the world and discover the world around you and create stories worth telling. This is scouting – and it’s the one thing I wish I had known earlier.

It’s your turn

Before I wrap this post up, I want to hear from you. What is one of the personal journeys you’re on in 2012?

Photo credit: Powderruns

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A Closer Look at Scout.me: Find Tons of Things to Do Near You

Do you enjoy discovering things to do around your own town?  Or do you ever find yourself asking, “What should I do this weekend?” If that’s you, then Scout.me is a site you should probably check out.

Living in Seattle, I love exploring the city and finding new things to do – it seems like there’s always something to do, see, or even better, eat.  But if ever there were a downside to living in a region with 3.7 million other people, it’s this – sometimes it can be too big and finding all of the things happening at any given time can be impossible (and incredibly frustrating).

Another situation I sometimes find myself in (probably more often than I would like to admit) is being bored out of mind and in these moments asking myself, “What should I do now?”

As someone who enjoys getting out, trying new things, and generally doing my part to make life fun (and not be bored), I really dislike being in these situations.

Enter Scout.me.

If you enjoy “scouting” out your town like I do (that is to say, discovering new things and boldly, trying to find your next adventure), I’m really excited to tell you about Scout.me.

Simply put, Scout.me is an online companion to our Scout mobile app, which was designed to help you discover and explore your hometown, all in one place.

On Scout.me, you can find any number of events and things happening near you. On it, you can discover:

-          things to do with your family

-          explore art & cultural venues

-          adventures and extreme activities like skate parks, rafting, or pilot lessons

-          live music playing in your area

-          events like shows or sports

-          outdoor recreations like hikes or parks

-          new restaurants or places to stay near you

-          sightseeing tours and more

No matter what your interests or occasion, Scout.me can help you find out what’s going on in your area.

Also, if you have Scout for Phone or Car, you can log into Scout.me and save or organize any of your favorite places and events online. When you do this, they will all automatically update wherever you use Scout – on your phone, car, or web.

Want to check out Scout.me? Jump on over and start scouting out your town and see what’s happening around you this weekend.

Let me know what you think. We love feedback.

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A Closer Look at Scout for Phones

How well do you know the area you live? Think you really know it?

Whether you’re navigating to your next meeting or you’re rushing to your little one’s soccer practice, most of the time when you’re in the car, you’re probably in a pretty familiar area. Sure, there are times you’re in a new city or a business trip has taken you to an unknown area, but for the most part our time is spent in or near our hometown – commuting from home to work, work to school, or some other similar combination. I’d even venture to guess that 85% of our week is spent is in or around our hometowns. Think of about your own schedule – would you agree?

Realizing this, our Scout team didn’t want to just create something that helped in the minor moments when we find ourselves in an unknown or unfamiliar cities because, again, it isn’t where we spend most of our time. Instead, our team set out to build something which could be helpful even in areas our customers are familiar with – help them better drive to places they know, discover new things in their area, and get more out of the place they call home.

And from this, the idea of Scout for Phones was born.

What is Scout for Phones?

Scout for Phones is a personal navigator we created to help you in all the familiar places life takes you, whether you’re commuting to work, searching for a new restaurant, or just need to be rerouted around a traffic jam.

What’s included in Scout for Phones?

  • My Dashboard - a customizable start screen that allows you to quickly give you real-time commute times to your work or home
  • My Traffic – get commute-specific, real-time traffic relevant to you
  • My Traffic – get commute-specific, real-time traffic relevant to you
  • My Route – pick unique paths and get on-screen turn-by-turn directions (spoken directions coming soon!)
  • My Places – search places nearby, near another location, or near your destination
  • My Favorites – discover and track your favorite places
  • My People  – easily access and drive to contacts saved on your phone
  • My Music – listen to and manage your iPod music on the iPhone from within the app, no need to leave Scout to listen to or change a song

As you can see, all of the features in Scout for Phones had our customers in mind in the design – your traffic, your places, your favorites, your people, etc. This is because, we’re all very unique (think of the snowflake metaphor) and as such, there can’t (nor should their be) be a single one size fits all approach. Instead, we wanted to provide our customers with relevant  information wherever you are on your personal journey.

If you’re interested in checking out Scout for Phones and have an iPhone, you’re in luck – it’s currently available free in the iTunes store HERE. And if you’ve already have it on your phone, we’d always love reading our user’s thoughts and opinions. Please let us know what you think.

Coming soon, I’ll be sharing a deeper dive into both Scout.me (our online companion website to Scout for Phones) and Scout for Cars – so definitely look out for it.

Cheers!

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Scout Makes Noise at CES 2012

The Scout booth at CES 2012 in Las Vegas

CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, has come to be known as the biggest gadget trade show of the year. This year, many bloggers and media considered the 2012 show the home of mobile apps. With that being said, what better place to launch Telenav‘s newest app, Scout!

The week in Las Vegas started off with an exclusive media-only event at the MGM Grand, called “PEPCOM: Digital Experience.” At the event, we had one of our decked out cars, the Ford Explorer (see below). Customized with Telenav and Scout branding, the team showed off the car along with sharing Monday’s big company news – the official launch of Scout, the new partnership with Ford and SYNC® AppLink™, and lastly, a new collaboration with Sony for their in dash receivers. For more info on the announcement, click here.

A decked out Ford Explorer in black & yellow

Reception to the demo was definitely positive and many bloggers and reporters were excited to see how a new app like Scout can effectively work across the web, mobile app and in-car navigation. It’s definitely a new concept we’re proud of sharing and were happy to see the good reception over the course of the night.

Tuesday, CES officially opened at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show, open to the tech industry and media attracts over 120,000 people every year. We’ve been planning for CES to be the big coming out party for Scout so our presence at the show was pretty unique. The team created a booth space that showcased a Ford Focus and demos of how the Scout experience works on all three platforms. The marketing team has been working hard all week to introduce Scout to all CES attendees. Needless to say, people are walking away with a good impression of what we are trying to do with our new app.

In case you’re not up to speed on what Scout actually does, think of it as your personal daily navigator. It isn’t just your typical map/navigation app, but it lets you discover more and more places to eat, see and visit but making it easier and easier.

Saba scouts out CES

And exactly why is CES important? Just think of it as technology’s Superbowl. Everybody is paying attention. The trade show showcases the newest and upcoming products by some of the biggest consumer companies around the world. From unbelievably large LCD screens to new Android smart phones, companies come to Las Vegas every January to share the vision of the new year.

To top it off, CNET, a top consumer blog  nominated Scout as one of the best ideas they have seen at CES this year in the Car Tech category. All in all, it’s a great start to 2012, and this year’s trade show has definitely been good to us.

This year, Telenav is doing a lot and we can’t wait to continue to share it all with you. Starting with Scout, new brand colors and much more. Keep your eyes right here on the blog for all of the latest. Until next time, keep on scouting and discovering!

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Meet Scout: Your daily personal navigator.

Hi.  I’m Dariusz, Chief Marketing Scout at Telenav.  You might already know us as a leader in GPS navigation, but today I’m pretty excited to introduce you to Scout.

So…what is Scout?  Think of Scout as your daily personal navigator.  Like a trusted friend, Scout guides you on your personal journey through this crazy world.  That’s because we built Scout with you in mind and a belief that life is as much about the journey as the destination.

We started with our mission: to make your life easier.  That means less stressful, more productive – and fun – when you’re on the go.  And since you’re always on the go – commuting to and from work or school, running here and there trying to get things done, or just looking for a fun night out – we designed Scout just for you.

With Scout, you’ll not only get mobile turn-by-turn on your phone, driving directions and real-time traffic updates, you’ll also discover new places and things to do along the way in your town, or any town.  And Scout goes where you go: on your phone, on your computer, and soon in Scout-equipped cars.  Scout is smart – saving and organizing your favorite places.  So the next time you launch Scout – either on your phone or in your car – it syncs automatically, no need to retype.  Want to know which gas station has the lowest prices, what the weather will be like, what time to catch a movie, or where to hear live music tonight in your town, or any town?  It’s all in Scout.

Check out Scout for iPhone….it’s free.

Unlike traditional apps that focus on A to B navigation, Scout for iPhone is a more personalized experience.  As we like to say, Scout gets you and gets you there.  Offered for free on iPhone, Scout offers the best in mobile navigation with features like:

  • My Dashboard – always know when to leave with traffic-based drive times just a glance away
  • My Routes – stress less and never get lost with award-winning Telenav® turn-by-turn GPS directions
  • My Traffic – avoid traffic jams with real-time traffic for your daily commute
  • My Places – discover new places nearby or wherever you’re headed
  • My Favorites – keep track of all your new discoveries
  • My Music – hear your iPod tunes without ever leaving the app
  • My Devices – use Scout on your phone, your computer at Scout.me, or in your Scout-equipped car

Download the FREE Scout for iPhone app here.

Follow us and join the journey.

This week, we’re scouting Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show, where we’re telling people about Scout and announcing some cool new partnerships like Scout for Ford SYNC© AppLink™ (You’ll learn more about Scout for Cars and Scout.me in future posts).  And while we’re in “Sin City”, we’re scouting out interesting hotspots, sharing our discoveries and videos with you on our Facebook page.  Join us on our journey.

Scout on Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | YouTube | Scout Blog

Happy scouting,

Dariusz Paczuski

Chief Marketing Scout