Navigation service provider Telenav and Jeep announced a new partnership aimed at providing dynamic driving experiences to owners of the new Jeep Grand Commander, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, and Compass models. The Santa Clara, California-based company is contributing to the automaker’s offerings via the Uconnect system launched as part of the 2018 version of the Jeep Grand Commander which was released in China last summer before making its way to the Compass and Cherokee. The partnership that’s currently limited to the Far Eastern country is meant to provide consumers with a new level of in-car navigation convenience.
A native implementation of Telenav’s navigation system is touted as one of the best driving companions on the market, boasting a wide range of advanced features meant to make travel easier. The contemporary experience offered by the technology is intended to start with the very first user-interface interaction – picking one’s destination. Instead of asking users to manually enter the exact province, city, street name, and complex number (though that’s still a possibility), Telenav is offering something it calls “Intelligent Onebox Search,” a single text box that automatically completes destinations so as to avoid scenarios in which users are wasting time with entering their targets letter-by-letter. Automatic suggestions and handwriting recognition are part of the package as well.
Once the system actually starts navigating you, it will offer multi-touch maps that can be manipulated much like those on any popular smartphone app, with the solution including both 2D and 3D road charts, as well as three-dimensional city models for more accurate orientation. Real-time traffic reports are also included with the goal of helping users avoid road jams, though no manual intervention on their part is required; while you can always check the traffic status in any part of a major Chinese city, the system itself will adjust its course on the go. Telenav recently announced a new developer contest meant to support digital mapping advancements going forward, having described it as its way of giving back to the industry that made it.