I just got word that in the spirit of giving and having some fun, TeleNav is offering up Santa for TeleNav GPS Navigator. It’s not quite as cool as flying reindeer but it’s close.  From now until Dec 31, customers can have Santa provide the turn-by-turn directions and traffic rerouting. The best part about it, all the proceeds from the $.99 download are going to Toys for Tots.

From the TeleNav website:

“Tired of the same old voice giving you GPS directions day in and day out? Looking for another way to get into the holiday spirit? We have just what you need …

Beginning today and running through the month of December, we are offering Santa’s voice for just $0.99 and we’ll donate ALL proceeds to Toys for Tots. So now you can get Santa to help guide you around this season and help children in need at the same time.

You can purchase and download Santa’s voice either via your phone or our website:

Via your phone:

• Launch TeleNav GPS Navigator
• Select “Share and More”
• Select “Preferences”
• Select “Navigation Audio”
• Select “Guide Tones”
• Select “Santa Claus”

Via our website:

• Go to TeleNav.com
• Select “My TeleNav” on the top right (you’ll need your PIN number to login)
• Select “My Settings”
• Select “Device Settings”
• Select “Santa Claus”

The Santa Clause voice is only compatible with TeleNav GPS Navigator v. 5.5 and 5.8. To find out which phones support these versions, click here.

No, Santa won’t yell at you (Todd’s version is..umm..unique) if you decide to ghost-ride (although please don’t – we don’t condone it!). Here is a sample of what the TeleNav GPS Navigator Santa voice sounds like.

Thanks for helping us support Toys for Tots! Please drive safely!

Special thanks to our partner Audible Media.”

TeleNav…wow, I don’t know where to start.  I’ve spent 10 days fully evaluating every detail of this application and I can honestly say it’s a “must have” for your BlackBerry.  I have used a handful of other navigation apps, both paid and free and TeleNav is hands down the best of them all.  TeleNav offers so many services and options and is so advanced, yet couldn’t be simpler to use.  I downloaded it to my BlackBerry Storm and was getting turn by turn directions within minutes!

TeleNav’s main function is giving voice directions as you drive…and WOW it does this well!  Once you open TeleNav all you have to do is click “drive to” and you get a whole list of options…see the gallery below for a screen shot.  You can pick from options such as recent places, favorites, businesses, airports, intersections, or your address book.  You can also type in an address manually or even call it in.  As soon as you’ve chosen a destination TeleNav begins finding the route from your current location. One of the things that impressed me the most is how quickly the software finds where you are…no waiting 2 or 3 minutes like with some programs.  Before you know it a voice is telling you where to turn or how many miles to drive.  Speaking of the voice, there are plenty ways to customize the audio. You can even make it come straight to your bluetooth headset.  This can be extremely useful if you have a carload of talking passengers, a sleeping child, or would just prefer to have your directions in ear instead of out loud.

While you’re en-route TeleNav is continuously updating your location with on-screen 2D or 3D maps.  You can zoom in and out and choose from a variety of views.  I added some screen shots to the gallery but you really have to see this in real time to appreciate how fantastic it looks, especially on the Storm screen.  One of my favorite features is the display showing estimated time of arrival and how many miles you are from your current location.  At any time you can always pull up your route preview, a full zoom-able map, and traffic summary at specified segments.

The Biz Finder directory really blew my mind.  I was astonished by how many categories there were to choose from.  Gas, food, banks, wi-fi spots, movie theaters, parking lots, universities….again, check the gallery for screen shots of all the categories.  Of course any place you pick, TeleNav instantly pulls up your current location and starts navigating you right there!  The content of the Biz Finder is superior to many stand alone directory apps.

I did over 600 miles of driving with TeleNav and not one mistake!  I was especially impressed with how quickly the software was able to re-route you in the case of a detour, missed exit, or heavy traffic.  TeleNav even does real time traffic checks to help you avoid delays.  I kept trying to trick the software by taking a wrong turn but it’s too smart and would always get me back on course.  Also handy for being on course, TeleNav has a compass with a great looking interface which can be seen in the gallery.  You have to be moving about 5 miles an hour to get a reading.

TeleNav is extremely efficient with memory usage and battery life.  I monitored both using meterberry.  I let TeleNav run all day giving me voice directions and using it in every way possible.   Application memory remained stable and battery consumption was minimal.

So after all this testing I knew TeleNav was genius, but I wanted to see how well it could multi-task.  While my husband drove the car, I had TeleNav giving directions, Pandora streaming radio, was instant messaging on Beejive, browsing the CrackBerry forums on Opera Mini, and took a picture of the sunset out the window.  TeleNav just kept on cranking out the directions, unphased by all the apps I had running in the background.  This is also a testament to the magnificent multi-tasking abilities of BlackBerries.

Another ingenious use of TeleNav is to record your parking spot location.  When you park your car, hit > Tools and Extras > Record Location > Save.  You can give the location a custom label or use the default which is the date.  The location gets saved in your favorites.  When you’re ready to find your parking spot, open TeleNav and go to Drive to > My Favorites > then select whatever label you saved and the navigation will begin.  You can get directions while driving (in a cab, having a friend give you a ride, etc) or on foot.  This would be a great time to make use of TeleNav’s BlueTooth integration and have the directions come right to your headset if you’re in a busy area and want to be discreet or just simply can’t hear.  No more trying to remember your row and section and number in a huge crowded lot.  Oh how I could have used this so many times in the airport parking lot after a week long trip, or in Manhattan when I couldn’t remember which garage I parked in, no less which floor or spot!

Along with TeleNav on your phone, you get your own My TeleNav online account where you can pre-plan trips and sync them to your BlackBerry, manage contacts, and share spots with friends and co-workers.  There’s even a FireFox TeleNav plug-in.

TeleNav has so much to offer that I could go on and on all day with this review but my words and pictures don’t come close to doing it any justice.  I strongly encourage you to take advantage of TeleNav’s fully functional 30 day free trial so you can see everything for yourself.  After that it’s $10 a month which is really a steal for all that the program offers.  I think of a fast food meal or two that I spend $10 on (that I shouldn’t really be eating anyway lol) that is gone so quickly, when instead I could be enjoying all the features of TeleNav all month long!  Check out the TeleNav website for lots more details and information and to get your free 30 day trial!

I originally published this review here on BlackBerryChick.com but TeleNav is hardly just for chicks!  If you haven’t been to BlackBerryChick yet make sure to check out the BlackBerryChick forums too!