Telenav’s Scout iPhone app now lets friends coordinate on a map

Telenav’s Scout app is moving beyond mere navigation to include location sharing and planning features, which friends and family can use to coordinate their activities.

In a new update for the iPhone (no word yet on an Android update), Scout now has the ability to share any location or event with a friend via email, text of Facebook. And because Scout’s nav service works as an HTML5 app, those messages will automatically generate browser-based turn-by-turn directions to the location referenced – even if the recipient doesn’t have the Scout app.

The Scout update also incorporates a feature that will send out your estimated time of arrival via a text message. For instance, if you’re meeting a friend at a restaurant, Scout can send that friend a message as soon as you launch the route, calculating ETA not only on distance, but speed limits, traffic lights and real-time congestion data.

You can even program the app to send out your ETA to specific people anytime you start a particularly route. So anytime you program your iPhone to take you home, your spouse would get a message notifying him or her when to expect you. Or if you’re heading to daycare to pick up your kid, the app will send a similar message to your child’s caretaker.

Finally Telenav is inserting real-time event data into the app. Instead of merely finding the baseball stadium on the map, you can discover when and which games are being played.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock user Ana de Sousa