Australia : Garmin International announced an agreement with Australian company Sensis whereby Garmin will be the turn-by-turn navigation provider for selected Telstra GPS-enabled mobile phones.

Sensis, Australia’s leading information resource, and a wholly owned Telstra subsidiary, will provide the point of interest information and other dynamic content for the navigation application, “Whereis® Navigator.”

WhereisNavigator is based on Garmin Mobile, Garmin’s intuitive mobile phone application that gives turn-by-turn, voice-prompted navigation directly on the phone.

“Sensis, like Garmin, is an innovative company that strives to improve the everyday life of their customers,” said Charles Morse, Garmin’s director of mobile and online marketing. “By offering Garmin’s premium navigation to Telstra customers, Whereis Navigator users will save time and headaches as they’ll now be able to avoid hassles related to bad directions or getting lost.”

Gregan McMahon, group manager of Sensis Mobile, comments that the partnership with Garmin is an exciting step towards providing Telstra customers with an even better mapping experience on their mobile device. “Combining Garmin’s leading satellite navigation with Sensis’ comprehensive mapping points of interest and other content takes Whereis Navigator to the next level,” says McMahon.

The Whereis Navigator interface is very intuitive and allows customers to easily route to a specific street address or to one of the 600,000 points of interest (POI) – places like hotels, restaurants, shopping and tourist attractions. POI search results can be viewed on a high resolution map, providing a quick overview of POI locations relative to the user’s current position. The text-to-speech functionality allows the device to audibly announce the name of streets and POIs, letting drivers keep their eyes on the road while navigating through busy traffic and tricky roadways. If users stray off course, Whereis Navigator will automatically calculate the quickest way to get back on track.

In addition to turn-by-turn directions, Whereis Navigator offers fixed speed and red-light camera warnings while driving. Whereis Navigator also features seamless integration with the user’s contacts stored on their phone, allowing for convenient routing to an address of a friend or business associate. Users can easily access weather conditions and forecast data for their current location as well as other destinations in Australia.

Whereis Navigator will be available on selected Telstra GPS-enabled phones. Telstra customers can try Whereis Navigator by downloading the free trial directly from their phone. For additional information, visit www.garmin.com or www.telstra.com.