Walmart, Starbucks top TeleNav users' GPS destinations

Retail titan Walmart is the most searched-for U.S. business among consumers depending on GPS services, according to new data issued by navigation solutions provider TeleNav. Coffee giant Starbucks trailed slightly behind Walmart in GPS searches in December, TeleNav reports, followed by retailers Target and Best Buy, with Bank of America rounding out the top five. Among specific merchant categories, TeleNav users searched for pizza for than any other type of food, trailed by Chinese and burgers.

TeleNav data from all GPS point of interest searches across all of 2009 indicate that drivers in the Los Angeles area conducted more searches than any other U.S. locale. Dallas/Fort Worth followed in second, with Chicago in third, Houston in fourth and Atlanta in fifth. Drivers in L.A. are almost likely to rely on GPS to reroute around traffic. Among entire state populations most frequently using GPS navigation, Maryland led the list, trailed by the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, North Carolina and California.

TeleNav serves more than 13 million subscribers. Its operator partners include Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile USA.

For more on the TeleNav GPS study:
- read this release

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