As I’ve been pushing for literally years, HTML5 is a powerful new iteration of HTML, and can be combined with other associated new technologies like Javascript and CSS3 to make useful new apps. HTML5 came out right around the time that mobile apps started to get powerful, and I’ve continuously been tracking the rise of locally-installed mobile apps vs the use of web-apps powered by technologies such as HTML5.

Although I love my iPhone apps as much as any geek, I love the concept of web-apps. Powerful apps that exist “in the cloud”, taking up minimal local resources, and offering huge computing benefits. The lynchpin lately has been the speed and availability of reliable wireless networks, to allow consumers to have a smooth experience with web apps. For this reason, among others, local apps have become more popular.

So I’m glad to see that now TeleNav is using GPS navigation in the form of a web-app. Sure Google Maps has done this to an extent for a while, but I’m glad to see another company jump on as well. In 2012 I’m looking forward to much more powerful web apps running on faster handsets and more reliable wireless networks.

TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5 — Engadget.