GPS,
TomTom becomes Linux licensee, minds are filled with wonder
By Darren Murph 
posted Mar 23rd 2009 10:41AM
posted Mar 23rd 2009 10:41AM
GPS,
posted Mar 23rd 2009 10:41AM
Estimated time drivers save by using real-time GPS traffic updates
Drivers that use GPS systems with real-time traffic info spend 18% less time behind the wheel than those who do not.
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you cound nor fins a pic of a TomTom One or anything?
You beat me to it ;)
Robin Jacobs - only because he typed it too fast. Therefore I'm awarding it to you. Whatever it is.
Yea but i can not spell this morning, so it only counts as half. I need to be fully awake next time i post.
Why put a photo of a Garmin on a entry about TomTom?
I was thinking the same thing...
Obviously they wanted to help Tom-Tom out by making us think they made usable products.
I
hmm lemme try this: "I <3 my TomTom"
Engadget, ever heard of Google?
http://images.google.com/images?q=tomtom
Hey, don't be hating. That's a map of the best city in the Midwest right there. Doesn't matter which device it's on.
saying "best city in the Midwest" is like saying "Smartest mentally handicapped person"
woot minneapolis... i was looking at the map and i was like nicolette... university... wait a minute... aha! minneapolis. cool. oh and btw, popular science rated minneapolis as the top tech city back in 2005 http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2005-03/top-tech-city-minneapolis-mn so no, its not like saying smartest mentally handicapped person. its not like even saying obama bowling in the special olympics.
doh!
Linux... License? Licensed Linux....
Umm... That's a Garmin.
So, TomTom - Microsoft + Linux = Garmin?
despite the obvious photo blunder...
I'm a TomTom fan. I LOVE my TomTom. A vehicle I drive at work has a Garmin and I just don't like it very much. The interface is weird, and there's no way to get a qwerty keyboard. It's alphabetical!! Who does that?
I also have an iPhone, and the SDK is open to turn-by-turn.... iPhone=Unix. Unix=Linux. Linux=TomTom... iPhone=TomTom?
It would never be a replacement, that's for sure, but it'd be nice to have those onboard maps in a pinch...
And, I sincerely apologize (really, I'm being serious here...) for bringing the iPhone into what seems like one of the first non-Apple posts on engadget in a week. Please don't hate.
You must have an old one. They all have QWERTY now.
1) That picture is of a Garmin. It's like a TomTom, it's just easier to use.
2) Garmin has used Linux for sometime. The Nuvi 8xx, 9xx, and 5xxx are all powered by Linux.
That 3D map rendering looks awful. When will these companies start putting out stuff that look as nice as iGO 8.3?
Heh. Cockspur street.
LOL, you said spur.
Offtopic, whoy carnt the brit'ish naim their straets and cit'ies properly? This is why New England has screwed up town names too. And Worcestershire sauce exists.
Lol @ Cockspur Street
I also am a TomTom user (great product!).
I think Microsoft right now may be getting a strong sinking sensation in the pit of their stomachs. Perhaps also hindsight: "maybe we shouldn't have picked a fight with TomTom, who now is suing us back 3 times over, and seems to be joining forces with the entire open source community to blow us away with the combined legal and financial resources of IBM, Sun, RedHat, Novell, and Google...gulp! Maybe we shouldn't have stirred this up with all of Monkey-boy's hooting about Linux patent FUD? Please...mercy?" .
BTW: I am proud to own a TomTom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Invention_Network
The Open Invention Network (OIN) is a company that acquires patents and licenses them royalty free to entities which, in turn, agree not to assert their own patents against Linux or Linux-related applications.[1]
Based in New York City, the company was founded on November 10, 2005 by IBM, Novell, Philips, Red Hat, and Sony. NEC subsequently became a member. Keith Bergelt is the chief executive of the company. Bergelt had previously served as President and CEO of Paradox Capital, LLC [2]
OIN holds the Commerce One Web services patents (previously acquired by Novell for $15.5 million), which cover several fundamentals of current business-to-business e-commerce practice. OIN's founders intend for these patents to encourage others to join, and to discourage legal threats against Linux and Linux-related applications.
So basically the idea behind OIN is the "Mutual assured destruction" doctrine. TomTom now adds to the portfolio of the patents used to fend Linux from patent trolls (and general trolls like Microsoft).
Now it's intriguing how engadget knows nothing about this?!?
If anyone's interested, especially those located in or around Columbia, South Carolina, Open Invention Network's CEO Keith Bergelt along with RedHat's CIO Lee Congdon will be keynote's at an open source conference Saturday April 18th.
It's called POSSCON - Palmetto Open Source Conference, and it's free (lunch provided) just requires registration.
More information can be found here: http://www.posscon.org
It would be a great opportunity to find out a little more about this particular situation, and of course others related to the two. :)
Just a heads up.