TomTom told us that its
long-awaited iPhone navigation app and in-car mounting kit would be landing "
this summer," and at least on our watch, summertime is quickly drawing to a close. If a pre-order listing over at
Handtec is to be believed, it looks as if the outfit is exceedingly close to finally having both the software and hardware ready for shipping. The £113.85 ($194) asking price includes a suction mount for your iPhone as well as the mapping software, though there's no indication of exactly how much the app and hardware will run by themselves. Of course, until the iPhone supports multitasking, using it as a dedicated PND is still a risky move; one stray call during a pivotal moment in your travels and you can consider yourself lost. Oh, and then there's the fact that this thing has a TomTom logo on it -- if the iPhone app functions anything like the company's
high-end GO 740 LIVE, we'd say you're better off asking Mr. Gas Station attendant (or buying a different
brand).
[Via
DaniWeb]
posted August 6th 2009 4:44AM
194USD...................................
I wonder how it compares to iGo My way (http://www.igomyway.com/en/), which is quite popular in Europe and where a US navi version is 80 USD... (A mount for 114 USD in the TomTom package seems excessive).
"shunting" all your calls to voice-mail sound like a pretty terrible solution to an otherwise easy to solve problem of just allowing background processing on the iphone. These types of things are EXACTLY why Apple needs to open-up background processing for 3rd party apps.
I don't understand why my far inferior 2007 Mio GPS can Bluetooth and route maps at the same time, but the iPhone can't. I know it comes back to its lack of multi-tasking but surely Apple and TomTom could have worked together to do something about it, right? Especially if it's being plugged into 12v power, battery life is not a fair excuse any more..
using the iphone for a gps is stupid at best. Although I do use it form time to time, it is only when my Garmin fails me and trys to direct me off a cliff. There is simply no point to this at all...
And STILL no info on whether it works with first-gen iPhones (since this unit supposedly has a full GPS in the mount).
$200? That's brilliant, considering you can buy an entire Garmin GPS unit for $100 that's smaller than this setup and would leave your iPhone available for calls and music playback while your navigating.
This is pointless.
Give this to the Angry German Kid.
F it, stupid password manager saved my previous comment...
Sorry Kevin.
change settings every time you get in the car to forward all calls to voicemail? this is dumb, just get a cheap Garmin. if this doesn't have traffic information support, there's really no point.
seems a bit pricey..considering it might not even fit on future iphones designs..etc
lol @ price even tomtom figured out iPhone users are suckers.
haha that made me chuckle
well said lol
NO, 200bucks is nuts. They charge you for the software and a glorified charging dock....
Its just not worth it at that price as you can pickup a 130 for 50bucks refurbished...
Oh and don't forget how much you will need to pay for new maps
Damn Paul, do you ever stop and think about being screwed by Apple and the add-on companies at all? Sure, it may do the job of mapping, but it's way overpriced and they damn well should allow background applications so the phone can still be used without interrupting.
Stop being such a lemming and realize that companies make things better when you say what you want instead of just taking whatever they give you. When you start unquestionably grabbing whatever they make and fervently fight against anyone that speaks of improvements, you make the company act worse off. This should be common sense to you.
Hell, you probably would love living in North Korea with your attitude. "Oh thank you dear leader for the gracious bowl of rice and rocks, you are too kind."
During the big release... Tom Tom claimed the dock had a loud speaker and would increase your GPS signal too. Not saying I agree with the price tag. But its a bit more than charging dock with a suction cup.
it costs more than an actual tomtom unit?
rofl. that matches with apple's own policies. they sell all their merchandise from other vendors at majorly jacked up prices. and the customer gets the "value addedness" in the form of an official apple receipt!
I think I will stick to navigons software.....
(insert your favorite satnav software) + Jailbroken iPhone + backgrounder app = one fcuking awesome iPhone.
nuff said.
(insert your favorite satnav software) + Jailbroken iPhone + backgrounder app = one fcuking voided warranty iPhone.
well fcuking said jakem
erm jaken,
you do know you can just unjailbreak it right?
@Pre-determined,
oh noes, i've just broken the warranty seal....
.....NOT!!!
"unjailbreak"? is that newspeak? i guess that makes sense what with apple's recent ingsoc-iness. seems they were right in their 1984 ad - 1984 wasn't like "1984", but 2009 is turning into "1984" indeed.
for those of us who currently wield the sledgehammer and stick to oldspeak, "unjailbreak" is simply "lockup".
doubleplusungood.
The natural state of the iPhone is to be in jail. One can get one's iPhone out of jail by jailbreaking it. Not that jailbreak is one word, and a verb. To undo the action of "jailbreaking", you "un-jailbreak", just as some previous commentors said.
It is not a case of newspeak at all, it is a case of understanding that "jailbreak" (as a one-word verb) has come to mean something, a singular process, in the tech world. It is a word that must be thought of differently than "escape" because it has a completely different (and much more focussed) meaning.
Therefore, while "lockup" might be acceptable when referring to an "escape", when referring to a "jailbreak", the undoing of that is correctly called "un-jailbreaking" because (get this) you are "un"doing the "jailbreak". Note that "lockup" is too general-purpose, whereas "un-jailbreak" correctly identifies the exact action taken.
Also, you are not locking something up - you are undoing the freeing of it. Although they look like the same thing, they are not, and anyone as literate as you ought to have sufficient grounding in grammar and language to know that, xplode.
TomTom rules. Funny how they ve figured out an iPrice.
Shouldn't the article title read, ...Is Overpriced Overseas?
I've seen stuff on handtec before way before release and way overpriced. Usually the release price is much lower, no one would pay that amount when they could get a stand alone one cheaper.
Also don't put overseas in the title the internet is a global phenomenon ;-)
Over priced and.... the advantage of having satnav on the iphone must be portability.That 'clip' ain't portable and..... why do these manufacturers insist on making mounts that don't accommodate a phone case??
I never use a case.
I wanted to love tomtom for making a turnkey solution to the navigation needs of us iPhone users, but at this stage in time, be it the fault of apple or tomtom, I don't think its going to fly.
I spend a lot of time in the car on the phone (BT HF of course!), seems like useless time if I don't do anything - this would seem just a little preventative.
@ Darren Murph
I too am concerned about this TomTom app and mount costing more than a stand-alone GPS, but this reporting is sh*t. Of course the iPhone can multitask the phone app. How ridiculous an Apple/TomTom hater are you? The TomTom app is supposed to allow you to take calls while GPS is running according to TomTom at WWDC. The cradle also has a GPS antenna built in to boost the GPS reception. The US price is not likely to be $194, but I would not be surprised at $125-150, which is similar to the Palm OS TomTom app with cradle from 3 years ago. Now there a ton of unanswered questions about this app and mount, so I think the sensible post would not pass judgment until there is an actual product. Lets talk features when the thing gets released. This post and the subsequent Apple hater comments are just absurd.
Welcome to Engadget, home of Apple-haters.
.
+1
I agree with you completely. Darren Murph draws his conclusions way too fast.
If it has GPS built-in to the cradle will it work on an ipod touch?
@Hans Gruber
I don't think so. The cradle is only supposed to boost the GPS signal - I don't think it includes a GPS chip. However, if the new iPod Touch includes GPS then I see no reason why it won't work with the TomTom solution.
something like this just increases the chance of your car getting broken into and iphone stolen. A day pretty much doesnt go by where i walk by a car and see someones navi still attached to the windshield in a parking lot. Given the typical iphone owner who would fall for this tomtom kit, they will be no shortage of individuals who will inadvertently leave the car without grabbing the phone. I would be concern about heat issues here in Miami.
Surely you take your phone with you. Isn't that the whole point of a device mash-up like this? If you leave it in your car then no only are you leaving your GPS behind but also your mobile phone. Anyone that dumb probably deserves to loose their equipment, although I wish that wasn't the case.
@ Kelmon,
+1
>> "If you leave it in your car then no only are you leaving your GPS behind but also your mobile phone."
Ok... so you take your iPhone with you... but you leave the TomTom dock hooked to the windshield. The iPhone/TomTom dock is still pretty expensive to replace.
Bottom line... take any GPS/dock off the dash, and wipe of the rings. If a crook sees suction cup rings... they still might break into your car and look for a GPS you left under the seat.
@kel
Surely you take your phone with you. Anyone that dumb probably deserves to loose their equipment
ever reached for your phone and realized you left it somewhere.. possible scenario.. you left it on the charger in the car? its not the person is dumb and it does happen. the point was leaving it attached and highly visible to a windshield vs in a center console charging makes it a higher odds of it being stolen. Micheal made good points... most car theft of this type is done by individuals who see your auto on a regular basis...and thieves add you to their "to do" list. i stand by my prior post as an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Nope, that doesn't fly for me. For one thing, your average criminal who steals things from cars is not the quickest of cats and therefore I don't see them carefully studying the GPS cradle, which is usually a hunk of cheap plastic, in order to determine whether it is the TomTom iPhone cradle and therefore actually worth something. It is, of course, perfectly possible that you might leave your iPhone in your car but then I also tend to think that if it is quite literally staring you in the face then you'll probably both notice it and take it with you (particularly if you have been actively using it).
I can't speak for everyone but I can tell you right now that I would not leave my iPhone in my car when it was mounted on the windshield. If you think that you might then I guess this isn't the solution for you.
surely the Tom Tom software remembers your destination/route when you relaunch it, in case you get a phone call? and I thought you could at least take a call without interrupting the software in the background - it just pauses until the call ends?
Nope. Even in the middle of the conversation, I want it to continue giving me directions. I don't want to get lost while talking to someone and then have to drive back. If that was the case, I'd never reach the destination, because car is one of the few places I like to have most of the conversations.
Pull over to answer your phone, arrive alive?
I would like to know what the high price covers? Is their a monthly fee or is that a lifetime of use? And how bigis the install file? Sounds like a better idea to just get a dedicated GPS device if they charge anything close to that price.
ahhh... But will it blend as well as it's cousin did?
(Got to will it blend's channel on youtube if you don't know what I'm talking about)
whoops... it's should've been its I'm so sorry master engadget.... It was but a mere mishap
I dont see why you are making out like this is all apples fault, did anyone actually check how much they sell tomtom for on winmo? £89.95 with no dock or charger etc etc
Welcome to Engadget.