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
I'm holding up a number of fingers in your general direction...can you guess how many?
In answer to your question, I will be buying this just as soon as it is released and I can get my hands on a 3GS. The reason is very simple - I want a "do it all" device and this ticks all the boxes. I am quite certain that I can get a dedicated unit for cheaper but then that's not what I want.
I just wish that TomTom would hurry up and officially release this and the software, or at least give an idea of when that will happen. However, by virtue of the fact that this is appearing on sites to buy I tend to think that the release should be soon.
Why not just pick up an actual TomTom for £49.99.... Am I missing something here?
Got to agree with Kelmon on this one. I have the iPhone 3GS and after reading all the comments and replies on this page, including that dead-brain article, I really don't see any reason why any one would hate such deal from TomTom! Considering that the software features are awesome and the device or software aren't even out yet!
I really love how simple and clean they've made this GPS solution, and the idea of me carrying the software anywhere I go is alone worth some extra bucks. They aren't asking you to buy a fat device and hold it everywhere you go, they've worked for some time to get it all working and clean for the iPhone, that right there deserves some credits.
You people are comparing other solutions that are just a couple of bucks cheaper, with software that doesn't even work with any phone.
I'm buying the app and the hardware as soon as I read the positive reviews; price is really good for anyone. Period.
Yeah idunno. The iPhone is in a weird place where the hardware is aimed at merging into a central, do it all device but the software is not. Yeah it would be cool to have one device for everything, but to lose your nav while placing/receiving a call would be VERY lame. Plus, what if you are listening to tunes through your car stereo while using nav? Will the TBT audio prompts bellow at you over your stereo? Sounds flimsy.
I wonder if this app will have weather overlays, realtime traffic/construction updates?
FOR EVERYONE THAT LIVES IN THE US!
Guess what.....
See that "99.00 exc VAT"
We dont pay that VAT tax......
So for the US it is more around $142.00 for both.....
Much more reasonable, me thinks.
Maybe one should wait and see what this is priced in the US before frothing at the mouth? Alas, frothing at the mouth is something many people here seem to have lots of desire and time for.
I'm an iPhone 3GS user. I WILL NOT be suckered into buying any GPS software for this phone. I have a GPS built into my wife's car and a standalone unit that I can transfer back and forth between my truck and my car. I'm not a fanboy either. I'm a Windows user through and through. My wife uses a Macbook because she's a teacher and her school district uses Apple. I'm not saying Apple sucks but its also not as great as some think it to be.
Do I like my iPhone? No. I love it. My wife loves hers as well as my brother and parents. (5 iPhones on 1 family plan makes it an affordable option). But I hate ATT. I was so ready for the Pre until I actually tried typing on its keyboard. And I tell you what, that is the only knock I have against the Pre after using my friend's Pre.
Anyway, back to the GPS on iPhone. Its a novel idea. I don't blame the GPS companies for jumping on the bandwagon for iPhone apps. The price IS ridiculous considering standalone GPS units are at the same price and actually now cheaper. Standalone GPS units that cost $300 a few years ago are now under $150 with the same features. I bought my iPhone to be a phone and my little itty bitty computer on the side. If I could afford it, I would just buy in-dash stero head units with built in GPS for my truck and car. That frees up my phone.
Not to mention the iPhone crashes all the time, It is just better to have a stand alone GPS unit, cheaper with more features, and bigger screen!
Until the device is released and reviewed, can you really say that for a fact? Sounds like a lot of assumption to me...
No, the Tom Tom service is not a great deal. I get navigation software just like this for free with my Pre. Now that is a good deal.
I waited, they failed, I'll stick with maps on the iphone and just buy a 80 dollar nav if need be one day.
How would this work with Iphone cases, do you have to remove the case each time you want to dock the phone in the cradle?
I just bought IGO myway on the app store and it is pretty nice. Tomtoms maps look plain color and boring so i went with someone else and am happy. It give you 2-4 routes to choose from on your route and shows you on a map each one and you select the one that looks best. It doesnt have TTS speech yet but the company assured me its coming when i emailed them. Definitely worth checking out if you dont want to pay $150 or more when tomtom comes out.
Now whats with the negative iphone comments always on here, saying iphone users are suckers? Im thinking its from people not on att or people who cannot afford one. Im not a sucker cause i have the iphone, i can afford one and enjoy all the things i can do with it for my business. I couldnt type emails on the pre because the keyboard is god awful unless you have girly fingers. I guess the iphone is like michael jordan, the best at what they do but theres always a bunch of haters. And the most funny thing is the people who come in here just to make a comment like "iphone users are sucks" its just too funny that you all have such a boring life that you take 3 minutes out of your day to make it a point to come in here and post a negative comment about a phone you dont like. Am i the only one who sees this as funny as hell? Get a life and if you dont like the iphone why come in here to post in the first place?
Its funny how you complain about people assuming things and saying "iphone users are suckers" then you BASH the Pre and say "I couldnt type emails on the pre because the keyboard is god awful unless you have girly fingers" and lets not forget "Im thinking its from people not on att or people who cannot afford one"
WOW you really got back at all of them.
in My opinion:
1.iphone sucks- I dont like being stuck in Apples ecosystem. i love the Iphone hardware just hate the way Apple and AT&T control it.
2.I just checked that IGO App on itunes...WOW that is the ugliest GPS GUI i have ever seen. its cluttered with icons and directions, great price for $80 IM SURE.. To each his own i guess.
3. On my Pre I get navigation INCLUDED with my plan with voice turn by turn directions..Thats right ITS INCLUDED WITH MY PLAN. And i have used it many times with no problems.
4.And i wont even cover the shitty 3G service AT&T has plus how much more you pay for less features then i have on my Pre.
Now back to Tom Tom topic. i just need to see how this App works in person. Maybe its what every Iphone user has been waiting for. But to me i dont see the value in paying over $100 for an app and extra receiver/cradle.
@johnny
It is certainly your choice when it comes to GPS software for your iPhone but it is worth considering what TomTom brings when deciding whether the higher price is worth it. For example, the TomTom cradle provides an external speaker that is loud enough such that you can hear the instructions over the road noise. This is something that other solutions do not do but reviews normally cite as a problem.
If this sells for more than $100 USD (in the US), it will fall flat on it's face.
It's a nice product, no doubt, but $200 or $150 for a navi app is a hard sell when you buy a stand alone GPS made by Tom Tom or Garmin for less.
navigon + backgrounder.. i have a regular tomtom unit and like navigon better.
and for the whole jailbreaking crying.. you load then double click, couldn't be much easier.
wait lets see how hard it is to remove it... Itunes, restore
wow that's was difficult.. I used to reflash my tytn 2 all the type and this is about 10 times easier.
Wow Engadget, you're so dramatic. I own a low end TomTom navigation device(130) and it works flawlessly. I'd recommend it to anyone. Especially for the price. I think the major problem here that was glossed over is the fact that there is no multi-tasking on the iPhone; unless of course the article is incorrect...
I don't think they are being dramatic at all. They and gizmodo have done reviews on Tom Tom's and generally hated them. It's just their opinions.
http://gizmodo.com/5249716/why-tomtom-sucks
You can buy a dedicated GPS for that amount. I was going to hold out for this, but not anymore. I will get a dedicated GPS
Seems like a smart idea. At least you can give your GPS to someone else and you've still got your phone. If it's all tied up with the iPhone you're out of luck if you need to lend it to someone else in your family.
Then again, any WinMo will happily support dozens of different mapping solutions with mulitasking and at a far cheaper price.
I wonder if these places have been censored in the Application....
http://www.cowdery.org.uk/rude.php
Regarding Multitasking:
You CAN do anything on the iPhone while you're on a phone call, including 3G data.
Is there a plugin I can download to completely ignore anyone who ever uses the phrase "nuff said"? Some sort of "useless forum phrases" filter...
This mount looks scary. I don't mind the bend-the-plastic-and-wedge-your-phone-in style, but with a dock connector at the bottom? So you snap the dock connector in and then bend the bejesus out of the plastic mount while part of it is connected to a circuit board on the bottom of your phone?
What could possibly go wrong?
I think the bottom is a swivel design.
Tomtom as a PND sucks! My friend bought one of these and returned it for a Garmin.
If you look for deals, you can find a good Garmin (or Tomtom if you are a fanboy) PND for less than that. Why would anyone buy this?
On top of that Navigon app for iPhone costs $69. It doesn't include the mounting hardware, but still, big difference
All I know is my decision on which Navigation App to get is quickly coming to a close with Navigons $69.99 offer until August 15th. You would think TomTom would realize this, but I guess they're just like AT&T. Announce something and say later this summer, but summer last until the end of September.
"Right on. I can't wait to buy this, assuming I get my iPhone in a couple of months"
Wait, you sit here and tell everyone how much better a device is and how it makes you life so great and nobody would question the price, but you don't even have one? Wow.
Just one little thing, you have an all in one device... let's just say that it is stolen... someone has your apps, and, your TomTom app, and you have to buy a new iPhone.
I might not go with TomTom on this one, I've got something that does Navigon at the price of £26, and will be having live traffic incorporated, such as IQ Routes, at the price of £26.
CoPilot Live 8 for iPhone.
$194? Bwaaaaahhaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha.......
I was thinking maybe $50 for the software - after all it's not as useful as a stand-alone device given that it keeps you from using the iphone for anything else at the same time. This from a guy who has owned 4 gps, many smartphones and tends to buy any interesting gadget - heck, I've thought about picking up a tom-tom just so I could have John Cleese's voice giving me directions. This is just absurd. Tom Tom might as well pack it up and walk away.
I have the Navigon app for my iphone. Works great and only costs $70.
1. It's not going to be price at that point in the US.
2. I don't want to plugin two units to the car for nav. and ipod/pandora. No A2DP still not as good as wire.
Wow, its 2009 and the iphone is just getting full gps programs and yet still cant multitask. With my pioneer hp7900bt paired with my htc touch that is over 2 yrs old running windows mobile 6, I can do voice guided tts through the car stereo with a2dp, also stream internet radio or my mp3 music collection with one of many third party media players, control the media playback through the pioneer deck because unlike the iphone, windows mobile like most other real smartphone OS's have a real bluetooth stack that support avrcp. If you want a real smartphone that can do a good job of gps and media playback do yourself a favour get android, palm pre, win mobile or symbian. Anything but iphone!
saad you're clueless and delusional if you believe that the "other software(s) dont work with any other phone(s)"
I can name you at least, at least, a dozen other GPS turn by turn voice navigation solutions that work on WinMo phones, TomTom included, and for half the price you iSuckers will be paying for when it comes to the iPhone solution.
The OP was right, even TomTom realized that iPhone users are fools who are all too willing to part with their money.
@WindowsFTW
Dear Sir,
Nobody is listening to you because you have foolishly selected the name "WindowsFTW" and therefore your opinion is going to be clearly biased. You also make statements that you can't back up, particularly because you seem to think that you are blessed with knowledge about future products that no one else is. Do you work for TomTom and know what they are going to charge for their iPhone solution? Or are you simply basing your statement on blind assumption? I'm erring on the later here.
Please have a nice day.
Regards,
Kelmon
Yaaaaaaaawwwwwnnnnnnnnn
you poor iphone users, I've had this for years on my winmo phone, haha ;-)
WinMo sucks! Always has and M$ apparently refuses to change it... even the new WM7 is a just a stripped down version Media Center. LOL I've owned 5 WinMo devices and all of these I ended up just giving away to people. I didn't even bother trying to get some of my money back by selling them. The last phone I owned with Verizon was the Omnia... which would have been a great phone had it not been for WM6!!!
My point is that it's never about who had it first... it's about who does it better! :P Apple is obviously heading in the right direction. I only wish they could have made some sort of deal with Verizon has their network is by far superior to ATT's. Even with ATT's current upgrades to 3G, their network is still slow. ATT customers are only saying is very fast because they're not used to broadband cellular speeds. :) haha I'm dealing with it though... I got sick and tired of waiting around for Verizon to come out with something decent and even remotely comparable to the iPhone. The only phone that looks promising now is the Omnia HD which won't come to the US until next year! And even then... how many people are going to jump on the Symbian bandwagon and start developing quality apps? I give it at least another year after that until we start seeing Verizon phones/apps that give us what Apple has been giving us for quite some time.
Will WinMo give us apps like that? I think not! The iPhone OS killed WinMo 7's feature list by far and WinMo keeps getting pushed back (on par with M$ tradition). In my opinion... I've given M$ plenty of time to keep me interested and have been let down time and time again. I'm not going to throw away my money anymore. :)
the iphone has a nice design and some nice touch features. Point and end of the story.
I will buy an iphone once it supports my needs:
- open platform, its my phone, so i want to install whatever i feel like and not just what apple allows me to. and i don't want to have to jailbreak it and loose warranty. this sucks big time!
- free choice of provider, don't think it can really be legal what they are doing
- fully customisable. once again its my phone so i don't want to be limited
- multitasking. of course this would be a must for any modern phone. any other company would bring a phone like this, the world would just laugh about it... it is all about the brand
all of this will never happen, so i will never buy one.
winMo might not be the most trendy phone os, and the newly arised competition is only good as it forces ms do do something about it. i don't mind changing platform as long as i can benefit from it. with the iphone i wouldn't see one single advantage but loads of disadvantage.
it is a joke to have news messages like this, saying now tomom for iphone, wow. it is just a joke... the iphone is just not for geeks, but for wanna-be-geeks ;)
"wanna-be-geeks"? :P Wouldn't anyone with any smartphone with any OS be considered a geek just simply for having one? LOL
I agree that WM gives you greater flexibility but take a WM device on Verizon for instance... you still have to jump through hoops to get it to work the way you want it. On top of which, development for a WM device is rather difficult considering you have very few APIs available to you. Freedom on a device with limited APIs or pretty much any app imaginable (most of which you can find for free) on a locked system.... I choose the locked system but to each his own I guess.
Also... you can't argue choice of provider. Every single cellular provider out there has their own set of phones available only with that carrier. This is not an Apple or ATT exclusive. It's simply their way of reeling people in albeit questionable. That much will never change.
And finally... multitasking. Why do you think WM devices are notorious for poor battery life??? :) And yes I know there are apps out there like MagicButton that prevent WM apps from running in the background but then what's the point of having multitasking in the first place if you're just going to kill the process anyway? haha Granted it would be nice in some instances but I've honestly never had the need for multitasking on a mobile device. The only information I've wanted to transfer to another application is available with cut-n-paste which is now available on the iPhone. And since this is a "mobile device", applications are comparatively small and very quick to load. I personally would not want to sacrifice battery life for multitasking.
So in all I did NOT purchase my iPhone because it was trendy. I purchased it because I'm sick and tired of WM and their lack of imagination and ingenuity! And why is it a joke to have TomTom on the iPhone??? TomTom has been available for WM devices for quite some time! LOL Is that a joke too? The world apparently wants an all-in-one device or we wouldn't be seeing them in such great numbers. I fail to see where M$ is providing this on a working, user-friendly level. :P
If it is a good choice for you: fair enough. The iphone just doesn't work for me. I personally have a problem in the way apple tries to control its platform.
Not tomtom is a joke, but its just not newsworthy it is now available for iphone and and its treatedd like its something new. It might be for the iphone, but otherwise it is not... it has been around for years...
As for multitasking, I just like it. Battery life of my device is ok, and I do have some programs running in the background, like google maps updating my location and others.
The provider problem is one you seem to have in the US. In Europe I do not have this problem and I have the choices... I prefer buying a an unbranded phone and choosing the best provider option for me. I don't like the bundling, not iphone nor wm with any provider. And it turns out to be cheaper in the end as well...
But hey, may the best win! I guess it will not iphone nor wm. Android might take off big time...
I love choices ;)
Hey nice, I would likt to share this with you http://www,techmasher.com
This article needs to be updated... Handtec clearly states on their site that this does NOT include the software (for obvious reasons). :)