TomTom feels jolly, temporarily drops price of iPhone GPS app

TomTom has done a respectable job of keeping its iPhone GPS app up to date when compared to formidable options from Navigon and the like, but today it's making its biggest move yet by way of a significant price drop. We've heard directly from the company (and confirmed with our own two peepers) that the US and Canada version of the app is now on sale for $69.99, while a US-only version is currently on sale for just $49.99. If you'll recall, the former was just selling for $99.99 a few days ago, so if you're planning on making that fateful trip to grandmother's house again this year, you might want a robotic gal leading the way. Just sayin'. [Warning: Source link directs to iTunes]

[Eternity Posted Dec 14th 2009 3:53PM]

Must.....resist....Google.....Nav......comment.

[MarcusMaximus Posted Dec 14th 2009 3:55PM]

@Eternity Haha, my thoughts exactly. With 2010 shaping up to be the year of Google and with Google Nav available on android phones for free, TomTom is gonna need to do a hell of a lot more than slashing their prices.

[chodaboy19 Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:00PM]

@Eternity LOL

[B3astofthe3ast Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:01PM]

@Eternity I can't resist, being a G1 owner, I am blessed with free navigation. Suck it TomTom!

[Skraps Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:38PM]

@B3astofthe3ast
I have an iPhone, and I use Waze. Free turn by turn GPS, crowdsourced. Works quite well. May not be google/tomtom but the price is right.

And worst case, if I ever get lost and it cant find me, revert to yahoo maps.

[Eternity Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:46PM]

@B3astofthe3ast
ewwwww it might get red paint all over you, I mean look at its hands!

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 14th 2009 11:42PM]

@Eternity Well I won't...I have a DROID.....Nav Included....

[mike222 Posted Dec 14th 2009 3:53PM]

Now i can go wherever my heart desires without a big clunky GPS.

[mike222 Posted Dec 14th 2009 3:56PM]

@mike222
not saying that iphone isn't big and clunky compared to other phones, just less clunky than a GPS

[bradl Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:05PM]

Now they only need to drop the price 20 more dollars to make the it competitive.

[yulebellow Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:07PM]

Doesn't matter because everything about the iPhone sucks and is just some stupid rip off and no one cares!

...whoops sorry about that I seemed to have misplaced my brain for a second.

[groberts1980 Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:08PM]

Any idea if/when Google will be releasing their Nav software on the iPhone?

[darjen Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:25PM]

@groberts1980
my guess is never.

[Michael Scrip Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:31PM]

@darjen

I don't see why not.

It's not Google vs. the iPhone... it should be Google Nav vs. Garmin/TomTom etc.

If Google Nav is kicking ass on all those Android devices... why wouldn't they want 30 million iPhones to have Google Nav too?

Even if Google had to pay Apple to allow it for people to install for free... that's still an incredible amount of devices that Google would be on...

[airmanchairman Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:42PM]

@groberts1980 on the 12th of never...

[amneziac Posted Dec 14th 2009 5:17PM]

@Michael Scrip
"Even if Google had to pay Apple to allow it for people to install for free"

I'm no business person, but that doesn't make any sense to me

[Michael Scrip Posted Dec 14th 2009 6:07PM]

@amneziac

I'm just saying... Google would love to be on the iPhone.... but Apple wants to get a cut of all those expensive app store GPS apps.

I agree it will never happen... but if Google Nav was allowed to be on the iPhone, it would have a higher install base than all Android phones combined.

[9ooyan Posted Dec 14th 2009 8:57PM]

@Michael Scrip
"..would have a higher install base than all Android phones combined"

yeah, the android OS is going to do that in 2010 anyways (remember it's a multi-carrier, international OS with a slew of phones slated for this coming year). Besides, there's NO way google is going to facilitate iphone sales by allowing free google navigation. what they should do is make iphone users pay something like 20 or 30$ to use it. apple aficionado's should be used to paying extra by now anyways.

[stealthcrawler29 Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:08PM]

Sorry for nitpicking .... but the price of the app in the store changed yesterday itself. Not "today" as mentioned in the post. Just saying :).

[Dr Spaceman Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:11PM]

Still $49 too much.

[RikF Posted Dec 14th 2009 7:19PM]

@Dr Spaceman Really? For a good, offline navigation program that has to use purchasing price to offset the research done in creating its maps? I use tomtom on wimo and would have been lost without it during a trip around a national park a month back. Free mapping from google is great, but it doesn't count for much when you don't have a signal when you want to start navigating.

[tommy2468 Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:24PM]

If i wanted a cheapo GPS navigation device, I may as well get an ACTUAL device from bestbuy. They have one for 60 bucks, no added accessories needed.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/RightWay+-+355+GPS/9462618.p?id=1218108656111&skuId=9462618

[Bootes Posted Dec 14th 2009 5:47PM]

@tommy2468 Except that what you're really paying for with GPS units and apps are the maps. A cheapo GPS from a no name company will probably have crappy maps and end up giving you bad directions.

[TIMMAH Posted Dec 14th 2009 5:48PM]

@tommy2468
>If i wanted a cheapo GPS navigation device, I may as well get an >ACTUAL device from bestbuy. They have one for 60 bucks, no added >accessories needed.

Actually, Amazon was selling Tomtom 130 and 140 refurb units for around the same price ($49, after $20 rebate) a few months ago. I did a semi-permanent installation on one of these in my car and it's been working great.

[MJZimmer88 Posted Dec 18th 2009 2:42PM]

@tommy2468

also... it's way easier to update the Maps on the TomTom app (or any iPhone app) than it is to update the stand alone gps system... whenever an update comes out, its got the most up-to-date mapping information all done through the iTunes

[magallanes Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:28PM]

Or you can apply for a mail in rebate of $49.99 using this coupon :CYDIA
(joke).

[Inect Posted Dec 14th 2009 5:18PM]

@magallanes

thanks, coupon worked like a charm

[stevewoz Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:38PM]

TomTom feels 'jolly'?

More like TomTom is pressured by more highly rated Navigon, and the free Droid system.

But any Nav System on the iPhone is better than the AT&T one.

[benbarber Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:42PM]

What about the UK & Ireland version, no price drop there! Thats still £59.99 when US & Canada is now £39.99! How does that work when you tally up the area they have to map out! Surly it should be the other way around!

[Flaystus Posted Dec 14th 2009 4:54PM]

AT $50 still not tempted. why? because if by the time my contract is up there is a FAST android option on AT&T then I'm going that way.

Sure I have a ton of apps I'll have to leave behind but screw it. Tried of Apples crap with the app store and this is from a Apple fan!

[ran Posted Dec 14th 2009 5:40PM]

Well screw you TomTom for those crazy prices in the first place.

[zachavm Posted Dec 14th 2009 6:03PM]

Sounds like something is motivating TomTom to reduce prices. Must be the fear of Googl... I mean God.

[feelthevibe Posted Dec 14th 2009 6:06PM]

a european company screwing over europeans...

[SLowrAM Posted Dec 14th 2009 6:37PM]

If it had text to speech I'd probably bite. Without it, I'll stick to my older Garmin.

[Sandbag Posted Dec 14th 2009 11:47PM]

@SLowrAM

Hope you have the cash as it seems that it's time to buy I guess. This is from Tom Toms software description.

Spoken city and street names

Helping you to keep your eyes on the road, the app comes with text-to-speech technology. The spoken instructions include city and street names, to make turnings even clearer.

[Sandbag Posted Dec 14th 2009 11:52PM]

@Sandbag

http://iphone.tomtom.com/en-gb/app.html

[The Missing Link Posted Dec 14th 2009 9:06PM]

OH, wait, wait a second... they lowered the price! Hold on, do... does that mean they expect me to buy this now? HA, HAHA

It's about time Apple hops off TomTom's dick.

[engadgetjp Posted Dec 15th 2009 12:37AM]

TomTom was $69.99 in Thanksgiving weekend. I still Prefer Navigon. I know Google Navi is free, but you need to constantly stream data which is useless in area that is no network coverage. I would rather have a reliable GPS app than free. Google Navi does cache the route, but the problem is that it doesn't cache enough when you want to take a detour due to traffic.

TomTom feature is still not as good as Navigon. It still doesn't have Traffic and Google POI search while Navigon v1.4 supports Google POI search, traffic, text to speech, better 3D interface and multiple intrim route planning. TomTom only support one waypoint. I wouldn't recommend TomTom even if it's $49.99 for US only nor the US+Canada for $69.99. NAVIGON for sure!

[Brian Posted Dec 15th 2009 1:22AM]

Still way over priced.