TomTom: Nav system "runs on the iPhone already"

Reuters is reporting that TomTom, manufacturers of portable, consumer GPS devices, have got their service up and running for the iPhone. "Our navigation system runs on the iPhone already," said a TomTom spokesman this week.

At first glance, this seems like another vendor announcing that their product will be available for the iPhone, but it's much more. When it debuted last year, I said that it's really a computer that happens to make phone calls. That's only become more evident since. During Monday's keynote, Steve Jobs noted that 98% of iPhone owners are using it for mobile browsing and 80% are using 10 or more features.

I use mine for email, the web (especially Twitter) and as an iPod far more often than I do to make phone calls. In fact, it has replaced my 8GB nano which sits neglected on my desk. It serves as a handy stand-in for my MacBook Pro when I want to read and reply to mail, check RSS feeds, post to Twitter and so on.

Now it can run TomTom software, so there's three devices it has replaced. Who knows what other incredible applications await us on July 11th. It may sound like the ramblings of a star-struck fanboy to say that the iPhone will significantly change people's perception of what a portable device can do, but it's also entirely accurate.

[Via Ars Technica]