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TomTom offers free car kit adapter for iPhone 4
Attention, folks who purchased the TomTom car kit for their iPhone 3G or 3GS, only to upgrade to a won't-fit-quite-right iPhone 4: you're in luck. TomTom is now providing a free adapter for the aforementioned car kit that allows an iPhone 4 to fit properly. Apparently the adapter is simply a piece of plastic that one sticks into place over a spot at the bottom of the dock. It's included in the kit packaging from September 1, though if you bought a car kit before then, you can claim your adapter from TomTom for free. The TomTom car kit retails for about $120. Obviously, to make full use of the TomTom car kit at all, you'll want to have the $40 iPhone app to go along with it. [via Electronista]
TomTom offers free iPhone 4 adapter for Car Kit
We still maintain that you've got better options than TomTom when it comes to iPhone GPS software, but if you pulled the trigger before giving yourself a moment to consider what you were actually doing, this here news may just interest you. In an effort to maintain compatibility with Apple's latest and greatest iPhone, TomTom is now including a simple adapter for all Car Kit orders going out on September 1st or later. If you ordered one prior to that, you can apply down in the source link for a freebie to be sent your way. Or just hack something up in the garage that looks like the insert above. Your call, vaquero. Update: Full press release after the break. [Thanks, Dan]
TomTom rolls out Go Live 1000 series navigation units
We got an early look at TomTom's Go Live 1000 navigation unit back in April, and it looks like you'll soon finally be able to get your hands on it as well -- if you're in Europe, that is. The company's just announced that the 4.3-inch GPS will be available this month, and will soon be followed by the Go Live 1005 in October, which adds a larger 5-inch screen. One of the big selling points here is that both screens are of the capacitive variety (complete with TomTom's so-called "Fluid Touch"), and you'll also get a nifty new magnetic windshield mount that lets you easily remove the device when you leave the car. Otherwise, you can expect to get a year of free "HD Traffic" information with each, along with TomTom Weather, IQ Routes, and Local Search with Google, among some other standard fare. Still no word on a release over here, but you can look for the 1000 and 1005 to run £250 and £300, respectively, in the UK (or roughly $385 and $460).
Sony's head units Xplod into the infotainment scene with TomTom GPS on in-dash screens
They may not have been the highlight of Sony's IFA 2010 press conference, but the company's new XNV head units deserve a place of their own, given they integrate full-blown TomTom GPS units and audio/video playback into their 7- and 6.1-inch WVGA touchscreens. Presently destined for Europe, the XNV-L77BT, XNV-770BT, XNV-L66BT and XNV-660BT will ship in November with TeleAtlas maps of 45 nations for a number of undisclosed prices, with each sporting Bluetooth, auxiliary and USB jacks, DivX playback and a DVD drive. The presumably-more-expensive "L" models also come with the usual array of traffic and weather alerts plus a Google-powered local search function, and all four decks sport a music recommendation engine that reportedly changes track based on your mood... though how the system measures your emotional attentions, we're not quite sure, and hope to find out soon. Press release after the break.
Addon Spotlight: Loremaster addons
Addon Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Happy Thursday, addon nerds. I hope your week is going as splendidly as mine is. Why is my week going splendidly, you ask? I decided to begin the Loremaster achievement process on my new warrior in preparation for Cataclysm. Potentially, only a few more months remain until the world goes kaboom, and I'd like to have that title ready to roll -- which, conveniently, brings me to the topic of this week's Addon Spotlight. This week, Addon Spotlight brings you the core collection of addons that make Loremaster less of a giant pain in the butt. For a comprehensive Loremaster strategy, I recommend, nay, compel you, to read Lisa Poisso's excellent Loremaster rookie article. I am here to give you all the information on the addons that make this achievement a snap. Let's read some quest text together! Awww, yeah!
Psion veteran Charles Davies leaves Nokia for TomTom
Charles Davies might not be as immediately recognizable as some other industry veterans, but anyone that's been following this business since the early days of PDAs will no doubt be familiar with his work. Davies was Psion's very first employee way back in 1981, and stuck with the company all the way up until 2003 when he left to join Symbian, before moving on to Nokia with the rest of the Symbian staff a few years later. During that time, Davies helped Psion pioneer the use of flash memory and custom silicon in handhelds, served as Symbian's CTO, and helped Nokia head up the strategy and architecture team for its R&D division. What's more, as The Register notes, Davies move to TomTom only further bolsters the ex-Psion ranks at the company -- he'll be joining former Psion CTO Mark Gretton, and former hardware exec Ken McAlpine, who joined TomTom two years ago after a stint at Apple. Still no word on what Davies' exact role at TomTom will be, but the company has confirmed the move, and promises to provide more details at some point. [Thanks, johnny99]
iPhone 4 and TomTom Car Kit brought together with velcro
Disappointed to find out that your brand new iPhone 4 won't work with the TomTom Car Kit for iPhone you paid $100 for? Well, it looks like there's a surprisingly simple fix: velcro. As tipster Ben Peacock has informed us, all you have to do is cut a small strip of velcro (the soft side) and apply it to the bottom part of the kit behind the dock (it's not necessary to apply it to the phone itself). Once that's done, the iPhone 4 will dock properly, and function just as before complete with charging and Bluetooth support. Head on past the break to check out the fix on video. [Thanks, Ben]
Engadget giveaway: Win a TomTom GO 630 GPS pre-installed with Darth Vader's voice
We know how much you guys love Star Wars -- and really, who better to guide you along your way than Darth Vader himself? Well, you're all in luck: we've got a TomTom GO 630 GPU unit to give away this week, and it comes pre-installed with the Darth Vader Star Wars VoiceSkin. We only have one of these to give away, so read the full rules below and get commenting! May the Force be with you. Special thanks to VoiceSkins for providing the gear.
Addon Spotlight: Gathering and trade skill helpers
Addon Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. We'll look at everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your interface folder will never be the same! This week, Addon Spotlight lies to you, ditches Power Auras and shows you some resource gathering and trade skill addons instead. Hello, addon enthusiasts. I know that I promised some more Power Auras this week in the form of some more advanced techniques, but as I was writing it, I realized I wanted more time to flesh out some concepts. So, you'll have to cut me the tiniest bit of slack and give me until next week for some more excellent Power Auras selections and suggestions from the community, as well as some of my own tips and tricks. Instead, here are three addons that will greatly enhance your trade skill gathering and crafting. Who doesn't love addons that make things easier? I know I do. Trade skills used to be my favorite thing about World of Warcraft. Then they petered off in usefulness for a while, making a triumphant return in Wrath. I remember back when the game was announced and the Blizzard dev team said you couldn't fail on crafting! As long as you had the materials, you were good. Amazing! What other fun surprises await you? Click on, heroes.
TomTom slips out XL 350, XXL 550 nav units for the US
Intrigued by those XL IQ Routes edition 2 navigation units TomTom rolled out for Europe back in March? Then it looks like you'll soon be able to get your fix in the form of the XL 350 and XXL 550, which recently turned up on TomTom's US website. In line with TomTom's usual naming convention, the XL 350 and XXL 550 pack 4.3-inch and 5-inch touchscreens (non-capacitive), respectively, and are each available with your choice of lifetime maps and traffic options. You'll also get 7 million POIs on each, along with advanced lane guidance, spoken street names, maps of the US, Canada and Mexico, TomTom's EasyMenu interface and, of course, the company's IQ Routes technology. Look for these to set you back between $169.95 and $259.95 depending on the model and add-on options.
TomTom strikes back with Darth Vader voice pack (video)
We guess TomTom was listening when we said it had to respond to Nokia's Own Voice app for custom turn-by-turn navigation instructions, as the Dutch company has announced a new Darth Vader voice pack. Following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Homer Simpson and Burt Reynolds, the Sith Lord has contributed his vocal stylings to the cause of guiding the lost and confused down the right path. Though it wasn't without hiccups -- check out the video after the break for the recording session -- the pack is now complete and ready for download, provided you have $13 handy to smooth the transaction. Yoda, C3PO and Han Solo packs are set to follow in the coming months. May the farce be with you.
TomTom reveals plans for App Store in battle against smartphone navigation
You know how TomTom is moving to a WebKit-based UI with its new flagship Go Live 1000 satnav? Well, there's good reason for it. While TomTom called it a "platform for innovation" at Tuesday's press event in Amsterdam, going so far as to show a few in-house developed prototype apps for Facebook, Wikipedia, and live street cams, it stopped short of revealing its true plan: an app store it can cuddle and call its own. Pocket-lint had a sit down with TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn who revealed TomTom's plans to launch the app store by the end of the year. Apps that will easily migrate to its in-car platform, and to and from other WebKit based devices. In essence, it's TomTom's consumer-focused survival plan against free turn-by-turn offerings from Google and Nokia. While there's no doubt that dedicated satnav devices offer greater functionality and better performance compared to their part-time smartphone navigating competitors, selling the average consumer (not hardened road warriors) on the need for two devices won't be easy. Besides, are Facebook updates really that critical when driving? Pics of the Wikipedia and street cam sample apps after the break.
TomTom rolls out Urban Rider motorcycle GPS
We didn't get a glimpse of this one when we checked out TomTom's new Go Live 1000 navigation unit earlier today, but the company has also just introduced a new GPS device for motorcycle enthusiasts: the Urban Rider. This one sticks fairly close to the company's previous RIDER units, but apparently simplifies even further with a revised interface designed to allow easier operation with gloved hands -- yeah, you can bet this screen is resistive. Otherwise, you can expect features like TomTom's IQ Routes and Map Share, along with advanced lane guidance, and a promised six hours of use from the battery -- that larger battery comes at the expense of an SD card slot this time around, though. No word on a release over here just yet, but this one will be available in Europe next month for €249 (or about $330).
TomTom Go Live 1000 taken for first test drive (video)
We've just returned from a ride with the TomTom Go Live 1000. In general, the device met our relatively high expectations set by a purported flagship navigator from the likes of TomTom. Unfortunately, the prototype unit guiding our vehicle was limited to a scripted demonstration on pre-selected routes. And when we did veer off course thanks to an unhelpful, but rather posh, voice guiding us to turn left a bit early, it took about 8 seconds for the ARM 11 device to reroute -- not bad but not exactly the 0 seconds we were promised during the pitch. Again, we were told that this was the result of using a prototype device... though it must be a near production-ready model given the summer launch timeframe. The unit also wasn't equipped with the automatic volume adjustment that raises and lowers volume based on the ambient noise around it. We did witness the Webkit UI in action and it does seem significantly improved based on our brief 15 minute test ride with it. However, it was still cumbersome enough to give our tour guide (a TomTom quality manager) fits as he tried to jump between 2D and 3D navigation modes. And the capacitive touchscreen was a mixed bag: at times it seemed to require the kind of finger mashing usually reserved for resistive screens; at others it was a bit too sensitive to effectively target street names from a pick list while being jostled about on a Dutch road (accidentally brushing the display selected the entry either above or below the street desired). As bad as all this sounds, we had the good fortune to have a Garmin nuvi 1690 in the vehicle with us to go head-to-head, flagship-to-flagship, and the Go Live 1000 was the clear winner in getting us back to our starting location. Check the Go Live 1000 in action after the break.%Gallery-91899%
TomTom Go Live 1000 to offer capacitive touchscreen, WebKit-based UI
TomTom has just outed its new flagship PND, the Go Live 1000, and wouldn't you know it, it's the first of the company's stable to offer a capacitive touchscreen. This comes mere days after Garmin updated its lineup with capacitive options. The 1000 is a little slimmer than its predecessors, but its major feature is "instant" route planning and re-planning once it has a satellite lock -- the industry's fastest. Achieved using a custom-built Broadcom GPS module, that capability is backed up by a 500MHz ARM11 CPU (yawn), 4GB of storage, 128MB of RAM, a new WebKit-based UI, and 12 months of free TomTom Live services. Beginning in June, this suite of services will be rolled out to 33 countries across Europe, featuring local information about petrol prices, services and weather, while its headline HD Traffic -- which tracks congestion on secondary roads as well as motorways -- and safety camera alert features will come to only 16 nations. It's a decent year-long freebie to have and TomTom promises it'll cost less than €50 ($67) per annum thereafter. That's more reasonable than the previous $9.95 monthly cost, but still not price-competitive with Google and Nokia's offerings. There's also a SIM card slot, but don't expect to be developing new modes of sidetalking, it's most likely there purely to facilitate all those data transactions. Check out the new UI in the gallery below and expect the TomTom Go 1000 Live to show up in Europe some time this summer.%Gallery-91890%
New European Mio Navman line uses Tom Tom maps, fails to mention Wordy Rappinghood
If you're in Europe, and you like getting from one place to the next as much as we do, you'll undoubtedly be delighted to know that Mio is unveiling three new Navman GPS systems, all of which feature Tom Tom's IQ Routes technology as well as Mio's LearnMe feature. Navman 575 (£149.99, or around $230) offers a 4.7-inch display, while users of the 470 and 475 models ($150) will have to make do with a 4.3-inch screen. Also included in this bonanza of navigation are a free year of real time traffic and safety camera info, Google Send-To-GPS (for sending Maps locations to the unit via USB), SiRFStar InstantFix, and more. Look for these to launch in May.
iPhone GPS navigation head-to-head review
Nobody likes getting lost, and nobody likes paying too much for a reheated lunch at a franchise restaurant when there's a mouthwatering family joint hiding just around the corner. Wouldn't you know it, there's an app that solves those problems -- quite a few of the things, as it turns out. Following up on our earlier look at non-iPhone GPS apps, we took a look at the top iPhone navigation choices in the App Store and narrowed it down to the five below, then threw in a no charge option for kicks, covering a range of prices from free to upwards of $120 per year. As it turns out there's a very tangible difference between the discount and the "premium" options here, but is that extra really worth it? Read on to find out.
TomTom rolls out Start 2, XL IQ Routes edition 2 nav units for the UK
TomTom's already announced some new lifetime map and traffic options for its navigation units in the US today, and it's now followed that up with a pair of new nav units in the UK. That includes the 3.5-inch Start 2 (pictured after the break) and 4.3-inch XL IQ Routes edition 2 (above), both of which support TomTom's IQ Routes technology, along with RDS-TMC traffic data, and the usual features like spoken street names and advanced lane guidance. The Start 2 model also mixes things up a bit with some interchangeable StartSkins covers, which are sold separately for £14.99 (or $22) apiece. Look for both to be available next month, with the Start 2 running £119 (or $180) and the XL IQ Routes edition 2 setting you back £139 in the UK and Ireland and £159 in Western Europe ($210 and $240, respectively).
MapQuest iPhone gets free voice navigation; TomTom lifetime map and traffic PNDs now available (update: Navigon MobileNavigator 1.5 too)
Chalk up another two wins for cheap consumer GPS. Like Google Maps Navigation before it, the MapQuest 4 Mobile iPhone app has just now added gratis turn-by-turn voice directions... and ahead of schedule, TomTom has begun bundling its new 2010 Personal Navigation Devices, including the XL 340S and the XXL 540S -- with lifetime traffic and maps subscriptions. The latter are now available on Amazon for a $30-per-lifetime-subscription premium in a variety of increasingly feature-filled flavors, with helpful T (traffic), M (maps) and TM (traffic and maps) suffixes so you know which TomTom is which. If you prefer buying from brick and mortar, TomTom expects retail availability beginning in April. Full list of supported TomTom models and expected MSRP after the break. Update: The 1.5.0 iPhone update to MobileNavigator from Navigon that includes MyRoutes, Facebook and Twitter integration, and Panorama View 3D is finally up on iTunes as well.
TomTom for U.S. and Canada updated with real time traffic and more
We told you it was coming, and now it has arrived. The popular US$59.95 TomTom app is ready to hit the road with real time traffic available as an additional in-app purchase. Included with the 1.3 update at no additional charge is Google local search, revised map data, music fading, automatic day and night mode based on your location, and the ability to add locations from other applications. The real time traffic option has some nice features. Updates are received every 3 minutes. If a delay along your route is found, you will get notification from the app and automatically be re-routed. The not-so-great feature is that the traffic info will set you back $19.95 for 12 months of information. By contrast, when I reviewed the live traffic option on the Navigon app in November, it was a one time price of $19.95. The Navigon app itself is 10 bucks more expensive than the TomTom app that includes the U.S. and Canada, but those yearly fees from TomTom can add up. All the navigation app developers are loading up their products with more and more features, and iPhone owners are lucky to have the chance to agonize a bit over which app to get. There are worse problems to have. The TomTom nav app works on an iPhone or an iPod touch but using it with the iPod touch requires a car kit. Including Canada and the U.S., the app costs $69.95. [Thanks Jared for the tip]
