Time was when a GPS device was the must-have item in any self-respecting gadget-lover’s gear bag. But as years wore on and smartphones began to usurp the location functions, they’ve grown increasingly irrelevant. Sure, they still serve a purpose, but we’ve been advising companies like Garmin and TomTom for years to do some serious self-evaluation if they expect to be around much longer. TomTom appears to have truly taken this to heart, and are taking the appropriate actions. → Read More
Ladies and germs, this is the Go Live 1535 M, which according to TomTom, is the first PND with connected apps. That claim may not exactly be true, but the Go Live 1535 M does have an impressive — that is, impressive for a GPS — set of non-standard functions through a variety of apps such as Twitter, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Expedia. These are in addition to TomTom’s VIA connected services that includes fuel prices, weather and Google Local Search.
The personal navigation device market has lost much of its thunder the last few years. These apps are the sort of functions that could have at least temporarily slowed the transfer of power to the smartphones regime. But alas, the Go Live 1535 M is hitting a few years too late with a crazy-high price. → Read More
Some infrastructure news for your Monday afternoon. Pretend this is Civlization V. TomTom has a new traffic database called TomTom Traffic Stats that makes it easier for BIG GOVERNMENT for study traffic patterns and the like. A sort of, “Hmm, maybe we should add a traffic light there, there seems to be a lot of slowing down and confusion as people approach the intersection.” → Read More
Nokia is having a rough month.
First, it saw itself forced to cut its outlook for the second quarter and the full year, and now The Register reports that the Finnish company has lost one of its top tech brains.
Charles Davies, former Symbian CTO and notably the first employee and later managing director of Psion, is leaving the mobile juggernaut to take up an unknown role at navigation giant TomTom. → Read More
TomTom, you sneaky, sneaky devil. You thought you could pop two new GPS models up on your website and no one would notice. Well, you’re wrong. The Internet doesn’t miss anything. → Read More
Darth Vader, C-3PO, Yoda, and Han Solo will soon yell at you for making a wrong turn and advise you to make the next legal U-turn on your TomTom device. The company just announced plans to out the voice options in Europe and, well, they are simply awesome. Right now Darth Vader is the only one available, but the other three will drop later this summer with C-3PO coming in June, Yoda in July, and Han Solo in August. It’s too bad that the voices only seem to be available in Europe market, but maybe there are plans in the works to out them in the states as well.
More importantly, may the fourth be with you and click through for Darth Vader’s TomTom recording session. It’s worth your time. → Read More
The dedicated GPS market is slowly but steadily shrinking as smartphones gain the same abilities, but yet the major players keep rolling out new devices. The TomTom Go Live 1000 bucks the trend of a semi-smart connected device and instead adds a ton of storage on top of a powerful setup to run a WebKit-based UI along with a ton of connected apps. This just might be the PND we’ve been waiting for — too bad it’s a few years late. → Read More
Selling updated maps has always been a clever revenue source for top-tier GPS makers. But TomTom is breaking the mold and just starting offering free map and traffic updates across most of its product line. XL and XXL units starting at $199 are now available with the feature. Hopefully TomTom will continue marching the feature down-market, outing new, lower-priced models with the same lifetime trend. Click through for the presser. → Read More
TomTom is serious about its iPhone navigation app and the upcoming update brings it one step closer to the feature set found on high-end dedicated GPS units. Version 1.3 is currently held up by App Store reviewers, but when they get done pawing through the code, it will enable real time traffic reports along with a Google-powered local search tool. The addition of the new services pretty much replicates the services found in TomTom’s GO Live models. Now users can get traffic reports along with local searches within the app, while dedicated iPhone apps can already get local fuel prices and weather. The dedicated GPS units still offer a bit more navigation goodies, along with larger screens, but the iPhone is nipping at their heels with the latest update. → Read More
It’s probably a safe bet that nearly every retailer and consumer electronic manufacturer forms a committee with the sole purpose of exploiting Valentine’s Day. We’ve already seen the Nook Valentine’s Day edition today and now it’s TomTom‘s turn with the red EASE GPS unit. Because nothing says love like a cheap personal navigator. I kid, I kid. → Read More
Most agree that the original TomTom iPhone app is a tad overpriced at $99 for just the app. That doesn’t include the $119 windshield mount. Esspecially now that Google has made its mark on the GPS market with the free Google Maps Navigation app. And so that brings us to the latest TomTom GPS app. This one is US-only, but only costs $50. → Read More
Short Version $219.94. The price says it all. The TomTom Car Kit is great; it works perfectly, and I loved using it. In fact, I wish I could keep the review unit that TomTom sent me. That said, would I ever spend 2 bills and change on it? Mayyyybe, but it’s unlikely. A standalone TomTom GPS unit can be as cheap as $100, which is half the price of the TomTom Car Kit ($119.95) + TomTom GPS App ($99.99) for the iPhone. Furthermore, it’s hard to justify buying both the hardware and the software when there are cheaper options for both (more on that later). Of course, the product does serve multiple purposes as an in-car iPhone charger, Bluetooth speakerphone and GPS unit. All in all, I was fairly impressed with the device and think those that aren’t turned off by the price might consider its purchase. The convenience of an all-in-one device is compelling. Hit the jump to read on… → Read More
Alright, everyone, settle down. I know the Google Maps Navigation stuff is pretty amazing, but let’s not write off the traditional GPS makers just yet. They’re not going anywhere for a while. Your parents and friends will see to that.
Hopefully the sudden market loss that companies like Garmin and TomTom saw yesterday will wake the companies up and see that they are doing it wrong. They are in the habit of producing 78 different versions of the same GPS. Each model steps you up $20 and adds another feature. It’s a ridiculous business plan and totally opposite what successful companies are doing.
But it’s true. Google dropped a bombshell on GPS makers yesterday with its free navigation tool that trumps almost anything currently available. The Android 2.0 app is about as robust as you can get thanks to the always connected Android OS and almighty Google. You can simply say “Where is the Best Buy in Flint, MI” and it will take you there. All this is free from the “do no evil” company, Google. → Read More
Bad news, you guys. If you were thinking of dropping $120 on TomTom’s iPhone car kit and then another $100 on TomTom’s navigation app for use with your first-generation iPhone or second-generation iPod touch, it now looks like you’d to run into some compatibility issues.
AppleInsider is reporting “that although the Car Kit dock is compatible with all iPhone models, the TomTom application will only work with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G – even with the dock connected to a first-generation iPhone or iPod touch.” → Read More
Google released a new mobile navigation app today and GPS navigation companies such as Garmin And TomTom saw their shares take a plunge. The announcement shaved $1.2 billion off of Garmin’s market cap alone. Its shares are down more than 16 percent so far today to $31.60. TomTom’s shares are down 21 percent to $8.11.
And this is just for an Android app. But Google could very well make it available to other phones as well, and that is what has investors worried. GPS navigation apps are among the most expensive, and most lucrative, of all mobile apps. → Read More
TomTom’s iPhone car dock is now available from the U.S. Apple Store for $120 with a shipping time of 2 to 3 weeks. You’ll recall that the actual TomTom iPhone app runs for $100 on top of that. → Read More
TomTom is here with yet another GPS device. The 335S packs a 4.3-inch touchscreen and text to speech functions into a small package with a somewhat competitive MSRP of $239. But like most other GPS units, that MSRP will probably be undercut by retailers as they try to push these GPS units onto holiday shoppers. Thankfully, the XL 335S seems to be decent for that price although I couldn’t tell you the difference between this $239 335S and the $249 340S. (K.I.S.S) → Read More
The one major draw of having GPS navigation software on your smartphone is that the phone is probably connected to a network that can give more info than just directions, but the screen is just so damn small. TomTom knows this and just launched its second Internet-connected GPS device, the 4.3-inch XL 340S LIVE. This guy uses AT&T as its data provider and can update the users on a whole range of info: fuel prices, weather, traffic levels, traffic incidents, and more. But there’s a small catch. → Read More
