November 15th, 2012

Digital Mapping Company TomTom Launches Location-Based Platform, Portal, SDK To Drive App Licensing Revenues

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TomTom has launched a location-based services platform and developer portal. The company supplies maps to some big names in the mobile space, including Apple, but is aiming to make it easier for developers of all shapes and sizes to contribute to its coffers. → Read More

October 7th, 2012

Why You All So Kiasi?

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Editor’s note: Scott Rafer is CEO of Lumatic, a company that believes Cities are Humanity’s Future so they must be easier to love.

Maps are really hard, but the industry aspects are even rougher than the technology. That’s why it’s time for mapping people to quit apologizing and go for the throat. → Read More

October 4th, 2012

TomTom Outs A $50 Android Navigation App, Forgets To Make It Compatible With Popular Phones

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First, the good news: There is now a full-featured TomTom navigation Android app. It features live traffic data, multi-stop routing, and a gorgeous interface. But there is a bit of bad news, too. In fact it’s rather funny in a sad way: The app is not compatible with recent flagship devices including the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S III, HTC One X, and Galaxy Note. → Read More

October 24th, 2011

TomTom Finally Acknowledges It’s Getting Out Of Devices; Shareholders Rejoice

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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… → Read More

August 29th, 2011

TomTom Discovers Apps, Puts Twitter, Yelp And More In The Go Live 1535 M PND

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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… → Read More

January 24th, 2011

TomTom Traffic Stats: Know Your Traffic Patterns (If You're In Government)

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

November 1st, 2010

TomTom Releases GPS Units Redesigned Inside And Out

TomTom is back and ready to sell its next generation of PNDs. The 4.3-inch Go 2045 TM and 5-inch Go 2505 TM are built around a new system that was developed by regularly monitoring traffic information, which is said to provide smarter and faster routing. These models also hit with a redesigned UI that reduces the amount of user inputs to reach the desired function. Pinch-to-zoom and swipe from… → Read More

July 15th, 2010

App review: TomTom for iPhone

For the last couple of months I’ve been using the TomTom USA navigation app for iPhone. The big difference between this and other GPS applications is that all of the map data is stored on your phone, so no Internet connection is required to calculate routes. This is great when you’re in a dead zone, but it carries a hefty penalty in terms of file size: almost 1.5GB! Read on for more details. → Read More

June 25th, 2010

Nokia loses top technologist and former Symbian CTO Charles Davies to TomTom

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 → Read More

June 25th, 2010

Nokia Loses Top Technologist And Former Symbian CTO Charles Davies To TomTom

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 → Read More

May 25th, 2010

Ex-TomTom COO joins Prime Technology Ventures

Ex-TomTom COO Alexander Ribbink has joined the Dutch and UK based VC firm Prime Technology Ventures as a partner. He’ll be focusing on investments in consumer Internet, digital media, and technology companies.

Ribbink began working at the sat-nav company TomTom in 2003 and “played a major role in the international growth and marketing success of this global technology company”, according to the… → Read More

May 7th, 2010

TomTom quietly releases two new US models

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

May 4th, 2010

TomTom releases Star Wars GPS voices on the most appropriate day

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… → Read More

April 27th, 2010

TomTom Go Live 1000 blurs the line between PND and connected tablet

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… → Read More

April 15th, 2010

Navmii brings Sat-Nav to iPhone for €3.99, GPS race to the bottom continues

[UK] Following Google’s move to offer free satellite navigation in the US, and Nokia’s response to make its world-wide turn-by-turn solution also free, it was inevitable that other providers would join the race to the bottom.

That’s exactly what’s happened with today’s announcement that UK startup Navmii in partnership with map provider Automotive Navigation Data (AND) is offering an iPhone… → Read More

March 29th, 2010

TomTom brings free lifetime traffic and maps to the XL and XXL GPS models

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… → Read More

March 2nd, 2010

TomTom's iPhone app to get real-time traffic alerts and Google local search

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… → Read More

February 8th, 2010

The red TomTom EASE is probably meant to be a Valentine's Day gift because it's red

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

December 11th, 2009

TomTom wises up, releases $49.99 USA-only GPS app

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

November 30th, 2009

Review: TomTom Car Kit for iPhone and iPod Touch

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… → Read More

October 29th, 2009

Google didn't kill the standalone GPS

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… → Read More

October 29th, 2009

TomTom’s iPhone car kit no workie with iPod touch, first-gen iPhone

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… → Read More

October 28th, 2009

Google's New Mobile App Cuts GPS Nav Companies At The Knees

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… → Read More

October 26th, 2009

TomTom Car Kit for iPhone now selling in the U.S. for $120

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

October 13th, 2009

Here's the TomTom XL 335S, everyone

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… → Read More

September 28th, 2009

The TomTom XL 340S LIVE uses AT&T to deliver Google data

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… → Read More

September 25th, 2009

TomTom releases the US pricing for the iPhone Car Kit

The TomTom iPhone Car Kit has been getting a lot of media play the last few days. It briefly appeared on the UK’s iTunes Store and then TomTom announced that it will be available there for EUR99.99. But until now the company hasn’t said squat about the retail price here in the good ol’ States. → Read More

September 14th, 2009

TomTom rolls out two new XXL GPS units

Despite the fact that some feel they are whistling in the dark, TomTom just released the latest generation of their “PND” (don’t call it a GPS) the XXL. Featuring a large 5 inch screen, the new PNDs also have improved routing technology that learns your route, and helps to determine the most efficient way to get where you are going. → Read More

August 27th, 2009

TomTom and Garmin say standalone GPS devices ain't licked yet

Standalone GPS devices are a dying breed. Anyone with a half-way decent smartphone can get from point A to point B with a few taps of an onscreen keyboard and it’s abundantly clear that standalone devices will end up being the the province of old folks. That said, TomTom and Garmin are seeing roses and puppy dogs. → Read More

June 9th, 2009

Video of TomTom's iPhone accessory and app

We saw photos of the TomTom accessory for the iPhone yesterday but now we have video of it. This is basically a little dock with a USB cable and a GPS booster. Not a huge deal but this could feasibly mean the end of standalone GPS devices, which is kind of important. What think you? → Read More