NaviGadget

Two names that we keep talking about are finally together. Today at Apple’s WWDC TomTom’s GPS navigation application for the iPhone was announced – along with an accessory kit that charges your iPhone, includes speaker and microphone for hands free calling, and even enhances GPS reception (possibly) by providing its own GPS receiver.

First check out the video:

TomTom GPS navigation application for iPhone will be able to provide turn-by-turn directions and of course the specially designed car kit will be able play the voice instructions through its own speakers.

We do not know how much the TomTom app will cost but we know it’ll include the latest maps.

Want to guess how much this will cost?

And now check out the pictures:

TomTom White Pearl is a special edition GPS navigation system from the company. They are trying to make their TomTom ONE IQ Routes system more suitable as a gift item. It has a chic pearlescent finish and matching EasyPort folding mount, and comes with a subtle ‘swirl’ pattern, which also shows up on the start up screen. Another extra is the luxurious silk drawstring bag.

TomTom White Pearl will be available in June for about £179.99.

TomTom has finally made the new NAVIGATOR 7 available for Windows Mobile; available for purchase to all end-users instead of bundling it with certain HTC phones.

You can either download after paying £ 35 or get it on a microSD card for £ 90. The current list of compatible devices include

• HTC P3600
• HTC P3470
• HTC Touch Cruise
• HTC Touch Cruise II
• HTC Touch HD
• HTC Touch Pro
• HTC TyTN II
• O2 XDA Diamond Pro
• O2 XDA Guide
• O2 XDA Orbit 2
• Orange P4550
• Orange SPV M700
• SFR s300+
• Swisscom XPA1615
• T-Mobile MDA Vario III
• T-Mobile MDA Vario IV
• Vodafone XPA1615

And the maps cover maps of western European countries. However you can also purchase maps other countries ranging from Mexico to New Zealand.

European GPS navigation system leader TomTom just announced that it’ll become an associate sponsor of Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates for both the IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) during the 2009 racing season.

With IndyCar their car will be the No. 10 Honda Dallara and for NASCAR it will be No 1. Chevrolet.

The No. 10 and No. 1 cars, as well as the driver and crew uniforms, will prominently display the TomTom logo throughout the 2009 race seasons. The TomTom logo and brand colors will also be featured as the primary paint scheme at several races throughout the year.

Drivers Dario Franchitti and Martin Truex Jr. said they’d be taking advantage of the new TomTom GO 740 LIVE’s traffic updates feature on the track but they weren’t happy about the monthly fees associated with the service. However they will be taking advantage of the lane assistance and text-to-speech features for their maneuvers :) read »

TomTom XL LIVE is the new GPS navigation system from the company that promises to bring their costly connected services to a mid range sat nav system for the first time. The only good thing about is that your paid “LIVE” services will also work in some other countries without the need to pay even more €. Those countries now include Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

TomTom XL Live will cost €219 for a regional version and €249 for a European version. TomTom LIVE Services which cost €9.95 per month and include their own HD Traffic updates, safety camera alerts, fuel prices, and of course Google Local search.

TomTom GO Live 740 recently got a bunch of reviews and we wanted to share a few of those here at Navigadget – all on one page:

Engadget

…Trying to check the local weather forecast? Expect to wait a minute or two for the GO 740 LIVE to queue up the data; meanwhile, you can get the information you’re after and reply to a few emails on your handset. For those with no smartphone and no data plan, the connected features are certainly more appealing, but we still argue they aren’t worth $120 per year. Spotty traffic alerts, slow-to-load weather forecasts and marginally stale fuel price updates just aren’t worth paying extra for, especially after you just laid down so much money for the device itself…

Gizmodo

…This past week I drove around with the new $400 TomTom Go 740 LIVE, both around town and on a road trip, and I was shocked to see that the problems I used to bitch about years ago still persist. What good are turn-lane guidance, connected searches and live traffic and weather—let alone user-editable community-powered mapping tools—when the basic experience sucks so painfully?…

GPS Review
Mostly in response to Gizmodo “review”…

Yes, the graphics are not quite as crisp as Garmin devices. That is true. But it hardly impacts my ability to get to the destination. It isn’t so ugly that I have to turn away in horror. And the screen refresh rates of TomTom devices are frequently cited by customers as being faster than many of the newer Garmin devices.

And from the UK

pocket-lint

But diving into TomTom Home you get a sense for how much in real terms this type of device will cost you. After the initial outlay of £340 odd, the Live services will cost you £7.99 a month, and if you want the latest maps, to be constantly updated with these, (aside from user corrections) will again cost you more. Playing into that idea of being an everyday device, this cost may be worth it, but if you buy the TomTom for holiday use twice a year, it doesn’t look like good value for money.

pcpro

The speech recognition tools are another area of improvement, adding the ability to control various aspects of the device – such as switching between 2D and 3D views as well as simply entering addresses. We found this worked well, but though it recognised street names and cities okay, it occasionally had difficulty in recognising numbers, bizarrely.

TomTom GO 740 Live which we first announced back in January is now shipping in the U.S. as promised.

This is TomTom’s first “connected” GPS navigation system which can provide the user with wireless real-time traffic feeds, local Google search, fuel price service, weather, and TomTom QuickGPSFix (A-GPS) to shorten the time to find satellites.

The good news is the price is only $400, which has gone down $100 since the device was announced. The LIVE services costs $10/month but first three of those are free.

Here are some specs:

• Touch-screen: 4.3 inch full TFT color LCD (480 x 272 pixels, supports 64K colors)
• Memory: 2 Gb Internal Flash (micro-SD slot for additional storage)
• Maps: Pre-loaded maps of USA, Canada from Tele Atlas
• GPS: High-sensitivity GPS chipset
• Bluetooth: for Hands-Free calling
• Connected: Built-in SIM card and GPRS modem for plug-and-play connectivity
• Battery: Rechargeable internal 3 hour battery

TomTom GO 740 Live

Also announced just today from TomTom was TomTom XL 340 and TomTom XL 340S. Just like the TomTom ONE 140 we mentioned earlier, the two new 340 models will also include the IQ Routes and Advanced Lane Guidance feature. These two features used to be exclusive to higher end models but now they’re standard on the mid-range sat nav devices.

The two new models have a 4.3″ touch screen, come with maps of North America and Mexico, 7 million points of interests, and come with the award winning EasyPort mount.

The only difference between TomTom XL 340 and TomTom XL 340S is that “S” speaks street names, and of course the price. 340 and 340S will cost $230 and $250 respectively – both available in USA and Canada starting this month.

TomTom ONE 140 and TomTom ONE 140S are the two new editions to company’s entry level GPS navigation system lineup. They will be available in retailers this month for $180 for TomTom ONE 140 and $200 for TomTom ONE 140S. The only difference between 140 and 140S is that the latter also has text-to-speech feature, meaning it can pronounce street names – which in our opinion is well worth an extra $20.

What’s new with these models is that the IQ Routes and Advanced Lane Guidance features that were only available on the high-end GO series is now standard.

Here is what those features really mean:

IQ Routes: incorporates historical speed profile data for both day of week and time of day to calculate the fastest route available based on when the user is actually driving to their destination; takes into account the real-world factors that influence the speed that drivers can actually expect to travel en route to their destination, such as historical traffic patterns, traffic lights, rotaries, school bus routes, and steeply-sloped roads.

Advanced Lane Guidance: realistic representations of complex highway junctions and lane-specific visual directions.

Oh, and before we forget, TomTom ONE 140 series now include maps of Mexico; of course in addition to maps of North America (North America is just USA and Canada as far as map makers are concerned)

Called Renault Carminat TomTom, the new, completely integrated system has a 5.8″ screen, however it does not have a touch user interface. Depending on the vehicle model it’ll either come with a remote or be controlled by the car’s own control systems.

The new Renault Carminat TomTom is supposed to be a low cost solution therefore there’s no two way connected features on this device. However TomTom is trying to make up for this deficit by allowing the users to download their data onto an SD card, using the Renault TomTom Home software. Some models however will be able to get traffic information using RDS-TMC traffic receiver.

Since it is completely integrated the 5.8″ will also be able to display information from other sensors in the car – for example the temperature or radio stations. Other features of the system include bluetooth connectivity and a gyro sensor for increased precision.

The first Renault to come with the new Carminat TomTom will be the Clio which will be unveiled in Geneva on March 5th at the Motor Show. This Clio will be available in Europe, including Turkey; as well as South Africa. The new system is supposed to cost about 500 €.