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TomTom Releases iPhone Navigation App
andylim writes "Today TomTom released its long-awaited iPhone app that allows you to use your iPhone 3G and 3GS as a GPS navigation device. Recombu.com tested it out on video this morning and concluded that it works well but if you receive a call while you're driving then the app does cut out — it will restart once you've finished the conversation. The app costs £60 for the UK & Ireland version, £80 for western Europe, £45 for Australia and £60 for the US and Canada."
Wow, this is a crap deal. How disappointing. Why is the app is 1.2GB in size, when the iPhone is designed as an always-on device? A $30 1GB app with paid map downloads on demand, instead of storing the entire USA on the phone at once, would make much more sense. I agree that streaming maps (such as the google maps app) are useless if you're in the sticks with no coverage or Edge-only coverage, but giving up over 1/8th or 1/16th of my total storage for maps I won't use 99% of the time is a terrible compromise. if I could install map packs based on my travel plans, that would make much more sense. And $100 for the USA, when I can buy a standalone TomTom 125 for $80? Unless the $100 app has feature parity with the $400 standalone units, the only conclusion I can come to is that they are trying to incentivise people away from using the iPhone app, and toward buying a dedicated GPS unit instead. I can think of no other excuse. Bad form, guys. I hope someone sees the market opportunity and steals your cake.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
1.) No turn-by-turn
2.) No voice routing
3.) Most important - No offline storage of maps.
If you dare go somewhere without cellphone service, you'll quickly find that the streets disappear in Google Maps... That's because it loads the map as needed over your cellphone data connection.
The prices are in British Pounds, because the linked article is on a UK website. The author of the article is someone who is reporting the news to people in his country of origin. Congratulations on discovering that there's an entire world outside your country's borders!
Registering accounts later than some other chrisb since 1997
TomTom missed the boat on this app. You can buy a new TomTom device for $99. Why would I pay the same to add software to a device that I already paid for? I would have bought this if it came out at $50 for the software, or $99 for the software plus the hardware accessory kit. At $99 for the software alone, I will pass.
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There are many complaints here that I don't agree with:
With regard to the price and competing GPS apps: I have a TomTom GPS device that I bought a couple years ago. I paid about $200 and it has been worth every penny. If I didn't already have that device, I would buy the $99 iPhone app in a heartbeat. Yes, there are cheaper GPS apps, and I honestly don't know how most of them compare. I did buy a GPS app last week for $2 or $3. Considering the price I'd say it was good. But it doesn't compare to my TomTom at all; I deleted it. The Google Maps app is also nice, but it doesn't provide turn-by-turn directions while driving. TomTom is doing the smart thing and charging based on the value of the app.
With regard to the size of the app: I can understand the complaints. But (I think) the storage sizes on phones that will run this range between 8GB and 32GB. 1GB is a significant, but not huge, chunk of that. Phone storage sizes will only increase. I don't want to get lost because my phone can't reach the map server; storying 1GB of map data on the phone seems perfectly reasonable.
If you don't want it, don't need it, or can't justify the price, then don't buy it. But I think this will be a worthwhile app for many people.