Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store
TomTom car kit delayed until October
Since its release in late August, the TomTom for iPhone [iTunes Link] application has received a lot of attention. When the application was first debuted at WWDC, it became one of the first products to combine both hardware and software for the iPhone. The car-kit (which provides a separate GPS module for enhanced positioning, connections for audio and iPhone charging capability) was expected to be released alongside the app. More information was then leaked after TomTom's car kit was seen on the FCC website.
It looks like TomTom has decided to delay the release of the car kit until October to "deliver the highest quality innovative product." In a small note on their website's FAQ page, TomTom announced:
There are now many GPS apps available for the iPhone, but much of the excitement and anticipation for the TomTom version stems from its inclusion of a bundled accessory. We'll see how sales do when the car kit is released later next month.The TomTom car kit availability was originally planned for this summer. But we have decided to take some extra weeks in order to deliver the highest quality on this innovative product. So, the car kit will become available this October on www.tomtom.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
L3 said 2:12PM on 9-03-2009
wantwant
But not as much as I did when I first saw it MONTHS AGO.
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johnny said 2:14PM on 9-03-2009
And still no price, im sorry but tomtom sure as hell knows a price range at this point. Its a waste of money, i have a radio which connects to my iphone and charge its and got a cradle for $10 and the navigon gps app works perfect. I probably save $100 and it works fine and sounds goes thru speakers. tomtom has been too quiet on release date and pricing and their app didnt even live up to expectations. its on a connected device yet has no connected features like always up to date poi's or traffic or gas price.. nothing!
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Larry said 2:28PM on 9-03-2009
I bought a copy of Navigon for $69.99 and a DLO VentDock for $18.00, and ended up paying less than the cost of the TomTom App alone. And, while Navigon isn't perfect, its not bad.
TomTom completely blew their advantage. They had all the hype in the world coming out of WWDC, and if they had launched that app in Mid-Summer for a reason price ($50 to $75) they would've dominated the iPhone Nav market. I don't see how a $100+ Cradle and a $99.99 App is going to get them their now.
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mateens said 3:48PM on 9-03-2009
I agree. I have both of the apps and Navigon is much better than TomTom; not to mention cheaper.
eBay has great windshield mounts as well for $4 shipped.
CBM said 2:29PM on 9-03-2009
Yay, I sent this in! :D
*Gets happy*
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Sabon said 3:14PM on 9-03-2009
The price has been out on the internet for awhile now. It is going to be somewhere around $90.
This isn't Just a dock but has a better GPS chip in it will will dramatically improve GPS coordinate updates. An $18 dock will not have that.
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mateens said 3:43PM on 9-03-2009
I'm not sure why anyone would invest money into this kit. It will become obsolete within 2 years when you'll want to upgrade your phone for a newer model. Plus, the iPhone's built-in GPS has descent signal reception anyway. I would rather buy a PND instead of paying $100 for the software plus upwards of $50 for this.
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facundo said 4:11PM on 9-03-2009
With I ask TomTom about the maps for Latin America at the iPhone app, they refered to Apple and ask them since Apple and TeleAtlas are in charge of the maps on the TomTom app... any have any info about this? I mean, so It depends on What Country Apple wants to show in their store??
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NotTomTom said 4:38PM on 9-03-2009
Well just another way to say "sorry we are too stupid to keep our own product deadlines" Apple can deliver a whole phone on time and they can't even deliver an accessory on time. TomTom is really not used to such an innovative environment.
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Duane said 5:22PM on 9-03-2009
They're ALL sucking right now...Apple, AT&T, TomTom....when it comes to something involving the iPhone they are ALL falling short.
-Apple for waiting TWO generations of a phone before enabling MMS
-AT&T for waiting FOREVER to make sure their networks could handle all the data involved with the iPhones
-TomTom for taking forever to release their app, overpricing it, and now taking forever to release the hardware.
EPIC FAIL ON ALL PARTS.
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SIP said 7:29PM on 9-03-2009
If Apple had enabled MMS from the get-go and the telco (AT&T) couldn't deliver, the MMS-fiasco would have run much longer.
Anyway, who uses MMS on a smartphone? I think most would prefer just to email, except if you're on O2 (like me) and their data service falls over with regular frequency.....
Eugenian said 6:51PM on 9-04-2009
I hope the mounting hardware is at least a quantum level better than what came with my TomTom One 3rd Edition. The suction cup sucks! Well, actually, no it doesn't. That's the problem.
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Mark said 3:21AM on 9-04-2009
Looks like they're waiting to release it to ensure its compatibility to the new iPod touch that will be announced on Sept. 9th. TomTom ain't stupid, they might have lost the WWDC's momentum... but I'm pretty sure they got some "one more thing" up their sleeves.
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ConnectionQ said 4:38AM on 9-04-2009
Can the TomTom iphone cradle be used with an existing in-car interface cable?
i.e. I have a cable that plugs into the bottom of my iphone and gives me my tunes through the car sounds system (cable also charges, phone calls acheived by bluetooth).
There aren't many pictures of the TomTom cradle, I'm hopeing there is a sneaky socket underneath?? If not, FAIL!
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Tavaris said 10:22AM on 9-04-2009
Hey ConnectionIQ - I am looking for your exact setup - cable playing iphone through the car stereo, charging the phone, and bluetooth for calls - what stereo are using? Details please.
ak said 7:03AM on 9-04-2009
Dear Teacher,
I'm sorry my homework is late, once again, but I wanted to deliver the highest possible quality product.
Very truly yours,
A. Student
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derekknighttx said 7:24AM on 9-04-2009
These guys couldn't find their asses with both hands. What a way to blow a strategic advantage! The software is overpriced at $99, and the dock/mount is a no show with no announced price.
Why do they feel a need to screw with customers like this?
Any Chinese plastics shop could pump this out in 3 days-- and slap a fake TomTom logo on it to boot.
TomTom... there are TOO MANY competitors for you to act like a big slow moving bonehead international company. Time to execute and over-deliver rather than promise and delay.
I'm done.
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Actionable Mango said 11:53AM on 9-04-2009
Is anyone aware of an existing car cradle with a pass-through connector for power and audio? It is annoying to drop the iphone into a cradle, then attach power so it doesn't die, then attach a stereo plug to top. Then reverse all that when I get out.
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roby said 7:23PM on 10-06-2009
Tomtom is the best for navigation...!
For outdoor sports you don't need car kit or expensive apps: just try the Lite version of EasyTrails GPS, one of the best apps at the moment!
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