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TomTom car kit delayed until October

by John Burke Sep 3rd 2009 at 2:00PM

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:
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.
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.




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Since its release in late August, the TomTom for iPhone [iTunes Link] application has received a lot of attention. When the application was...
 

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roby

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!

October 06 2009 at 7:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
derekknighttx

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.

September 04 2009 at 7:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LifeSux

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

September 04 2009 at 7:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ConnectionQ

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!

September 04 2009 at 4:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to ConnectionQ's comment
Tavaris

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.

September 04 2009 at 10:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mark

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.

September 04 2009 at 3:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Larry Miller

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.

September 04 2009 at 2:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Duane

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.

September 03 2009 at 5:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Duane's comment
SIP

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.....

September 03 2009 at 7:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ErnestoMaWan

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.

September 03 2009 at 4:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
facundo

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??

September 03 2009 at 4:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mateens

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.

September 03 2009 at 3:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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