TomTom car kit appears in Apple's store, but it's not yet shipping
The long-awaited TomTom car kit for the iPhone has finally arrived at the Apple store. The The cradle is designed to enhance the TomTom GPS app [iTunes link], which has been available since July.
The kit provides secure docking and enhanced GPS performance with its own built-in GPS receiver. The car kit will charge your iPhone and give you for hands-free calling. The unit also has an audio out connector so you can play your music through your car audio system, however, the cable that enables this is not included.
The TomTom solution has been criticized by some for being too expensive because the car kit plus the cost of the Tom Tom navigation application is more than $200. One could easily buy a standalone GPS for less than that, although you have more hardware to carry.
The TomTom has also fallen a bit behind the best-selling Navigon application which includes a text-to-speech feature and has received generally better reviews from consumers.
According to the Apple Store, the car kit is not yet available, and there is no time estimate of a ship date. (Note: some of our readers are getting December 4 ship dates from the Apple Store.)
[Thanks to all our readers for tipping us to this story]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tom Keddie said 11:07PM on 10-21-2009
"The Car Kit dock is compatible with all iPhone models, but the Car Kit app only works with iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G". Odd I have the app running on my 2G with GPSSerial.
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Branden Russell said 1:52PM on 10-21-2009
I think you missed the part of the page that says the app is not included for $119. So it is not $119 for the combination.
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macserv said 3:34PM on 10-21-2009
It's nice, but a price point over $200 makes me hold off, at least long enough to see what Navigon rolls out in the mounting hardware category. Their app is better, so if the mounting hardware is also cheaper, they win.
Logan said 2:01PM on 10-21-2009
Having a stand-alone GPS in your car at all times isn't more hardware to carry. I'd argue that it's more convenient to not have to dock/undock your iPhone every time you get in your car.
When it comes to in-car navigation, having a stand-alone GPS is incredibly more convenient than having your cell phone take on the roll. What happens when you get a call or text but you need to keep receiving directions?
I can understand the usefulness of having some sort of navigation app on you at all times, but the Maps application is enough to serve that basic purpose. Even the $35 CoPilot Live is just as good (if not better) than Tom Tom. For $200+ you could get a really, really nice standalone GPS. I honestly cannot understand why anyone would pay that much for this app+hardware combination.
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LGgeek said 10:12PM on 10-21-2009
agree 100% , think it's a dumb idea.
jump1234 said 5:02AM on 10-22-2009
"What happens when you get a call or text but you need to keep receiving directions? "
You suppose to pull over!
RyanTV said 2:07PM on 10-21-2009
In some states it is illegal to stick a GPS unit to your windshield... You have to use one of the weighted beanbag mounts which I personally prefer anyway. Wonder if TomTom has any plans to give us that type of mounting option.
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feeko said 2:49PM on 10-21-2009
Most bean bag mounts I've seen have a flat disc on them to attach a suction mount to them, so I would say yes they allow this option.
emil said 2:11PM on 10-21-2009
I'm loving MotionX GPS Drive ... no TTS (yet, they insist it's coming in a free update) but the price is freakin' unbeatable! I've used it on a few trips with really no problems. I'm pretty sure it helped me avoid big delays because of an accident. I didn't figure that out until after I arrived, scratching my head the whole time at the route it picked.
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Kleinias said 4:14PM on 10-21-2009
I quite like MotionX GPS Drive as well, but it uses a predictive model to route according to known traffic patterns. It doesn't currently detect accidents or have live traffic. Some of these features are supposed to be coming in future updates. I know that a "Night Mode" is in testing and should be released in their next update.
nater said 2:35PM on 10-21-2009
just got my order acknowledgment on this and it has December 4th as a ship date with December 8th as a delivery date
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Jack said 2:46PM on 10-21-2009
Are you sure it’s a combo deal?
read the ** on the page
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Scott said 2:48PM on 10-21-2009
TomTom sucks
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Woz said 3:06PM on 10-21-2009
I ordered mine from the Apple Store and it arrived Monday morning.
I am in the UK though.
So very I'm quite impressed. Build quality is better than I expected.
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Jimbo said 4:40PM on 10-21-2009
No thanks, I perfectly happy with Navigon. :-)
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geoff said 6:26PM on 10-21-2009
This product is so FAIL. I have wanted it, I have waited for it, I have listened to TomTom's empty promises. They said a date, then delay it. Then they say "October" - well there is just over a week left in October and still no REAL work on the product, no update e-mails (I subscribed on their web site), no dates, no availability, etc; and the rumors I hear don't have it shipping until DECEMBER!? WTF TomTom, why am I begging (and begging and begging) to pay for $120 for this thing?
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acesarewld said 5:01PM on 10-21-2009
This product is so FAIL. I have wanted it, I have waited for it, I have listened to TomTom's empty promises. They said a date, then delay it. Then they say "October" - well there is just over a week left in October and still no REAL work on the product, no update e-mails (I subscribed on their web site), no dates, no availability, etc; and the rumors I hear don't have it shipping until DECEMBER!? WTF TomTom, why am I begging (and begging and begging) to pay for $120 for this thing?
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Timm said 10:50PM on 10-21-2009
Your tha FAIL hear terd.
Dan said 5:13PM on 10-21-2009
All I want is an identical mount without the built in GPS. All I need for navigation is the built in map application.
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Vasquez said 7:13PM on 10-21-2009
I would love a mount just like the TomTom, one that charges, and provides audio out, without having to plug and unplug multiple cables every time I want to use it.