TomTom iPhone GPS car kit delayed until October
By Will Park on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 PM PST In Accessories, Apple, Devices, GPS/Satellite Navigation, iPhone, iPhone OS
TomTom’s iPhone GPS Navigation app went live on the AppStore recently, drawing criticism from early adopters over the app’s less-than-stellar GPS performance. Part of the problem, said TomTom, was that they didn’t expect to have their iPhone app launch on the AppStore before the TomTom iPhone GPS car kit was ready to delivery. The thing is, TomTom’s GPS iPhone app is only a single part of a two-pronged solution – the iPhone app itself and the car kit. The iPhone app does all the number crunching, while the car kit pulls down more precise GPS data through its more robust GPS receiver (it also charges the iPhone). That car kit, apparently, has been delayed until October 2009.
The iPhone’s integrated GPS hardware is good for getting a casual geo-location fix, but for turn-by-turn satellite navigation at highway speeds, a more hardcore GPS receiver is needed. That’s where the TomTom iPhone car kit comes in. TomTom says that they’re still working on the car kit to make sure it lives up to the hype. According to TomTom:
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.
Ben recently had a chance to check out CoPilot Live for iPhone and came away pleased with the ergonomics and performance of the iPhone GPS nav app. CoPilot’s GPS performance was impressive, using just the iPhone’s GPS hardware. Once TomTom’s car kit hits market, we’re hoping to give TomTom a once-over and see how it compares to other iPhone GPS navigation apps.
[Via: TUAW]
I’ve bought the Navigon and TomTom apps for the iPhone and I was really impressed by the TomTom’s GPS abilities actually. Navigon went all wibbly at the merest hint of trees or tall buildings, whereas the TomTom app has taken me down long stretches of hilly, completely tree covered country lanes, without losing the signal at all.
Well. I absolutely agree with you. I find the TomTom program holds the GPS signal fine whereas Navigon constantly loses it.