With the TomTom app now available in the App Store, we are left waiting for more information regarding their car kit. Normally, I would just say that a car adapter is a car adapter as they are pretty much standard fare, but in this instance the TomTom mount is actually going to benefit the ability of your GPS.
The car kit from TomTom will not only firmly hold your iPhone in place, but it will also serve to enhance your GPS signal, not to mention keep your iPhones battery from draining down to nothing. Which is what is bound to happen, especially if you are also listening to music while navigating. Additionally, the car kit also features a speaker as well as an auxiliary connection to plug this into your cars stereo speakers.
Anyway, TomTom has recently offered up a new promo video for their car kit which is worth checking out, but unfortunately we still have no idea (other than the previous rumor) of pricing or an availability date.
Assuming it does go for that rumored (nearly) 200 bucks I am not sure if I would pick one up or not. When you consider the app is $99.99, adding another $200 is going to bring you up to roughly $300 and while I like device convergence, it is hard to justify because you could have a really really nice stand-alone GPS for that money.
[YouTube via EngadgetMobile]
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August 22nd, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Is there any reason this wouldn’t work with the navigon app?
August 22nd, 2009 at 1:09 pm
@ John,
I think it would work, but I have not been able to find out a positive answer yet.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:27 pm
It holds the phone and (allegedly) boosts GPS reception, John. Why should it matter what apps you’re running? Heck, it’ll even help Maps work better if the claims are true. Oh, and with all due respect Mr. Nelson, I seriously doubt that the Tomtom guys will tell you that their product will work with their competitors products. So if you are going to them for “positive answers” on this, your results just might be a tad biased. As far as price theories are concerned: if this “car kit” (a.k.a phone holder) is more than about $30, I’m with you on the going-out-and-getting-a-dedicated-GPS-unit boat… just my 2 1/2 cents.
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Hold up! Tomtom released a statement a few days ago saying the cradle will be comparable with all navigation apps. Jeez, know-it-all’s!
August 25th, 2009 at 12:26 am
It won’t work with the Navigon app unless TomTom shares the API to access it.