TomTom Car Kit officially available in the US Apple Store
October 26, 2009 | Robert Nelson
Despite a few false starts and some funny pricing information, the TomTom Car Kit is now available in the Apple Store. Per the listing, the TomTom Car Kit is selling for $119.95 and will begin shipping in 2-3 weeks. Feature wise there was nothing surprising, after all we have seen enough about the car kit in the past.
That said, for anyone that has missed the details, here is a quick recap as to what you can expect if you make the purchase.
The TomTom app on your iPhone 3GS or iPhone 3G puts award-winning technology at your fingertips, like IQ Routes which gives you the smartest, most efficient route any time of day. That’s just the beginning. Combine it with the TomTom Car Kit to experience enhanced GPS performance for the ultimate in-car navigation.
TomTom Car Kit features:
- Secure docking
- Enhanced GPS performance
- Clear voice instructions
- Easy charging
- Hands-free calling
- Your music on the move
Of course, it should be pointed out that this car kit DOES NOT come with the actual app. Bottom line, I can see the advantage and disadvantage of having a solution like this. On the one hand the device convergence is nice, not to mention you are not leaving you GPS in the car for a potential thief to come and take. But on the other side, the $119.95 for the car kit and the $99.95 for the app add up to more than you would most likely spend for a stand-alone GPS unit. Personally, I have opted for the bargain priced MotionX GPS.
[via Apple]
Does anyone know whether this enchance the iPhone’s GPS sensitivity in general, or only via the TomTom app? Could one possibly combine MotionX or some other, cheaper GPS app and the car kit, or is it proprietary?
@Karl, Excellent question and one that I am trying to find an answer to. Personally I like the idea of the mount given the features that it has, but do not want to purchase the TomTom app. If/when I get a better answer I will update this post. Hopefully once its in the hands of the public we can get this answered.
I'm wondering the exact same thing! I just started using Motion-X and love it (and the tiny price) and want to buy a windshield mount for it that offers a GPS boost, integrated speakers for turn-by-turn voice directions, and charger. I'm doubting that Tom Tom's will work. Anyone else make one?
Magellan has the same type of system available now as well. Both are also made for use with the iTouch
I'm wondering the same thing, but if you read carefully:
"Personally, I have opted for the bargain priced MotionX GPS."
So this is probably possible, cause I've read on TomTom site, that the kit is compatible with any GPS app available on iphone… so it should work, I should be getting the kit soon for iphone 1st gen… so I'll report when I got it working.
By the way, google is your friend… use it to find tomtom or magellan's software… easy as cake… If your iphone isnt jailbroken already, you might have to do it first.
But who would possible want to live with the constraint apple put on the iphone anyway.