Filed under: GPS

TomTom is really pushing the connected capabilities of its navigation devices with this new x40 LIVE series, which hit IFA this year as rumored. The GO 940 LIVE, GO 740 LIVE and GO 540 LIVE include a “new and extended” version of IQ Routes, which can adjust your route for predicted and actual road conditions, based on historical data and TomTom’s HD Traffic feature. The units include Safety Alerts for alerting to speed cameras, Fuel Prices, and Local Search, which is powered by Google and allows you to plan a route to your search results. Also onboard is voice command and control, letting you plan routes and make phone calls using only your voice. The series will be available in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands and Switzerland this fall, starting at £299 (about $544 US). LIVE services are £10 a month. Unfortunately, the versions we played with at IFA didn’t have a live connection, but software looks easy to access and easy to use. Too bad the actual hardware looks circa 2003.

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Filed under: GPS

Call it a hunch, but we’d say TomTom is gearing up to have some real fun at IFA. With the PRO 4000 / PRO 8000 units being outed yesterday and this newfangled GO 940 LIVE surfacing today (930 pictured), we get the feeling it’s planning a Garmin-esque onslaught here in just a few days. Nevertheless, a pre-order page up at Handtec shows off this all new navigation system, yet completely fails at delivering any pertinent information outside of a price. And given that said price is pegged at £468.83 ($871), you probably couldn’t care less.

[Via GPSLodge]

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Filed under: Gaming

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

As if the iPhone 3G launch could really have any more misinformation floating around, we’ve got yet another tidbit that needs clarification. Shortly after Apple’s second iPhone was announced, out flew a report from Reuters suggesting that TomTom already had iPhone navigation software ready to go. French site Mac Generation was able to get ahold of TomTom spokesperson Yann Lafargue, and here’s the gist of what he had to say. First off, the aforementioned Reuters statement was said to be inaccurate, though he did affirm that an iPhone version of the software was running in the labs and working “pretty well.” Unfortunately, the question of “will you guys ship this for the iPhone?” was answered with a “We don’t know” style response, but he did clarify that the questionable SDK verbiage we saw wasn’t an obstacle at all. Check out the full interview in the read link below — hope you’re fluent in French and / or machine translation!

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Filed under: Cellphones

Apple’s always been known for its amusingly-conservative disclaimers (you can’t use iTunes to “design a nuclear weapon,” for example) and it looks like the products-liability team at the Fruit has had their way with the iPhone SDK agreement as well, inserting a provision specifically prohibiting developers from creating apps “marketed for real time route guidance; automatic or autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices; dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or life-saving purposes.” Yep, that’s right — no real-time route guidance (or, uh, fleet management) allowed. That’d be a huge bummer — except, of course, that TomTom has already come out and said that its app is ready to go on the iPhone. Assuming TomTom used the SDK and not the jailbreak toolchain, we’d bet that Apple is just covering its ass here and that it’s worked out an agreement with TomTom to pass along any liability — you can bet Steve doesn’t want to get sued when iPhone users start careening into sandpiles and into oncoming trains. We’ll see for sure when the App Store finally launches, though — until then, it’s all just cheap speculation.

Update: Astute commenter Austin points out that these terms are copied almost word-for-word from the Google Maps API terms — which means that TomTom and others are probably free to use their own maps to do real-time guidance.

[Via BoingBoing Gadgets]

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Filed under: GPS

Despite issuing an early statement of objection, the EC has come around to see the merits of a TomTom / Tele Atlas deal. In fact, the two companies have received “unconditional clearance” from the European Commission for the proposed acquisition. The US already approved the deal in October. Thing is, shareholders better get a move on since the bidding-war-boosted $4.2 billion offer (plus another $300 million thanks to the weakass dollar) made in November is set to expire on May 30th. Although it could be extended. Of course, Garmin made a move for Tele Atlas early on with a $3.3 billion bid of its own. Nevertheless, with TomTom profits heading downward and Garmin’s own, hotly anticipated Nuvifone on the horizon, maybe Garmin will be laughing last after all.

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Filed under: GPS

Continue reading TomTom intros ONE 130, XL 330 GPS units with new car mount

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Filed under: GPS

The war for the low end of the GPS market promises to be a bloody one, and it looks like TomTom’s suffered the first major injury: quarterly profits at the device maker dropped 83 percent from last year, and the company says it’s due to competitive price cuts. TomTom made a net profit of just €7.3M ($11.4M) this quarter compared to €44M ($66.2M) in the year-ago quarter, results which led the company to lower its outlook for the entire year. The company actually sold 50 percent more devices than it did a year ago, but as PND prices steadily fall, it looks like TomTom will have to figure out a new way to pad those margins and refill its piggy bank if that $4.2B all-cash Tele Atlas deal goes through.

[Via TrustedReviews]

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Filed under: GPS

Thought TomTom was done after introducing the GO 930 and 730 at CeBIT? Think again, as the company is also unveiling the GO 530, which is the reported successor the GO 520. For starters, this one is slated to arrive and stay in Europe, and its map content will depend largely on what region it is purchased in. As with its higher-numbered siblings, this bugger will also boast IQ Routes and the Advanced Lane Guidance, and it’ll also feature a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 resolution display, a 400MHz CPU, 1GB of internal memory, an SD expansion slot, built-in Bluetooth and a Li-ion cell good for around 5 hours. If all that’s good enough for you, it’ll be ready to grab this April for around £235 ($466).

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Filed under: GPS

Reuters is reporting that the European Commission, apparently having completed is inquiry into the $4.2b acquisition offer TomTom made Tele Atlas last year, is apparently issuing a “statement of objections.” Apparently it’s not a flat-out rejection / do not pass go / do not collect $200, but now TomTom has until May 5th to work on resolving the issues the EU’s presented before it can get the thumbs up to make its big buy.

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Filed under: GPS, Transportation

We’re currently smitten with that Diesel-powered Loremo, but if we had to pick our second favorite car for the day, it’d be this here Toyota Yaris SR. Not only is it cute and sporty, but the dash rocks a fully-integrated TomTom GPS unit. When docked it not only gives you directions but provides a touchscreen interface for your car stereo, plus Bluetooth integration for hands-free phone integration, and when you’re ready to rough it on foot you can pull the TomTom out of the car and carry it with you as a regular portable GPS unit. Now for the sadderness: Toyota is only offering this car in Europe right now, so us hapless Americans are going to have to stick with by our sextants for the time being.

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Filed under: GPS

Sure, those Mr. T / Dennis Hopper navtones were pretty humorous for a trip around the block or two, but seriously, how many times can you stand to hear “fool!” on a trip from Tuscaloosa to Fargo? That being said, we’re not confident we’d want to listen to ourselves for that long, but for the folks who feel otherwise, YourPND is out to make your dreams a reality. Though the website wasn’t created in our native tongue, it appears that TomTom owners (Garmin, Mio, etc. coming soon) simply record a select number of phrases to the site, after which they can cough up €7 ($10) and download the results on to their navigator. Sounds like the perfect gift for someone who just loathes hearing you talk, don’tcha think?

[Via NaviGadget]

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Filed under: GPS

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

If you’ve been drooling over the little TomTom add-on for the iPhone we nabbed a “photo” of the other day, you can probably wipe the spittle off your chin. It looks like the image makes a fatal flaw in borrowing its barcode from a fairly well-known iPod fake (pictured above). Additionally, in researching our tipster, we’ve discovered he’s a graphic designer with a penchant for Apple fakes — not exactly a confidence builder. So it appears we’ve got more rumor shot down — though we hope TomTom and Jobs are paying attention, because it’s painfully obvious that the people want GPS on this thing, and they want it now.

[Thanks, thecreativ1]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: GPS, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/TomTom_developing_iPhone_GPS_module’; Here’s a fresh Apple rumor in the run-up to MacWorld: a TomTom GPS module for the iPhone. We just received this supposed photographic “evidence” of said device from a Dutch tipster. Our take? Might be, might not. TomTom is a Dutch company and a righteous, straight-talkin’ Dutchman would never tell such a fib, would he? On the other hand, that device is clearly not in a car heading to Rotterdam. Still, it could be a route demo and that stretch of highway (A13/E19) is a favorite for internal TomTom validation studies. Surely a move towards GPS is a logical next step for Apple — particularly after that little VW concept. And with Apple on the verge of opening the iPhone to third party developers, well, anything goes, eh?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: GPS

It looks like TomTom users looking for a little additional help with directions could now have the fix they’ve been searching for, as TomTom announced today that it’s teamed up with Google in an attempt to bridge the divide between Google Maps and its array of GPS devices. To that extent, you’re now apparently able to search for businesses on Google Maps and send all the necessary information straight to your TomTom GPS, albeit with TomTom’s Home software acting as a mediator. That’s, of course, decidedly less exciting than some of the Google Maps-to-GPS interaction we’ve seen in other parts of the world, but a welcome addition nonetheless.

[Via CNNMoney]

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Filed under: GPS

The European Commission has just opened an investigation into TomTom’s proposed purchase of Tele Atlas, claiming that consumers could be hurt by a GPS hardware maker owning one of the two major digital map providers. Specifically, the so-called “in-depth inquiry,” which will be concluded no later than April 17th of next year, stems from “serious doubts that the acquisition by TomTom of Tele Atlas might…lead to a significant impediment of effective competition within the EEA.” With Nokia going after NAVTEQ and Garmin having given up on Tele Atlas, this investigation clearly makes sense from the free market standpoint, as the Dutch firm is not likely to slip past without at least committing to fair map licensing terms for other PND manufacturers. In response to the Commission’s announcement, TomTom decided to extend its offer for shares of Tele Atlas until March 31st, 2008, with the option to issue another extension if certain conditions are not met.

[Thanks, Daniel]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: GPS

The predicted bidding war between Garmin and TomTom over a takeover of Tele Atlas has certainly come to fruition, with TomTom all set to go ahead with a $4.2 billion bid taking place on Monday. Garmin stepped back from the brink on Friday, after offering a measly $3.3 billion. Tele Atlas’s management must certainly be happy that the company didn’t jump earlier, because it was only a few months ago that TomTom’s offer was $2.5 billion. Does anyone else get the feeling that these numbers are starting to lose their meaning?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: GPS

The title pretty much says it all on this one, folks. We suppose the thought of countering TomTom’s recently raised $4.22 billion offer for mapmaker Tele Atlas weighed too heavy on Garmin’s soul (or just seemed too expensive), but whatever the case, its $3.3 billion offer has officially been rescinded. Also of note, the AP claims that the outfit has struck a deal with NAVTEQ (or is that Nokia?), which guarantees it access to those maps through 2015. Currently, there’s been no word on whether TomTom will move forward with its apparent plans to snap up Tele Atlas, but it’s safe to say the biggest obstacle has been (voluntarily) removed.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: GPS

Finally, it’s over. TomTom and Garmin have settled their intellectual property dispute in courts spanning the UK, The Netherlands, Wisconsin and of course, Texas. No details were provided, this time. Of course, they’re still battling for Tele Atlas in the courts of the free market so we’re not expecting to see the two shacking-up in the suburbs anytime soon.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!