DailyTech - TomTom iPhone Nav App Debuts at $100

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Gadgets TomTom iPhone Nav App Debuts at $100
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - August 17, 2009 9:08 AM

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38 comment(s) - last by hadifa.. on Aug 18 at 9:41 PM

TomTom debuts its iPhone app on the App Store

One of the features common to most smartphones today is GPS. Using GPS, the devices can detect the user's current location to help them do all sorts of things from finding local restaurants and friends to getting driving and walking directions.

TomTom has announced that its iPhone GPS navigation app is now available in the App Store. The app is one of the more expensive available costing $99.99. AT&T has its own navigation application called AT&T Navigator that is free for the initial download, but comes saddled with a $10 per month subscription fee. The subscription fee over the course of a full year would make the AT&T navigation app more expensive than the new TomTom offering.

The TomTom app uses the iPhone touchscreen for navigation and lets users tap the screen to get from a starting point to their destination. The app will also work in portrait or landscape mode depending on how the phone is turned.

Features of the application include the ability to meet with friends by using the contacts menu and the ability to find local restaurants and then call for reservations. TomTom also includes its IQRoutes feature that calculates the most efficient route based on what real drivers are finding and actual road speed data. This allows the app to route users around accidents and construction.

TomTom is also offering a kit specially designed to work with the app and the iPhone. The kit offers enhanced GPS features and a mount to hold the device on the windshield of your car. There are other GPS navigation apps available on the App Store other than TomTom's offering and AT&T's own Navigator app. EWeek reports that the Navigon MobileNavigator app is available for $69.99 until August 31 and offers many of the same features the TomTom app offers.

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By invidious on 8/17/2009 9:26:27 AM , Rating: 3

Well I guess if you were waiting for a reason to jailbreak your iPhone TomTom just gave you a reason.

I mean seriously $100 just to access the system? You can get an entire GPS unit for under $100.

RE: ha

By WeaselITB on 8/17/2009 9:49:36 AM , Rating: 2

I'm sorry, I'm confused. Tell me again - how does jailbreaking the iPhone put the TomTom application on it?

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RE: ha

By Nihility on 8/17/2009 9:50:10 AM , Rating: 5

Ahoy there matey!

Where do you think it comes from? ;)

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RE: ha

By WeaselITB on 8/17/2009 10:15:19 AM , Rating: 5

Piracy! Gasp!

This is DailyTech, a well-respected Science Website! Not some farcical 1337 kiddies hangout!

Begone with ye!

:)

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RE: ha

By omnicronx on 8/17/2009 12:32:22 PM , Rating: 2

It obviously doesn't, but lets face it, the main reason people jailbreak their phones is so they can install any apps they want for free (sure there are many other functions like the ability to multitask and run custom non approved apps, but thats not the reason most people do it). Once you jailbreak your phone, 100$ apps like this one are merely a download away on your friendly neighborhood torrent site ;)

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RE: ha

By Alexstarfire on 8/17/2009 3:52:59 PM , Rating: 2

Of course smart people would buy a phone that comes with a GPS navigator and wouldn't have to jailbreak their phone if they happened to want a different one. But as posted in the other Apple article today, people don't use un-common sense.

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RE: ha

By Samus on 8/18/2009 10:19:07 AM , Rating: 2

I just got a Motorola Hint for $50 bucks (it was one of the cheapest phones US Cellular had with a keyboard) and it includes better GPS software than my blackberry did. Although I like google maps, GPS software is nice for driving (voice prompts, turn by turn directions, auto-reroute)

So when some of the cheapest phones include FREE GPS software, how the hell does Apple continue getting away with not including any on one of the industry's MOST EXPENSIVE phones!?

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RE: ha

By dxf2891 on 8/18/2009 1:50:53 PM , Rating: 2

Oh, but the iPhone is so much more than a phone, a music player, a video player, an internet device, a game machine, a messaging device and a gps device. It also does pictures, video, social networking and a bevy of other functions. Besides making calls, pictures and GPS, what does your phone do? ...... I'll wait. (2 hours later) That's what I thought, nothing. Did your phone come with an attached bag?

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RE: ha

By ertomas on 8/17/2009 10:32:52 AM , Rating: 1

Well, the garmin mobile XT for symbian costs about 100$ too.

Google maps FTW!

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RE: ha

By omnicronx on 8/17/2009 11:05:29 AM , Rating: 2

Exactly, and it is more than worth it, I have it for WinMo and its great. I have a cell phone mount that connects to my audio system via bluetooth, and I can't leave a GPS unit in my car in the area I live in anyways. As such I am far less likely to forget my cell phone in my car. Its nice you can get a GPS for the same price, but it will be cheaper model, and I could care less for a dedicated unit. I can use it on my cell anywhere and in anyone's vehicle.

P.S if it were any cheaper it would undermine their standalone sales which just does not make sense, so whether you willing pay that price or not is irrelevant.

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RE: ha

By Whaaambulance on 8/17/2009 2:02:30 PM , Rating: 2

Google Maps.... really? Yeah... let me just take my eyes off of the road to see where I need to go.

Google Maps = Fail and not a real GPS app. Try again, kid.

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RE: ha

By pyrosity on 8/18/2009 12:27:42 AM , Rating: 3

quote:
Google Maps = ... not a real GPS app...

I can agree with this, but...

quote:
Google Maps.... really? Yeah... let me just take my eyes off of the road to see where I need to go.

...the above comes off as a statement made by an individual highly dependent on a device. I just navigated from southern Germany to northwest Italy on a gas station map; having access to Google Maps would have been a luxury. A full on GPS might have saved me 15 minutes of wrong turns and maybe 15 more minutes of map reading and course plotting.

We need not panic yet, friend.

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RE: ha

By hadifa on 8/18/2009 9:41:18 PM , Rating: 2

And what if one of those wrong turns have taken you to the EAST Germany instead, you capitalist imperialist!!?

In Germany you sure need a full on GPS navigator.

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RE: ha

By Alexstarfire on 8/18/2009 6:20:25 AM , Rating: 2

By your logic it would seem that not knowing the directions in the first place is a fail. That said, having to look at the device for directions isn't so bad. If you're on the highway you just need to know the exit number. And if you're in a city..... well unless your city doesn't have stop lights I fail to see a problem.

I'm not saying it's as good and turn-by-turn voice navigation directions, but come on. You could be like the guy in the other post who had to use an actual map. Sure can't look at that thing while driving, even at a stop light. Just takes to long to figure out the relevant info.

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RE: ha

By Hare on 8/17/2009 11:22:58 AM , Rating: 2

Nokia Maps actually seems like a good deal. It comes free with devices and for real time turn-by-turn navigation you need to buy a navigation licence which is around 70€. The maps are from Navteq (Nokia owned company) so maybe they have a price advantage compared to other companies.

http://europe.nokia.com/explore-services/maps/take...

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RE: ha

By lebe0024 on 8/17/2009 2:48:41 PM , Rating: 2

If the software is worth $100 to you, buy it. If not, don't steal it. I want to be able to ask for digital rights with a straight face, and this ruins that cause.

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Cost of using GPS?

By Bateluer on 8/17/2009 9:44:11 AM , Rating: 2

What is the cost of using the GPS system? Do manufacturers have to pay a fee to access the satellites? What is the real world cost of a GPS Nav app for a smart phone? Obviously, the programmers should be compensated for their work, but is a monthly fee required or is that just pure greed?

On a side note, the Garmin Forerunner I have doesn't carry a monthly fee for its functionality, however, there are a number of websites, such as Motionbase, that do offer subscriptions for enhanced services.

RE: Cost of using GPS?

By Nihility on 8/17/2009 9:46:12 AM , Rating: 3

They have to license the map data from the big map corps all over the world. It's pretty expensive.

A possible alternative is to use free maps from the Open Street Map project.

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RE: Cost of using GPS?

By invidious on 8/17/2009 10:32:33 AM , Rating: 3

Hopefully google will make a cheap competing app using their own maps. Of course Apple will probably just reject it.

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RE: Cost of using GPS?

By omnicronx on 8/17/2009 11:10:38 AM , Rating: 2

Ever compare google maps directions to say Tom Tom or Garmin? They just plain suck in comparison, bringing your through traffic filled routes and terrible detours. Their directions are based merely on distance nothing more. Tom Tom and Garmin seem to always find better routes, probably because they take traffic and real drive times into consideration.

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RE: Cost of using GPS?

By gstrickler on 8/17/2009 4:11:38 PM , Rating: 3

Google doesn't own their map data, the license it from NavTeq, and/or tele-atlas, and/or others.

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RE: Cost of using GPS?

By dryloch on 8/17/2009 10:58:34 AM , Rating: 2

That is why Navigon is cheaper. They OWN one of the big map companies.

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RE: Cost of using GPS?

By FITCraparo on 8/17/2009 12:46:19 PM , Rating: 2

fortunately my blackberry comes with free GPS service but ive used this one before its free as long as you have a data pack with your service provider. It matched my garmin turn for turn

http://www.amazegps.com/index.php?page=home&langua...

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RE: Cost of using GPS?

By PrinceGaz on 8/17/2009 6:58:54 PM , Rating: 2

Have you actually looked at the Open Street Map data? In my local area (close to the centre of a large city in England) whilst some parts are fairly complete, other areas are missing many roads. I know it is a community project, but it is a long way off being useable as a map source which can be relied upon.

The only way I can see Open Street Map data being viable is if a large number of volunteers systematically fill in all the gaps by looking at other online maps and sort of manually input what they see on them. Whether that would be copyright infringement or not is debatable, but until Open Street Maps is a lot more complete than it is currently, it is useless as a viable map source.

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RE: Cost of using GPS?

By Donovan on 8/18/2009 8:11:48 AM , Rating: 2

There's no fee for using the GPS satellites, but there are fees for using third-party map data. The two big names in map data are Navteq (owned by Nokia) and Teleatlas (owned by Tom Tom). Google primarily uses Teleatlas these days.

Licensing map data usually involves a monthly/yearly fee, and providing turn-by-turn navigation (i.e. advancing automatically through the route in sync with your position) usually costs more than just providing the map. It is possible to license the data without recurring fees but it gets expensive and the data will be outdated eventually. Traffic information and POIs are also additional costs and may come from other third-party content providers.

One other potential reason for monthly fees is offboard navigation which relies on servers to provide maps/routes. Contrary to another post here this is "real" navigation software and has both advantages and disadvantages compared to onboard systems. You will need a reliable network connection to use the software, but in return you get to have maps rendered and routes computed on servers with orders-of-magnitude more memory and computational power than your phone. If you end up doing offboard navigation then you'll almost certainly be paying a monthly fee.

The article at http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2008/08/21/turn-by-tu... has some interesting discussion about map data licensing. My only correction to it would be to point out that the map data providers are more than willing to license their data if you pay them for it. Getting the kind of license Google wants (fixed cost for an arbitrary number of users) is a different matter, but if you're selling navigation software and are willing to give Navteq (or Teleatlas) their required per-user fees I believe you'll find they are quite happy to sell to potential competitors of their parent companies.

On the free side of things, there's the Google Maps API but that is only for free software and expressly forbids turn-by-turn navigation. There's also OpenStreetMap which is Creative Commons Share-Alike (a copyleft license like GPL) which will be unappealing to many commercial developers. OpenStreetMap has contributers but one of their big sources of US data is Tiger (public domain data from US Census Bureau). As I understand it, Navteq tends to be a bit better (and a bit more expensive) than Teleatlas, and both are significantly better than Tiger. Looking at OpenStreetMap's current maps I'd say they look a lot better than the last time I checked on them (before they started using Tiger), so they are probably the best bet if you want a free navigation program.

Caveat: I am only personally familiar with Navteq's data, but the company I work for has used all three at various points. The ranking of map data above comes from other developers at my company but matches what I have seen from comparing the Navteq data to Teleatlas data as shown by Google Maps. Regardless, no data provider is perfect and there are many opportunities for a software company to be clever with their data processing and get better results than another company using the same data.

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Not a Chance!

By Goty on 8/17/2009 11:08:01 AM , Rating: 2

I wouldn't pay $100 for a standalone TomTom, let alone one that will probably run like a dog on my iPhone.

Thanks, but no thanks!

RE: Not a Chance!

By HotdogIT on 8/17/2009 11:45:33 AM , Rating: 5

How much WOULD you pay for a standalone GPS, then?

I mean, 100 bucks won't buy you a whole lot of a standalone GPS.

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RE: Not a Chance!

By sdsdv10 on 8/17/2009 4:58:24 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
I mean, 100 bucks won't buy you a whole lot of a standalone GPS.

Well, $120 will get you this Garmin Nuvi 205 at Newegg.
I don't own one, but it has gotten pretty good ratings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

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Alternatives

By dxf2891 on 8/17/2009 11:29:50 AM , Rating: 3

For those of you who are adventurous enough to JailBreak your iPhone, there is an app called xGPS. It offers voice turn by turn, walking and driving directions, pulls addresses from the address book.

RE: Alternatives

By Alexstarfire on 8/17/2009 3:56:30 PM , Rating: 2

And for those of us who are smart, there are other phones.

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RE: Alternatives

By dxf2891 on 8/18/2009 1:45:45 PM , Rating: 2

How smart can you be if you bought the WRONG phone?!?! (That my friend is what we call a burn. I know, I know, it was HOT!!!)

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RE: Alternatives

By dxf2891 on 8/18/2009 1:41:39 PM , Rating: 2

Oh, I forgot to mention this app is free of charge with AUDIO turn by turn.

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phone GPS

By valkator on 8/17/2009 1:01:46 PM , Rating: 2

The only thing I don't like about the GPS on cell phones is the maps are not loaded on the phone, they are loaded when you route your destination. Which sucks if you are not in a data coverage area because then the GPS is useless for starting a new destination. Does this Tom Tom app download their maps to the phone or are you stuck with on the fly mapping through the data service? That is one thing to consider about comparing a standalone GPS and the price of this app on your iphone. This is also the reason why standalone GPS units are far more reliable, especially on long trips.

RE: phone GPS

By IceBreakerG on 8/17/2009 2:14:04 PM , Rating: 2

That is not true. A "real" GPS app will have the maps on the phone, which is why they're so big (usually over 1GB). Navigon, iGO and TomTom for example will have local maps, and you don't need a data connection to use them. You just need to be outside with preferably clear skies. Apps like Google Maps use data because it's not a real GPS application. It's just a basic map app that can give you directions (like on the website).

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RE: phone GPS

By valkator on 8/17/2009 3:31:25 PM , Rating: 2

Well I know Telenav GPS on a cell phone requires data connection.

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Not on my iPhone

By SnakeBlitzken on 8/17/2009 5:45:24 PM , Rating: 2

The GPS on my iphone has never been fast enough to keep up with a real turn by turn gps directions. The built in gps app isn't bad for navigating it just doesn't keep your position up to date. That's been my experience anyway. Besides, unless they sell a good suction cup so it sticks to the windshield, it will be a real "killer" app.

No thanks, not on the iphone.

By crleap on 8/17/2009 11:08:01 PM , Rating: 2

For $100, I can kick in a bit more, and get a SirfStar chip that can actually get and maintain an accurate position when within 30 feet of a tree or building. The iPhone's GPS reception and accuracy is awful, would never stand to be a real driving GPS.