Web site lists TomTom iPhone mount for £99.00 ($168.50) - Page 3

From http://iphone.tomtom.com


That quote, to me at least, doesn't suggest the cradle is complimentary to the app, but a requirement of the app.

Also, I've read some people questioning about line out... the cradle has a 3.5mm mini jack on the side for music. Not sure how the hands free bit is working, but seeing as Apple are doing the software, they might well be working with TomTom about other aspects of the iPhone to work with the dock connector. Maybe the app will allow the phone to work as a sub-process of the app some how, which in turn would allow the audio to be played through the connector in the same way the audio directions are. Would also mean you don't loose the maps screen.

I don't know, I'm just speculating... as we all are.

man, if Apple is doing the software and is putting in special hooks for TomTom kit to get around things like the app closing when a call comes in, I would be pissed if I was with one of the competing TbT Nav apps on the iPhone...unless they then publish an API all can use.

The Car Kit is Optional

You don't need it. Peter-Fran Pauwels says so, i.e., "o p t i o n a l" in the WWDC video.

"The TomTom solution combines two new TomTom products to provide users with state of the art in-car navigation on their iPhone 3G:"

I'm not saying they are, I'm just thinking it could be one of the many advantages of having Apple do the software for you. It could be done, but I doubt it will be... too many complaints from the developer community would cause a huge headache for Apple.

Watch the WWDC video. "…using the new features SDK 3.0…"

Watch all the videos!

I haven't seen the video since WWDC, so I can't remember. Are you quoting that the TomTom representative actually used the word "optional". The quote you've given doesn't mean that one works without the other, just that there are two products. I can buy a Scalextric car without the track, but without the track, there's not a lot I can do with it, and vice versa.

Edit: Just seen the post above.

Edit 2: You're quite right, he does say "optional accessory" when referring to the cradle. In which case, the website is misleading.

Wow, you went to "one of the best CompSci/Maths schools" and yet your infinite knowledge can't figure out that he's talking about the architecture of the software and you're talking about the user interface and navigation code.

For the record, the UI and navigation code probably won't be that different, but if you think the architecture of the software on the iPhone is not dramatically different than a hardware TomTom, you are probably kidding yourself for the sake of having an argument.

Ahh, right you are. I was going by the info at the TomTom site, which doesn't mention it being optional. The video does indeed say that it is.

Because I just did a quick check instead of an exhaustive one to correct the myth that the standalone models didn't have realtime traffic etc. Which they do.

I didn't think that someone was going to bounce on this as a comparison as to if a standalone Tomtom could compare to a smartphone in other areas (which I at least wasn't trying to do). I was merely correcting a wrong assumption.

But this is the link I was using to check if it has "live" internet access:
http://www.tomtom.com/products/produ...tegory=0&Lid=1


I was looking at the UK site. I have a TomTom and I do use it as a portable device (an older 710).


I couldn't agree more with this one!

Are you being intentional daft or is it just your nature?

Let's look at what I actually replied to:

(bolded for those with reading difficulties)

Notice the word 'interface'. Gee, I wonder why, then I would respond by discussing the interface? Perhaps he meant the backend architecture. Perhaps he meant interface, since he used the word interface.

Going to a good school doesn't mean I have infinite knowledge, but certainly helped with reading comprehension. This might have also help your attempt at sarcasm, you know, make sense.

To help you further, your 'for the record' point was what I was saying about the UI and nav code.

The more time I spend in my car these days, the more I'm convinced that people only think they are good enough drivers to multitask. If it takes 50 state laws to ban texting while driving and holding their phone to their ear, based on what I've seen just this week, I say do it.

Last week a 16 year-old girl slow-speed tapped my bumper at a red light, when I got out to see if there was any damage, she was still talking on her phone.

This morning there was a guy in the fast lane of the interstate with nobody in front of him doing 45 mph, carrying on some sort of animated conversation and having no clue that he was driving 15 mph under the speed limit and that traffic was backing up behind him. I say enough is enough.

As a motorcyclist I see my fare share of idiots on the road. Many of them shouldn't have a license in the first place. I wish there was more emphasis on the fact driving is a privilege, not a right. With that said though I do think there are people capable of doing both, not necessarily in every environment though. If you can't conduct a phone call on the interstate while driving then it is time to turn in the license. However I hang up the phone when traffic gets bad (and whenever I'm on the bike) .

*Wipes tears away at your tragedy* /sarcasm

Yes please lets have more Unconstitutional "laws" that violate the rights of citizens because some people want all stupidity to be out of their way.

Guess what? These people are stupid because of 1.) Parenting 2.) Television (mostly news) and 3. The Horrible Failure that is Public Education.

Fixing this inherent problem is not done on the surface by regulating people to death, it is done on the back end by changing the failure of a system that allows it to CONTINUALLY happen. If we didn't need the law 20 years ago, we don't need it now. What we need is a return to common sense, critical thinking, and actual intelligence.


Irony is funny thing. You're a motorcyclist, calling other drivers idiots. Interesting. Most people who actually care about safety on the road, consider motorcyclists to be THE example of road idiots. Just the fact that you get on an un-protected vehicle and fly down the road filled with massive (by comparison) vehicles of all kinds, puts you in a category that honestly, makes your criticism of "idiots" more than a little ironic.

relax man... No need to rip on everyone you disagree with. You do that a lot.

I am relaxed. You don't want to be in my class when I am not.

Just how many times does one have to explain something before they understand. If you had followed the blog you would see that the issue was finally resloved.

It gets very frustrating seen all the misconceptions, outright lies and innuendos when all it takes is to read the articles carefully, follow the links to get a better understanding and do some due diligence before raising questions or commenting on, particularly in the negative and invariably by the same trollers, naysayers and dissers that perpetrate these sites.

And I don't need you to tell me what to do.

I did follow the blog. Your comments are still often unnecessarily harsh.

If you're a teacher, I hope you are a little more lenient on the number of times someone can ask the same question. There's really no set limit.

That being said, I won't "tell [you] what to do."

I'm sure the guy driving way under the speedlimit on his cell phone considers himself to be an upstanding citizen and outstanding multitasker. The reality is that the guy is a hazard to himself and everyone around him.

As it stands, the existing laws seem to do nothing to fix the problem. A recent study shows texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be in an accident. Judging by the idiots swerving across lanes while texting (I saw another one of these at lunch), that statistic has to be somewhere in the right ballpark. If people can't self-correct, society does it for them. Its the way things are.

Oh, and remember back to your driver's ed class; driving is a right and not a privilege. So lose that whole OMG-suxors-they're-taking-all-our-rights attitude, m'kay?

Wow, you never met me and yet you think you know how I ride? I guess the Internet really does know all!

Sorry but no, thats not the way it works. I know you've been taught your whole life that there is no solution for stupidity, the only we can do is regulate regulate regulate until the people are safely secured inside a small box and cannot hurt anyone else... but that's not real America. That's fake America, as sold to you by your friendly television.

In regard to texting drivers, your statistics are without a doubt indicative of a major problem. However, to fix the leaky dam, do you simply stick a piece of gum in the hole, even when you know the whole structure has degraded over time?

Yeah, its pretty ambitious to say we need to go back to educating people on how behave correctly, morally, courteously, and safely in society. But guess what? That's the ONLY option in America. Pawning the responsibility off on legislature is a failure before you even hear their alternative (which is undoubtedly a new infringement on our rights).


Actually it makes no difference how you "ride" at all. You could be the best driver on Earth.

The fact that you get on a motorcycle, at all, and drive it on public roads, at all, destroys your credibility when criticizing any road safety issues.

There is no such thing as motorcycle safety. It's a total oxymoron.

I fully understand this is a rumor/comment site, but some people go to extremes with worry and anger from a rumor, wow!

Well...

1_ Don't most things like the iPhone cost more in U.K./Europe? The 32GB iPhone 3GS in England cost £538.30 - that is $903.67 USD. Obviously the iPhone in the U.S. is well under that price. So, why would people think a TomTom that sells for £99 ($168) in the U.K. would cost comparable in the U.S.? That seems foolish and alarmist.

2_ Looking at the TomTom website, it seems most cost between $129 - 159, so even if it did cost $169, that does not seem extreme to me. But I still seriously doubt it will cost that much, to compete with Navigon which got a bad review on USA Today, they will likely sell it for $90-120.

3_ The USA Today Navigon review: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columni...e-iphone_N.htm
usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2009-08-05-app-navigate-iphone_N.htm

4_ As long as they don't have a monthly fee and force people to buy updated maps every year, I am definitely going to buy the TomTom app - I know it will be great. Better to wait as TomTom and do it right, then rush to market like Navigon with a half asz app that they admit needs multiple fixes. I never had a navigation system, but having one in my pocket at all times will be awesome.

5_ The guy who said, people will break cars to steal the mount, that is more ridiculous alarm-ism. When is the last time you or anyone ever paid 5 seconds of attention to what kind of mount someone had in their car? Maybe a few might be stolen and that is a huge MAYBE, but I don't see thieves walking around bashing windows for a mount, that is silly.

Go TomTom, release it soon!!

That's the funny thing about theives; the proficient ones know exactly what golf clubs/camera/mp3 player/cell phone/gps to steal. At that price (and we're still waiting for some confirmation) IMO it'd be too much temptation to leave that mount suctioncupped to your windshield.

I partially agree, that is why I put maybe... in that case, at worse - spend the 10-20 seconds to hide it on the car floor or back seat. As you said, based on eventual price of it all. All I know is I'm going to buy it, happily.

The problem with suction cups is that they often leave a telltale ring on the windshield.

It doesn't take long to check the usual hiding places and if it's not found...well it's YOUR window they busted to get in, not theirs.

But the app is still expensive..

HAHA Watch out for forum spies..

+1. THAT, is not nice. It left a mark on my car's windscreen that day.

So, now thieves know what kind of device you're using by the suction cup ring left on the windshield? How do they know a TomTom mount ring from a iPod, Garlin, Navigon, Police Radar, writing notepad, or any other mount one may put in their car... no one breaks into cars for those - at least not enough that anyone talks about it. So, why would they break in thinking it's for the a TomTom enabled iPhone? If the mount is hidden, it's hidden and no one is going around with a scan of the iPhone windshield mount ring in their pocket and doing a visual scan. Plus you don't have to even put it on your windshield, you can put it on your dashboard. Are they going around checking dashboard rings also? I think people are over thinking this and just trying to come up with reasons to be negative, complain and panic.

Matters not to me, I'm buying.

Wow, I guess that settles it then.

So in your world, do pilots have no credibility because they are actually above the roads? How about road construction crews? They do some pretty risky things standing out on the roads when they work. I guess if a motorcycle cop pulls you over you can tell him to get lost, he doesn't know what he's talking about?

Sounds stupid? Well so does your argument of me not being able to criticize auto drivers because I'm on a bike. Can I criticize when I'm in my car? Is that okay for you?

Makes me wonder why you don't like motorcyclists.... Did your mommy not let you get one, so now you hate them?

LOL. Go ahead with your buy then. I will not be buying one. One man's meat is another man's poison IMO.

I hear you.

Rumor has it that at 99¢ they are going to sell it for, many here still wouldn't buy it.

That's my point. If one mount is costs $170 and all the others are $25, the discerning thief will know which is which. As asinine as it may sound, it's their "job" to know.

The broader point is that a number of windows get smashed with any mount in the car (or even with a tale tell suctioncup ring), on the guess that a GPS unit was stuffed under the seat or thrown in the glove box; the same way that removable faceplates for car stereos were hidden in the same places (again, based on prior experiences).

Still, I don't blame anyone for wanting one. I've just learned a thing or two about replacing car windows. \

Same here. I would get it only if this is free. I hardly use maps as a student apart from Geography classes.

Given that a number of smash and grabs happened in local parking lots and the police specifically mentioned suction cup rings then yeah, I think they went ahead and spent a few seconds to break into cars with nothing more than a ring as an indicator that a GPS MIGHT be inside.

Doesn't cost them anything but a bit of time. The really assholish ones slash the seats when they don't find anything of value to boot.

So I use a sandbag mount. It's easier to toss into the glove compartment anyway and set back up than a suction system anyway. The downside is it might become a missile in a crash...a suction cup might hang on a bit better.

"GPS units are targets of opportunity and without knowing it, you may be leaving clues that your GPS is there inside your car. The mark from the suction cup mount is a dead giveaway. The suction cup often leaves a ring on the windshield thats a beacon to thieves. Cleaning the mark with a moist towelette can leave a larger ring that is just as much a beacon."

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/...per=68&cat=104

"Car break ins are usually not random. Thieves are looking for valuables and will break into those cars that they think have valuables in them. Don't leave an empty GPS mount on the dash or windshield. Even the rings that the suction cup from some GPS mounts leave tell thieves that you have a GPS unit. "

http://www.wellesleypolice.com/index...0570&pid=10237

"It gets worse: Taking the plastic cradle off the windshield might not be enough if the suction cup leaves a ring of film on the glass. That alone can signal a thief."

http://www.eagletribune.com/pubiz/lo...287012921.html

I guess you were wrong and a jerk about it to boot. Nice.

+1. Leave your iPhone in the cradle as a GPS at a carpark and see your windscreen smashed in no time.

Wow that price would be too damn high. It shouldn't be more than $99, other wise it's not an impulse buy. maybe I won't wait and just update the maps on my garmin unit. If it's $99 I want to be able to answer calls with a bluetooth handset and get back into the app with minimal effort while driving, I don't want to the whole car to hear my calls all the time. If they play their cards right on this, this could be a no-brainer accessory for a lot of iphone owners.