First Satnav for iPhone now in Appstore

Navigon is very good software. And it is software that Tomtom always follows. Lane assist, signpost display, speed limits as road signs. Landmarks. All of that was Navigons idea first. But it's good only in screenshots and presentations. In practice every single version of navigon was too slow, regardless of the hardware. It improved slightly on some PDAs at some point - to about one screen refresh a second and then immediately added extra features which bogged it down again.

Interesting to see their mobile navigator for symbian and winmo is now free...
 
Also the good thing is im sure maps will get updated through the app store which will be nice.
 
Not sure I understand why people would want a standalone unit when you could buy software that would run on your iPhone perfectly well.

I'd much prefer to have it on my phone for ease of use - e.g. not having to worry about leaving the device in my car or carrying it about when I'm going to places.
 
Would you leave your phone in the car though? And what about carrying the cradle around when you go places? Makes no odds IMO. Apart from those sat nav units that have built in suckers or just sit on rubber mats, in which case that is even easier
 
Spit said:
Also the good thing is im sure maps will get updated through the app store which will be nice.
Click to expand...

Knowing TomTom it'll still ship with 12-month-old maps just so you have to pay a fee to update to the latest ones :rolleyes:

In-app purchase is going to become such an annoyance for anything other than audiobook apps or newspaper subscriptions. "oh you completed level 1, want to buy level 2?". It's just a way to cream money over a longer period instead of relying on 1-time purchase fever.

I don't claim to know how the iTunes popularity algorythms work but I dare say those with in-app purchase are going to feature in the top 25 because of the repeated purchasing over say a 59p game that is only bug-fixed.
 
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Great that satnav app's are coming out, shame this one takes 3GB of space up on your iPhone! Hopefully removed some of the maps from the IPA will reduce that though
 
The TomTom software on memory card for other smartphones is £90, so this is priced in parallel if not better.

I could really do with TomTom and the cradle but it's nice to see one up there. I'ts a shame there's no video demos anywhere.
 
I got the impression from the TomTom iPhone site that it would allow you to use the phone while the app was running. It's definitely going to have a 'hands-free' mode with speaker/mic in the cradle.

I really hope so or it's going to be pretty annoying getting a phone call if you're lost.

Panzer
 
Panzerbjorn said:
I got the impression from the TomTom iPhone site that it would allow you to use the phone while the app was running. It's definitely going to have a 'hands-free' mode with speaker/mic in the cradle.

I really hope so or it's going to be pretty annoying getting a phone call if you're lost.

Panzer
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This makes me wonder if TomTom and Apple are in kahoots, because I'm pretty sure the phone.app takes presedence over third parties.

One thing is for sure, if they are being allow access to hidden APIs there will be uproar from Garmin etc.
 
monkeyspank said:
Would you leave your phone in the car though? And what about carrying the cradle around when you go places? Makes no odds IMO. Apart from those sat nav units that have built in suckers or just sit on rubber mats, in which case that is even easier
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I'd rather carry my phone in my pocket (which I would have anyway) than a carry a big sat nav unit round...
 
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monkeyspank said:
Would you leave your phone in the car though? And what about carrying the cradle around when you go places? Makes no odds IMO. Apart from those sat nav units that have built in suckers or just sit on rubber mats, in which case that is even easier
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry at all leaving a phone cradle in the car, thieves (rightly) won't expect people to leave their phone in the car, they look for signs of standalone sat nav units.
 
Wicksta said:
I wouldn't worry at all leaving a phone cradle in the car, thieves (rightly) won't expect people to leave their phone in the car, they look for signs of standalone sat nav units.
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I leave my suction cradle in the car (not on display) but take the TomTom in the house when I'm not using it.

I am waiting on the TomTom app for iPhone though.. only problem I see is that the GPS doesn't seem to work on the 3G/3GS without a network signal..
 
Miguél said:
Not sure I understand why people would want a standalone unit when you could buy software that would run on your iPhone perfectly well.

I'd much prefer to have it on my phone for ease of use - e.g. not having to worry about leaving the device in my car or carrying it about when I'm going to places.
Click to expand...

Key point that, does it work perfectly well? Dedicated devices usually outperform devices which can perform several functions. When that stops being true, there would be less incentive in buying a stand along device.

You also got the point where, you might want one for the family, you would'nt be able to lend someone the sat nav because its on your phone.

What if you're next phone isn't going to be iPhone? What if your iPhone breaks, you're not only down a iPhone but a sat nav too..

Edit. Quite clever that, the more apps and money you invest in, the more likely you will stay using the iPhone.
 
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That's why I made sure (and will in future) that my car has one built into it's media console as stock.

For the amount of times I've used satnav outside of driving I'd be willing to pay for a "pay per use" type arrangement and Google Maps for anything else no?
 
Originally Posted by EVH
".. only problem I see is that the GPS doesn't seem to work on the 3G/3GS without a network signal.."

from what are you basing this on? The included 'maps' app on the phone needs a network connection because it downloads the maps off the net.

Without a network connection there would be no map data therefore wouldn't work.

Do you have any info that says that with included maps that don't need to be accessed over a network that it wouldn't work?
 
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VortexA1 said:
Originally Posted by EVH
".. only problem I see is that the GPS doesn't seem to work on the 3G/3GS without a network signal.."

from what are you basing this on? The included 'maps' app on the phone needs a network connection because it downloads the maps off the net.

Without a network connection there would be no map data therefore wouldn't work.

Do you have any info that says that with included maps that don't need to be accessed over a network that it wouldn't work?

I'll probably google.
Click to expand...

Good point, I was going from experience using the Google Maps app.

I guess if they're wanting you to download 3GB of TomTom maps then it will work without the network connection. My bad!
 
VortexA1 said:
Originally Posted by EVH
".. only problem I see is that the GPS doesn't seem to work on the 3G/3GS without a network signal.."

from what are you basing this on? The included 'maps' app on the phone needs a network connection because it downloads the maps off the net.

Without a network connection there would be no map data therefore wouldn't work.

Do you have any info that says that with included maps that don't need to be accessed over a network that it wouldn't work?

I'll probably google.
Click to expand...

EVH said:
Good point, I was going from experience using the Google Maps app.

I guess if they're wanting you to download 3GB of TomTom maps then it will work without the network connection. My bad!
Click to expand...

I'm sure it's a common mistake to think like you were m8. :)
 
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