I remember when TomTom first released GPS devices to the Australian market. I had one, and I loved it. When I first got a smartphone that had GPS built in, I wished that I could have TomTom on there too, but sadly it took a little while. Eventually, TomTom released their navigator software for the iPhone, but we in Android land have been waiting for quite a bit longer.
Fortunately Google Maps has had a fairly usable navigation feature on Android for quite a while, but the other alternatives haven’t been great. I’ve made do with Sygic but it hasn’t been the best — it’s slow, clunky to use and.. well.. it’s not as easy as a TomTom.
Well, wait no more Android, TomTom is coming, and soon. TomTom hasn’t been cheap on other platforms – the iOS version goes for around $60 in the US, which is quite a bit more than the alternatives, considering that Google Navigation is free (though, not available for iOS) and other GPS solutions are available for less.
Overnight at IFA, TomTom previewed TomTom for Android and they couldn’t be more excited about bringing it to our devices.
“We aim to make TomTom content and services available to as many devices and platforms as we can,” says Corinne Vigreux, Managing Director at TomTom. “Bringing TomTom navigation to Android smartphones is, therefore, a significant milestone for us.”
.. and for us too, Corinne, for us too.
My Tomtom Via180 costs me $99 for maps every 18 months and the maps are from Whereis. If you are out in a rural setting headding out to the black stump and can get a signal on your mobile, google (cann’t wait for it to be fully installed on my phone like a GPS for with ICS) usualy has more up to date mapping when my Tomtom can’t find a certain road or track on my Tomtom as Whereis that supplies the mapping is always behind the 8 ball on updates and Google Sat view will give a photo that… Read more »
Someone will have to explain to me what I’m missing. Apart from the lack of speed display which I admit is a borderline deal-breaker, what doesn’t Google Navigation do that costs $60 to do with a TomTom.
(note I’ve never owned a standalone GPS device for the same reason I’ve never owned a single-purpose mp3 player – the alternatives built into devices that I already have may not be perfect, but they’re already there in my pocket as part of my phone, PDA or whatever).
Tom Tom allows you to map whole trips with stop offs etc, not just a single A-B trip.
And you can prepare the same on Google Maps on the desktop, and call up those maps in Google Maps on your Android device.
When buying a smartphone maybe people should look at the cost of a decent navigation system as Samsung has one built in and I think it is brilliant. It was one of the reasons I purchased my Galaxy S (and still have it) because of the navigation. It doesn’t matter what ROM you install NAVIGON still functions for free (** with free map upgrades **) as it detects the device as a Samsung.
sorry, duplicate post.
Hopefully this allows you to use custom voices, like the real Tom Tom units, I only let KITT tell me where to drive.
1+ that would be the only reason for me to get the TomTom app
Magnificent! We had a Tom Tom too, and they are great GPS devices. I’m excited for it to be available on Android, and if the price is comparable to iOS, it’s still a decent price for good Nav software that will update, rather than paying for new maps every 12-18 months.