Tomtom announces iPhone app 1.5

[mvl]

TomTom App for iPhone Continues to Deliver Advanced Turn-by-Turn Navigation with New Update

Latest Features Include Navigate-to-Photo and Optimization for iPhone 4


CONCORD, Mass., Sep 02, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- TomTom, the world's leading provider of location and navigation solutions, announces that a new update to the TomTom App for iPhone is coming soon. The new update demonstrates TomTom's commitment to provide continued innovations and an enhanced navigation experience. Now, TomTom users will have a new way to enter destinations using photos, turning their photo gallery into an address book. Additionally, iPhone 4 users will experience faster and more-responsive navigation, and with support for retina display, will enjoy enhanced graphics. The TomTom App for iPhone version 1.5 will feature:
-- Navigate-to-photo - Users can easily navigate to a location by selecting a photo stored in the iPhone gallery. Locations are identified by geo-tags.
-- Optimization for iPhone 4 - Takes full advantage of the capabilities of Apple's latest iOS device, the App now delivers high resolution graphics, sharper maps, more-responsive menus and improved positioning even in areas with limited GPS reception.
-- Latest, most up-to-date maps* - TomTom maps include 1 million more miles of roads in the US than competitive maps and have been rated highest in quality and reliability. No mobile signal or data plan is required to browse the map and navigate to a destination.
"With over 45 million drivers worldwide relying on TomTom navigation, we have the expertise to deliver iPhone and iPod touch users the smartest and easiest-to-use navigation experience available," said Tom Murray, senior vice president of market development for TomTom Inc. "As we build upon TomTom's expertise and refine it for the iPhone, we are focused on meeting consumers' needs through our continued product innovations and support of Apple's advancements."
With the latest update to the App, users will continue to benefit from TomTom's industry-leading navigation features, including:
-- IQ Routes(TM) - Only TomTom uses actual speed data collected from millions of users to accurately calculate the travel time of your route. It allows for rush hour, traffic lights... even shopping crowds. So no matter what time it is, you can rely on IQ Routes to tell you when you'll get there!
-- Announces Street Names - Provides turn-by-turn spoken directions.
-- Advanced Lane Guidance - Extra clarity when navigating difficult junctions by showing the user which lane to take for an upcoming exit.
-- Local Search - Allows a user to locate and route to countless points of interest (POIs) by tapping into the latest local Google listings from within the TomTom App.
-- Multitasking Functionality** - Allows a user to receive turn-by-turn directions while the iPhone is running other applications.
Availability and Price
The TomTom App for iPhone is available for purchase via the App Store. Continental and regional versions of the TomTom App are available today for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and iPod touch users at iTunes Store.
Pricing varies by market. TomTom U.S.A. and U.S. & Canada apps are currently available at the discounted prices of $39.99 and $49.99, respectively.
TomTom App for iPhone runs on OS 3.0 and iOS 4, however users should upgrade to iOS 4 to be able to take full advantage of the application's features.
*All maps updated with the exception of Argentina and Chile
**Available on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS & iPod touch 3rd Gen. running iOS4
###
About TomTom N.V.
TomTom N.V. (AEX: TOM2) is the world's leading provider of location and navigation solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands it has over 3,000 employees worldwide. Over 45 million people use its solutions every day, in the form of dedicated portable navigation devices (PNDs), in-dash car systems or tracking and tracing solutions for fleet management. In addition, hundreds of millions of people use TomTom's digital maps on the internet or mobile phones.
In 2009, TomTom reported EUR1.5 billion in revenues and a EUR340 million net cash flow from operating activities. More information about TomTom can be found at www.TomTom.com.
SOURCE: TomTom

 

[davidalan99]

Nice but have they fixed traffic yet? However I do notice nothing is mentioned about traffic.

 

[compwiz1202]

The big question is when? Some sites are stating that 1.5 is available, but there are no updates in my app store, and when i search the app, the version still shows 1.4.

 

[JackMR]

It is most likely stuck in the App Store approval process.

 

[relayer35]

Will this be a free upgrade for 1.4.1 users?

Will this fix the address issue when navigating to Contacts?

Any idea when this will be available? I've been waiting months for the Contacts fix.

 

[compwiz1202]

Three weeks now. Is there any way to find out if it is truly in the approval process and an estimate of when it will hit the store? Does Apple only add apps to the store on certain days and times? Thanks.

 

[Pedro2NR]

There is no way to know for sure unless it is announced. Best method to know is to follow TomTom on Twitter.

 

[edgarmcintosh]

Contacts issue

Why can we not get a reply on if 1.5 iPhone update addresses contacts issue? This is a important feature for many.
I've called support and emailed three times- last time the answer was- Yes- you can get a free iPhone 4 adapter. Nothing to do with my question.
I am debating buying another app.
Thanks for any assistance you can give.

 

[prophetizer]

weird that nothing they state is a new feature, other than upgraded graphics, what they need to do is fix traffic, and add voices

 

[gatorguy]

Gosh they have LOTS of new features like navigate to photo and. . . uh . . . navigating to a photo, and. . ., I guess you're right. A pretty long press release for a single feature.

With Navigon adding several features/additions with each new iPhone app update, TomTom really needs to pay more attention to their mobile app if they really intend to be a market leader.

 

[aegould]

So When??

Ok..so they've announced this...but when is it rolling out? I keep checking Apple's App store...looking for my update...but nothing yet. Has it been kicked back to TomTom at this point...and rejected? Seems as if it's taking way too long for Apple to release it.

 

[prophetizer]

it's there now

 

[wombat94]

I downloaded and installed it this morning. I just finished driving in to work with my first morning commute.

I got an iPhone 4 earlier this week, so this was a trip with:

• iPhone 4
• TomTom USA 1.5
• Retina Display
• Working Traffic
• TomTom iPhone Car Kit

all working together very well... it's great to have working traffic display back, although I didn't have much traffic this morning.

I love having traffic and IQ routes working together, and I am glad that I'll have TomTom's logic for re-calculating routes for updated traffic back.

I'm now going to have to compare side-by-side with CoPilot, which I've been using since they released their ActiveTraffic a while back and I was still waiting for TomTom to fix the traffic. I actually still prefer the way CoPilot displays the traffic in the sidebar, but TomTom's method is acceptable (now that it's working again) and TomTom's traffic and IQ routes work out better overall.

It's been a long time coming, but I'm happy with TomTom again.

 

[Rensu]

Agreed Wombat, best update yet.

Tried out the photo thing. Really neat.

I cant' seem to find Google Local Search. Any ideas?

Previously was map -> Point on Map -> Google Search (doesn't seem to work now)

 

[LloydBanks]

Anybody yet found a single website with an 'Add to TomTom' button tho?

 

[TallBen]

Just bought the new 1.5 TomTom app and so far I'm quite impressed. I have one question regarding HD traffic which I am also using for the first time...

I find a route with known traffic problems (over an hour of delays). Sometimes it then comes up with "traffic on route... searching for faster route" and automatically reroutes. But then I try it again a few minutes later and it doesn't offer the better route, just the original with the hour delay. I then have to click the "minimise delays" button to force it to search for the quicker route.

Shouldn't it always automatically try to avoid the traffic and find me a better route, or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance

Ben

 

[Michael Quinlan]

I downloaded and installed it this morning. I just finished driving in to work with my first morning commute.

I got an iPhone 4 earlier this week, so this was a trip with:

• iPhone 4
• TomTom USA 1.5
• Retina Display
• Working Traffic
• TomTom iPhone Car Kit

all working together very well... it's great to have working traffic display back, although I didn't have much traffic this morning.

I love having traffic and IQ routes working together, and I am glad that I'll have TomTom's logic for re-calculating routes for updated traffic back.

I'm now going to have to compare side-by-side with CoPilot, which I've been using since they released their ActiveTraffic a while back and I was still waiting for TomTom to fix the traffic. I actually still prefer the way CoPilot displays the traffic in the sidebar, but TomTom's method is acceptable (now that it's working again) and TomTom's traffic and IQ routes work out better overall.

It's been a long time coming, but I'm happy with TomTom again.

Have you compared? What are your thoughts?

I've been comparing my TomTom Go 704 LIVE side-by-side with Copilot Live 8 with Active Traffic on my Droid for a few weeks. Despite the dated mapping used by Copilot, I found the routes comparable, and ETAs similar after tweaking my routing profile in Copilot - though Copliot's ETAs are still pessimistic.

Ignoring TomToms voice input, I found entering addresses easier in Copilot, particularly on numbered highways, but also where the town name might not be quite right. For example:

3700 Route 33, Neptune, NJ 07753

On TomTom, I enter a city name of Netptune, then type in '33' for the road name (not know if it's listed in the map as 'Hwy 33', 'Route 33'. 'State Route 33', etc.). The results I get back are 'Hwy 33', 'State Route 33', and two instances of '3rd Ave'. If I select 'Hwy 33', and enter a house number 3700, I'm told it's not found, and that the nearest number is 1393. If I select 'State Route 33', and enter a house number of 3700, I get the right location.

In Copilot, if I enter a city name of Neptune, then type in '33' for the road name, I presented with a single result: 'Hwy 33'. As I enter the house number, I can immediately see whether it's valid or not as I'm typing, and it finds 3700 on the first attempt.

I've seen similar problems with TomTom in other areas, where this is even more problematic because the results are more like 'Hwy 33'. 'State Route 33', 'Hwy 33 E', 'Hwy 33 W'. A few times I've been unable to find the address at all, until I zoom into the map to find that the road name in the area I'm looking for (having already found it by other means) is 'Hwy33', which doesn't show up in the results at all because '33' is not the first part of a word in the road name.

Regarding Traffic, it's hard to completely judge, since with TomTom's IQ Routes, traffic won't be indicated unless it's "worse than normal". However, TomTom seems to indicate there is traffic when if fact there is none, more frequently than Copilot. I'm really shocked by this, considering how TomTom's IQ Routes and traffic are supposed to work together. Copilot also seems to suffer from false indications of traffic, but not as much as TomTom.

I often wonder where these false indications come from, and the onyl answer I can come up with besides recently cleared traffic not being reported as cleared yet, is that it's predictive. But given TomTom's IQ Routes, I would think that predictive traffic indicators would be virtually non-existent, however it seems to be the opposite.

 

[daveoftruro]

I used Copilot when I first had my iPhone and didn't want to pay TT's then exorbitant price. I'd already owned a TT ONE.

Although Copilot does have some good features, such as Route Optimisation for several waypoints, I decided to switch to TT because Copilot produced some bizarre routings. I think it was because it didn't allow any time to traverse a junction, so a route with multiple junctions in theory took the same time as one with non. That may be less of an important limitation in the US than it is in the UK. Here, time to traverse junctions is the most significant part of city driving.

I have had problems in TT totally losing GPS synch for an extended period, and hopefully 1.5 has cured this problem.

Overall, I have far more confidence in TT than Copilot, but I do have an open mind. If TT have not fixed the sw problems, it's easy enough to start using Copilot again.

 

[cjkaai]

Anybody yet found a single website with an 'Add to TomTom' button tho? YES.

To "LloydBanks" Anybody yet found a single website with an 'Add to TomTom' button tho?

Test it using a button with POI's in it: YouToTomTom!

I didn't het it work on my phone yet while it works for other tomtom's..

Cheers,
Cris