TomTom GO 700 2006 Map Updates...

[Internetpilot]

Sorry if I got anyone going with the subject, but there has not been a map update available yet for the TomTom GO 300/500/700, even though it was originally estimated to be out by the end of Summer 2006. I did call TomTom Support just now and they said, "We are expecting them to be released any day now, but we do not currently have anything more specific regarding that." Not terribly helpful, but at least they acknowledged that they missed their planned release date and that updates are still forthcoming. Better than no information at all, right?

I actually have a fairly recent map version on my GO 700 that I purchased in May 2006, but I do know that the new 510/910's are being shipped with a significantly newer map version. I also know that the newly released TomTom Navigator 6 for Palm and Windows Mobile is coming with a newer map version. It seems a little unusual that TomTom isn't taking care of their existing GO users before releasing a newer map version for the Palm/WM users, especially when this newer map version is already shipping with the G0 510/910, so one would think it would be a relatively easy release for the older GO models since TomTom now has us all running v6 of their application.

Oh, well...I guess I'll just patiently wait for TomTom to notify me of an update!

 

[Burner]

Hi!
Tomtom support told me, an update will come end of october 2006!

 

[raincloud]

They never keep their promise

 

[Burner]

you?re right!

their service-quality is very very poor...

 

[Internetpilot]

Well, at least Europe gets the same type of treatment this time -- they frequently don't keep advertised release dates with Europe either. I actually think their service quality is excellent, but their service AVAILABILITY is poor. Or at least has been poor in the past. Recently, I've been able to reach them via their toll-free support number with no wait time at all. My experience with their online support system has been mixed -- sometimes I get a response in 24 hours and sometimes weeks go by with no response (at which time I usually have resolved it myself via forums like this one).

I think they've done very well with their software updates. I'm pleased as punch to get v6 of their application for free on my GO 700. They could've easily charged for that by including it only with a map update.

Maps are very tricky things to produce for the nav manufacturers. They are completely dependent on data provided from a 3rd party (TeleAtlas, NavTeq), and this data is obtained at significant cost to them that they must then pass on (the cost) to the customer. So they have a lot of quality control issues they have to keep an eye on or else they'll get a huge flux of negative feedback, demands for refunds, etc. Plus, we have to understand that we North Americans are our own worst enemies -- if we'd slow down a bit on road construction/modification, we wouldn't feel the need for such frequent map updates. Europe's roads don't change as often as ours. In my area of Florida, I'm frequently "offroading it" or "flying" from TomTom's perspective, because the stupid DOT is always rerouting and modifying the major roads, intersections, etc. And it's not that the TomTom maps are so horribly outdated, it's that there really has been that much construction and modification to the roads in the last year or two. It's also not just road map issues -- there are also POIs (which everyone seems to be demanding these days as a must-have) that further complicate the maps. Personally, I think it's getting to the point where businesses need to provide their own POIs that we can just add on to our TomTom maps -- big business can do their own thing and smaller business can group together to provide them by city (maybe through Chamber of Commerce, etc.). I know that's currently going on now with some businesses, but I think it should be that way for all POIs and then TomTom could focus more on maps and not at all on POIs.

Anyway, I'm not trying to defend them too much here, but generating maps isn't just a one-click operating, and they have given us older GO users a wonderful (and free) application update. Hey, maybe that was to pacify us because the maps are delayed?

 

[raincloud]

TomTom customer service for UK and the rest of Europe was crap up until the release of V6 for older models.
On the introduction of V6.12, realising that there were so many calls to TomTom about complaints of the units freezing up on splash, that they pulled the application off the site right away.

TomTom have never responded that quick before.

Then they introduced another one, V6.14, but the remote control did not work on Traffic, so they issued 6.15.
Glad to say that this works.

TomToms problem has always been sell units and who cares if anything goes wrong as the unit can always be swapped for a reconditioned one.

Since TomTom has so much need to dominate the satnav world, I think they now can`t afford to screw up with their customers; hence the improvement with online and landline customer service.

They promised an update of maps to their UK customers in the beginning of the 3rd quarter, so we`ll see if they keep their promise!

 

[bobball]

version 6.15? My 910 is at 6.11

What differences are there between 6.11 and 6.15?

 

[Pedro2NR]

Currently, TomTom x10 models latest version is 6.11. The rest is for the X00 models.

 

[Internetpilot]

What differences are there between 6.11 and 6.15?

Basically, there the same. From what I understand, the main difference between the two version is more of a behind-the-scenes programming thing that helped with backward compatibility of the hardware. There were some SD card related issues with v6.14. Correcting that was one major reason for v6.15, but it would seem one of the additional things that v6.15 did was remove the ability for the older GO models to utilize the Text To Speech (TTS) feature of the GO 910. Apparently there was some oversight by TomTom that allowed for voice files to be copied from say your friend's 910 over to your 500 or 700, allowing you to add that feature without paying the big upgrade $ for a 910 to get the feature legally.