It wasn’t long ago that I reviewed the TomTom Navigation App for the iPhone. At the time the only other app that I had to compare it with was the Navigon app, which came out first. When the TomTom app came out it really wasn’t any better than the Navigon app. Sure there are some things that were nicer like more POIs, but overall the app had basically the same major limitations as the Navigon app. Well Navigon has released two updates since then and in the latest update they gave us TTS (Text to Speech) so that when you’re approaching a turn it says the name of the street that you’re about to turn on. This plus integrated iPod controls an automatic day/night mode and a few other fixes plus a cheaper retail price makes Navigon my app of choice. Check out the Navigon app here on the App Store:
However, all of these apps have the same problem and that is the relatively weak signal from the iPhone’s GPS chip. This can’t be fixed by software.
The TomTom Car Kit
I’ve been waiting for the TomTom Car Kit to ship. I felt that with this mount I would not only get a holder for the iPhone, integrated speakerphone and power, but I would get the much needed GPS signal booster that they promised. I was patiently waiting for the October shipping of this "kit" until I read all the reports that the car kit was going to cost $120!!!! Yes, and you guessed it, that doesn’t include the app! I have one question….TomTom are you insane? Sure I know that it would be more convenient to carry one device (the iPhone) instead of two when I travel, but its the principle here. I can get a full blown GPS unit from any of the top GPS manufacturers (including, wait for it….TomTom) for around the same $120 you’re charging for the "car kit" alone. It would be one thing if the $120 included a code to get the app, but it doesn’t. Did it really require that much of an engineering effort to make an iPhone mount, charger, GPS signal boosting unit that you have to charge almost as much as you do for your own TomTom ONE XL-S that includes a mount AND charger?
A recent email survey – earlier this week I received an email as a registered user interested in their iPhone app. The Survey asked the usual kinds of questions you would expect about how I liked the app, features I would like to see, which ones I use, etc. Then the survey asked a lot of questions regarding the car kit and pricing. So perhaps TomTom is starting to realize that $120 is too much! We’ll see.
UPDATE: The TomTom Car Kit has reappeared in the UK Apple Store:
The Bottom Line
I was really hoping that I would be able to just use my iPhone and the Navigon (or TomTom) app for my travel GPS. You can certainly use your iPhone with a standard mount such as this vent mount that I use and it will work! It’s just that a mount with a GPS signal booster would make it BETTER! However, at this point I will continue to use my Garmin Nuvi 765t and beanbag mount or vent mount. I will also wait to see what the Navigon mount looks like (hopefully it’s more than just a holder) and costs. It’s not that I don’t have $120 to spend, it’s just hard to justify spending that on a mount when you can get a fully functional GPS unit, mount and charger that has more functionally for that price or less!
Wow! That’s quite a chunk of change. I just bought the Sygic Mobile Maps US Turn-by-Turn GPS for only $39.99 (it’s on sale). Using the vent mount that Terry recommended, I’ve got a great system that meets my occasional GPS needs. Given the competition, I suspect TomTom will need to rethink this one…
Well if there is something positive here it might be that over at Engadget they just did a look over at the unit and also posted this “TomTom told it that the kit will also work with “any sat-nav iPhone app”.
This would be a big plus since I already have the Navigon App.
I’m with you on this one, Terry. I was really looking forward to this kit coming out, especially after my Garmin GPS was stolen out of my vehicle. I’m not eager to replace it with another one that could disappear like the first one did, so I’d much prefer to go the iPhone route.
The TomTom marketing team really missed the boat on this opportunity after all of the free publicity they received from the WWDC keynote. I hope they reconsider their pricing strategies and realize that most prospective customers aren’t going to pay such a high premium for convenience when, like you pointed out, they can buy an entire GPS for what they want for the car kit alone.
I downloaded and have been using the new application Drive from MotionX. This is really an ammazing app (for $2.99). It has not failed me yet driving in SF Bay area and downtown SF. (The catch is that you get turn-by-turn voice commands for 30 days for free then it’s $25 per year for that option thereafter). With other developers chipping away at the price point and functionality – I agree with your statement – TomTom must either be insane or really not notice what the market is doing…
Pffft…i guess they don’t realize how many units they are going to miss out on selling by wayyyy overpricing this thing. I would have bought one for sure at a $40 price point, as i’m sure many others would. $120 without app? thanks, but uhhh…no thanks.
I agree. It’s not a matter of who an afford what. It’s a matter of principle here. I was looking forward to the TomTom app with holder, but I can’t justify spending more than $100 for the combination.
MotionX is really nice for $3. And do an Amazon search for “iphone windshield mount” and you’ll find a bunch of options as cheap as $3.02 (plus shipping). My favorite is the one from Griffin for $12.
I think it’s rather obvious what’s going on here. Tom Tom thinks they have a good thing going with their hardware/software combination. If they brought down this kit to, say, $25, they’d be cannibalizing their other business.
Look, Apple isn’t going to sell their OS so it will work on a cheap netbook simply because it would take money away from their main business, selling Macs. Similarly, Tom Tom isn’t going to sell hardware/software combination that is so much cheaper than what they sell that it will cannibalize the sales of their own units.
I doubt if the price will ever come down. Try eBay or Craig’s List for discounts in the future.