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Kex
USA
190 Posts |
 Posted - 12 juin 2012 : 05:13:48
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Very intriguing indeed.
So can we assume that the phones would have to have GPS mode enabled at the time, but not necessarily be using a navigation function, to be useful probes for TomTom? I wonder what percentage of BlackBerry and iPhone users leave GPS location mode enabled all the time. It might be that security concerns and the desire to extend battery life might lead some to turn it off unless they are currently navigating with the device.
As you say: a drop in the ocean for Apple. I wonder how this will compare to the TomTom iPhone app. Does it mean that it no longer adds any additional functionality and iPhone users will simply not need to buy it?
I hope TomTom doesn't end up with Apple style pricing at some point, although I would currently pay more than the reduced pricing (introduced about a year ago now) just for a HD Traffic subscription. |
TomTom XL 340S LIVE, GO LIVE 2535M, XL 340TM (RDS-TMC) in LA traffic
Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (worthy, but retired) |
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offthegrid
USA
398 Posts |
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offthegrid
USA
398 Posts |
Posted - 12 juin 2012 : 05:53:33
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This just touches ever so lightly on the possibility that Apple has taken a position in TomTom.
Imagine if Apple could solve TomTom's webkit issues?
http://www.wired.com/business/2012/06/with-google-gone-can-apple-successfuly-navigate-in-maps/
How much Apple has spent to push Google off the iOS front page isn’t clear. The Cupertino company has reportedly gobbled up several small map tech companies in recent years. And the new map app appears to rely for its data in part on Dutch GPS navigation maker TomTom, which has its own iOS app. But mapping traditionally doesn’t come cheap. In 2007, mobile phone giant Nokia spent more than $8 billion to buy GPS data and navigation software maker Navteq. |
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Kex
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - 12 juin 2012 : 05:57:03
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Thinking about it further. A smartphone today with Google maps and traffic is useful, but it does not actively direct you around traffic, making use of the traffic data and IQ Routes type data. So a TomTom navigation device is still useful to those users.
Also, if the only data being streamed to the phone or device is HD Traffic data, then that is very limited. The TomTom app might still be attractive for it's lack of need for mountains of data on lesser data plans.
Finally, the GPS signal on my TomToms is far more reliable than the cell signal for my phones (those can slow dramatically when using data in particular). For example: on a recent cross country trip, checking for poor road conditions, the better smartphone weather function was horrendously slow in some rural areas, making checking weather and road conditions ahead almost impossible and horribly laborious, despite the normally slick interface. In the same areas, with the HD Traffic bar present on screen (indicating an active AT&T signal, however weak it might have been), checking weather on the road ahead was somewhat cumbersome in comparison, but the results were almost instantaneous. Obviously much less data must have been necessary, so a weak cell signal was not enough to make the process laborious on the TomTom. The hardest part of the task was choosing appropriate points along the route to check. |
TomTom XL 340S LIVE, GO LIVE 2535M, XL 340TM (RDS-TMC) in LA traffic
Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (worthy, but retired) |
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offthegrid
USA
398 Posts |
Posted - 12 juin 2012 : 07:26:40
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Looks like a complete replacement for TomTom's nav app.
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Kex
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - 12 juin 2012 : 17:46:29
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TomTom's press release is very informative:
http://corporate.tomtom.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=682065
After reading that, try this iOS 6 maps "preview" that a TomTom employee was kind enough to point out for me:
http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/maps/
Of course, for the purpose of this thread, the question remains what effect all of this will have on HD Traffic, whether on an iPhone or not. We still don't know who's traffic data will be used, but are we assuming that iPhones are going to be traffic probes for HD Traffic? |
TomTom XL 340S LIVE, GO LIVE 2535M, XL 340TM (RDS-TMC) in LA traffic
Garmin StreetPilot 2720 (worthy, but retired) |
Edited by - Kex on 12 juin 2012 19:58:27 |
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offthegrid
USA
398 Posts |
Posted - 13 juin 2012 : 02:54:11
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| I believe TomTom will definitely gain millions and millions of probes here and elsewhere. |
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[TOPIC] TomTom's HD Traffic Service - 2011 Update
