TomTom for iPhone To Get an Upgrade

When it comes to dealing with the emergence of iPhone as a mobile GPS device, top GPS manufacturers have approached things differently. Navigon stopped shipping hardware all together and introduced its very own mobile GPS device. Garmin decided that it has a better chance of beating the iPhone in its own game by introducing Nuvifone. TomTom has probably the best approach. While the company continues to sell hardware units to those who are interested in those products, you can also get TomTom technology right on your iPhone. But is the app worth $100?

TomTom GPS for iPhone launched a few months ago and generated quite a buzz in the industry. After all, it’s not every day that you see a top GPS company admit the power of a platform that could kill a chunk of its business. TomTom GPS for iPhone certainly has a lot of potential, but what it is not is cheap. And till now, it was not coming with a lot of useful features that you get on TomTom’s standalone GPS units.  TomTom plans to change all that and considering the fact that the company is charging $100 for its app, it’s about time.

TomTom has submitted an update to its iPhone app that will significantly improve your experience with its app:

• Text to speech: surprising that TomTom has been asking $100 for this app without offering this feature.
• Lane Assistance: that’s actually very useful if you have trouble staying on the right lane. That’s a nice addition if it works properly.
• “Help Me” Feature: designed to get you out of trouble when you are stuck on the road. Provides you with emergency contact information.

The facts are, TomTom is a decent GPS software for iPhone. But Apple needs to stop being so stubborn and allow Google Maps Navigation on iPhone. Android phones are going to get their own free GPS app from Google that is competitive with anything we have seen on the market. Google has offered to give iPhone owners free access to this app, but it’s not likely for Apple to allow that to happen. Not until there is some truce between the two companies.

Whether Google Maps Navigation makes it to iPhone shouldn’t matter to TomTom. The fact is, the company is charging too much for its app, and it may have to drop its prices. Adding more useful features to TomTom for iPhone would help as well.