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Apple Begins Shipping TomTom Car Kit in U.S.
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Apparently it's all TomTom, I found another site that said they were supposed to receive their shipment on the 17th as well and that the supplier has yet to update them.
http://www.provantage.com/tomtom-9uob-017-00~ATOMT043.htm
This all seems like a huge foul up for TomTom. First they promise to release this thing months ago, and it's still not widely available. Now there are talks of google releasing a free navigation app. TomTom is going to miss some large amounts of revenue with this manufacturing miscue.
I will probably still buy the mount, which in my eyes, for $87 is a great value. I will definitely be waiting for a free google app though. If I could have purchased the mount two months ago I would have bought the app, silly TomTom.
http://www.provantage.com/tomtom-9uob-017-00~ATOMT043.htm
This all seems like a huge foul up for TomTom. First they promise to release this thing months ago, and it's still not widely available. Now there are talks of google releasing a free navigation app. TomTom is going to miss some large amounts of revenue with this manufacturing miscue.
I will probably still buy the mount, which in my eyes, for $87 is a great value. I will definitely be waiting for a free google app though. If I could have purchased the mount two months ago I would have bought the app, silly TomTom.
With Provantage, the total cost is $101.58 so it's probably worth just hanging out with my current order as its clearly a TomTom issue. I like, and know Provantage and they are a good company, but waiting is waiting. Also, keep in mind this car kit is a good addition even using the new Google app should it arrive someday soon.
yes very true, I think i might stick with BLT as well, hard to beat 85 dollars...lol, especially since i just learned that the new Magellan Car Kit will cost 129.99
and here we all were complaining about tomtom's pricing...lol. I will say, just as i have stated before though, that it is still enticing to go to my local apple store and pick up a unit. I guess it all depends on if I go on some spur of the moment trip..lolyes very true, I think i might stick with BLT as well, hard to beat 85 dollars...lol, especially since i just learned that the new Magellan Car Kit will cost 129.99
Yeah, I hear you. I hate waiting for orders to ship...I guess we get so use to items being in stock, and on their way the next day.
Thought I'd post the Magellan car kit info for all to see:
Magellan car kit detailed at FCC filing
That was fast. We just learned Magellan was going to offer a car kit for the iPhone and it has already hit the FCC. GPSTracklog.com has a detailed drawing of the new device, and it looks to be quite complete. Magellan has said the kit will be on sale before the end of the year, and even give the iPod touch full nav capabilities.
The car kit is supposed to allow any iPhone GPS app to work with it, so you're not limited to the Magellan app. It works in portrait or landscape mode, and has a speaker for hearing directions and also link to your iPhone for Bluetooth based calls.
The Magellan Roadmate app itself [iTunes link] has a boatload of good features, and we're anxious to get our hands on the app for a full test. Holiday travelers will have a lot of good choices for navigating to your destinations. Remember when we thought the plain old Google Maps app was cool?
Attachments
You are correct! We will be releasing our car kit sometime in December. It works with any iPhone GPS app, so you are not limited to just use ours! =)
Some features include:
- Bluetooth hands-free calling
- In-car charging
- Works with any skin or case
- Amplified speaker for clear, powerful sound
- Turns you iPod Touch into a GPS navigator
- and more!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away!
Is it going to be priced a 129.99? or will it be cheaper than tomtom's
Is it go
That looks nice!
Is it possible that we can see more screen caps form the various map screens in this app? The one shown above doesn't give a real feel to the app at all. Maybe post them in the Magellan thread in this forum.
Thanks
Hi SpaceKitty
We are currently working on getting additional screenshots for it. When they are ready, I will post them in the Official Magellan Thread Thank you!
Wcfyee,
man u have just ruined my day. LOL I had convinced myself to wait until beginning of Dec and now I am going to have to go the Apple store and pay full retail unless someone else finds an alternative.
I wonder what happened--sounds like forces came to bear.
anyway, thanks as usual for keeping us informed.
Mike
man u have just ruined my day. LOL I had convinced myself to wait until beginning of Dec and now I am going to have to go the Apple store and pay full retail unless someone else finds an alternative.
I wonder what happened--sounds like forces came to bear.
anyway, thanks as usual for keeping us informed.
Mike
Yeah, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I have an order in too. Hopefully, someone will post a lower cost alternative than the Apple Store. One thing I did notice about the Magellan Car Kit is you can put the iPhone in it with a case. Might be worth waiting?
I just got this email!!
Hi Robert,
Thank you for your email. Your order is fine and will be filled normally.
We've simply restricted new backorders on the item until currently placed
orders such as yours are filled.
Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any additional
questions or concerns. Thank you for your business!
Sam S.
Bottom Line Telecommunications
Hi Robert,
Thank you for your email. Your order is fine and will be filled normally.
We've simply restricted new backorders on the item until currently placed
orders such as yours are filled.
Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any additional
questions or concerns. Thank you for your business!
Sam S.
Bottom Line Telecommunications
I ordered one from the Apple store on Nov 3rd, and it shipped on Nov 16th. So it looks like their estimates are somewhat accurate.
I haven't really put mine through a full test yet, but I will post a review once I have. So far it seems to work as advertised.
TomTom Car Kit - Issues
It works, it's expensive and it's NOT a great value!!!
I have used my new car kit for a few days and I'm a little disappointed with a few aspects of the device. My iPhone snaps in fairly well and it's easy to rotate. The articulation of the mount is not as desirable as it appears in the advertisements. The rotating lock that suctions it to the window is fairly good. The over all feel and quality of the device seems fair to good, however it should be priced about $30-$40 less to be a good value.
The hands-free works, however it appears that it is not duplexed so road noise and vibrations seems to be causing the device to VOX (switch off the speaker when you are talking). I have mixed feelings with the few calls I have made so far. Looking like it may not be a good hands-free device.
It uses Bluetooth to connect the hands-free and not the GPS. I was hoping to be able to use the bluetooth to connect the GPS to other devices and apparently that is not possible. I was also hoping that I could use the hands-free if not docked. You can't, must dock to connect the bluetooth hands-free. Does not make any sense.
Also, they forgot about the voice control that can be activated with a bump of the answer button on most headsets. The volume button, if you push it, sometime brings up the voice control, however it is well behind the iPhone and not easy to hit while the phone is docked. Why is this not more accessible?
Would have been nice to have a button to start and stop music, like my 5 year old bluetooth headset. Maybe next to the other missing button.
When in horizontal mode the weight of the iPhone and the slightest bump in the road or touching the device will cause it to rotate almost vertical. This is because the swivel is not centered and the iPhone is side heavy. Seems that the resistance force of the swivel is a few ounces to light. You also must remove any cover you have as there is no room for anything except the iPhone itself.
They don't support the iPod touch and now they are coming out with a iPod specific mount, it has even less value because I can't use both devices on the same car kit.
Here is how I grade the Car Kit (1-10):
Mounting: 8
Rotation: 7
Articulation: 3
Hands-Free: 4 (Weak, speaker is facing away from you, VOX'ing problem)
GPS: 6 (Only very slightly better that the built in GPS)
Compatibility: 3 (Can't use iPod Touch)
Bluetooth: 2 (Phone will not pair until docked, can't pair with other devices)
Overall it's a $79.00 retail mount with a questionable hands-free, only a small incremental change in GPS accuracy and a useless bluetooth implementation. I'll give it a generous 5 out of 10 for now.
Cost: 119.00 plus Tax, $40 is a donation to the cause.
That's my 2 cents worth that cost me a Benjamin and then some.
Update: I tried the car kit in different vehicles and in different Major cities with the same result. After exchanging my car kit and found no improvement with the hands-free, I decided to return it for a full refund and wait for the Magellan and see if it is any better. I called TomTom and it took over an hour to get someone on the phone and they were no help at all.
The service rep said "Well it appears that your unit is still in warranty", after I stopped laughing I asked her if she was familiar with the product. This just shows that TomTom does not have it together at all for the US market and I am so glad I didn't waste a hundred bucks on the APP.
My new rating is a 3 because the iPhone looks great when mounted.
TomTom = RunRun!
It works, it's expensive and it's NOT a great value!!!
I have used my new car kit for a few days and I'm a little disappointed with a few aspects of the device. My iPhone snaps in fairly well and it's easy to rotate. The articulation of the mount is not as desirable as it appears in the advertisements. The rotating lock that suctions it to the window is fairly good. The over all feel and quality of the device seems fair to good, however it should be priced about $30-$40 less to be a good value.
The hands-free works, however it appears that it is not duplexed so road noise and vibrations seems to be causing the device to VOX (switch off the speaker when you are talking). I have mixed feelings with the few calls I have made so far. Looking like it may not be a good hands-free device.
It uses Bluetooth to connect the hands-free and not the GPS. I was hoping to be able to use the bluetooth to connect the GPS to other devices and apparently that is not possible. I was also hoping that I could use the hands-free if not docked. You can't, must dock to connect the bluetooth hands-free. Does not make any sense.
Also, they forgot about the voice control that can be activated with a bump of the answer button on most headsets. The volume button, if you push it, sometime brings up the voice control, however it is well behind the iPhone and not easy to hit while the phone is docked. Why is this not more accessible?
Would have been nice to have a button to start and stop music, like my 5 year old bluetooth headset. Maybe next to the other missing button.
When in horizontal mode the weight of the iPhone and the slightest bump in the road or touching the device will cause it to rotate almost vertical. This is because the swivel is not centered and the iPhone is side heavy. Seems that the resistance force of the swivel is a few ounces to light. You also must remove any cover you have as there is no room for anything except the iPhone itself.
They don't support the iPod touch and now they are coming out with a iPod specific mount, it has even less value because I can't use both devices on the same car kit.
Here is how I grade the Car Kit (1-10):
Mounting: 8
Rotation: 7
Articulation: 3
Hands-Free: 4 (Weak, speaker is facing away from you, VOX'ing problem)
GPS: 6 (Only very slightly better that the built in GPS)
Compatibility: 3 (Can't use iPod Touch)
Bluetooth: 2 (Phone will not pair until docked, can't pair with other devices)
Overall it's a $79.00 retail mount with a questionable hands-free, only a small incremental change in GPS accuracy and a useless bluetooth implementation. I'll give it a generous 5 out of 10 for now.
Cost: 119.00 plus Tax, $40 is a donation to the cause.
That's my 2 cents worth that cost me a Benjamin and then some.
Update: I tried the car kit in different vehicles and in different Major cities with the same result. After exchanging my car kit and found no improvement with the hands-free, I decided to return it for a full refund and wait for the Magellan and see if it is any better. I called TomTom and it took over an hour to get someone on the phone and they were no help at all.
The service rep said "Well it appears that your unit is still in warranty", after I stopped laughing I asked her if she was familiar with the product. This just shows that TomTom does not have it together at all for the US market and I am so glad I didn't waste a hundred bucks on the APP.
My new rating is a 3 because the iPhone looks great when mounted.
TomTom = RunRun!
TalonFlyer..
Here is how I grade the Car Kit (1-10):
Mounting: 8
Rotation: 7
Articulation: 3
Hands-Free: 4 (Weak, speaker is facing away from you, VOX'ing problem)
GPS: 6 (Only very slightly better that the built in GPS)
Compatibility: 3 (Can't use iPod Touch)
Bluetooth: 2 (Phone will not pair until docked, can't pair with other devices)
Overall it's a $79.00 retail mount with a questionable hands-free, only a small incremental change in GPS accuracy and a useless bluetooth implementation. I'll give it a generous 5 out of 10 for now.
*************************************************************
Nice review, and thanks. It sounds like you might have gotten a unit that is sub par. The rotation and articulation of the car kit in many of the Youtube videos seems very tight, very solid with strong mounting. Did it just loosen up over that short time or did it start out not so great? Maybe send it back?
I thought I remember reading that the Handsfree Bluetooth is duplex so I'm also not sure where your issue comes from. That said, I may get that as a separate item on the visor of my car if its below quality. I have another car with a BluAnt unit in it and its terrific.
Also, there are now several places where you can order the car kit for much less money. I have an order into BTL for $87 which sounds like a more reasonable price for the unit. I'm sure it will continue to drop.
Thanks again!
Here is how I grade the Car Kit (1-10):
Mounting: 8
Rotation: 7
Articulation: 3
Hands-Free: 4 (Weak, speaker is facing away from you, VOX'ing problem)
GPS: 6 (Only very slightly better that the built in GPS)
Compatibility: 3 (Can't use iPod Touch)
Bluetooth: 2 (Phone will not pair until docked, can't pair with other devices)
Overall it's a $79.00 retail mount with a questionable hands-free, only a small incremental change in GPS accuracy and a useless bluetooth implementation. I'll give it a generous 5 out of 10 for now.
*************************************************************
Nice review, and thanks. It sounds like you might have gotten a unit that is sub par. The rotation and articulation of the car kit in many of the Youtube videos seems very tight, very solid with strong mounting. Did it just loosen up over that short time or did it start out not so great? Maybe send it back?
I thought I remember reading that the Handsfree Bluetooth is duplex so I'm also not sure where your issue comes from. That said, I may get that as a separate item on the visor of my car if its below quality. I have another car with a BluAnt unit in it and its terrific.
Also, there are now several places where you can order the car kit for much less money. I have an order into BTL for $87 which sounds like a more reasonable price for the unit. I'm sure it will continue to drop.
Thanks again!
good morning Wclyffe.
question on your comment about BlueAnt. I too have used BT Blueant and loved it. When I got the iPhone it would not, however, recognize my contact list, BUT would let me talk and listen to a phone call I originated on the iPhone.
With the tomtom dock, if the BT isn't acceptable per the above comments, how would I use the BlueAnt?
With the car kit I assume handsfree dialing still requires either holding iphone button and doing voice dialing or favorite list or contact list. BlueAnt of course allowed one touch button and "call so and so" command.
Appreciate clarification.
Have you done anymore review of the Navigon car kit?
thanks,
Mike
question on your comment about BlueAnt. I too have used BT Blueant and loved it. When I got the iPhone it would not, however, recognize my contact list, BUT would let me talk and listen to a phone call I originated on the iPhone.
With the tomtom dock, if the BT isn't acceptable per the above comments, how would I use the BlueAnt?
With the car kit I assume handsfree dialing still requires either holding iphone button and doing voice dialing or favorite list or contact list. BlueAnt of course allowed one touch button and "call so and so" command.
Appreciate clarification.
Have you done anymore review of the Navigon car kit?
thanks,
Mike
Is it an iPhone 3Gs? I have no problem with Voice Control recognizing my contacts list. I just press the button on the BluAnt and voice control is activated. Not sure why that isn't working for you.
I think we just do not pair the the iPhone to the dock via bluetooth, but instead pair the BluAnt that way. The GPS chip should be connected to the phone via the dock connector. Right?
Yeah, that makes sense which is why I'm going to likely keep my BluAnt for calls as its so easy to hit the button on the visor and use Voice Control. I can't believe its as easy using the car kit, but we'll see.
No, as the Navigon is just a simple mount with no electronics (GPS chip, bluetooth, etc).