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Tomtom car kit plus iPhone 4

Ingster

Ingster

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 2, 2007
460
137
Leeds, UK
Just followed the keynote, great iPhone 4! I'm looking at the tom-tom car kit and hoping that they are going to release a iPhone 4 version as I'd buy one like a shot, I like and use the griffin windowseat for my 3G but in cooler weather it falls off and when I need to look albeit briefly at the screen it's wobbling around, was so close to buying the kit this spring but held back, glad I did with the new form factors etc.
Anyone else going to buy one if/when they release one?
 
Very glad i never bought the tom tom ca kit, i see it more of a scam than a product. You pay over the odds for a bit of kit which doesn't even have the functionality of tomtom one, not just no IQ routes but you cant even make Homer Simpson the voice.

Whats the point of a tomtom without the silly voices?
 
well i bought the tom tom car kit.

I love it. for me it has awesome speakers and mic, and is a fantastic charger. it also has sound that pipes into my aux port. So slap my iphone in there and i am handsfree and loving it.

I am saddened to think it will probably not fit the new iphone 4.

Will have to wait and see. I am hoping tom tom provides some way to alter the kit so i can use it.
 
It fits

Sorry to ruin your nightmares. The car kit will indeed fit the iPhone 4. I've been giving this some thougts since the first pictures of it started cropping up a while back, and it has always seemed like Apple and TomTom have been cooperating a bit (since it's in Apple's interest that the end user get the software and hardware that they want to accompany their iPhone.

TomTom released the car kit so late that if it was only for the models released untill then that would have been stupid. The new iPhone is almost the exact length as the 3GS (http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-vs-iphone-3gs-the-tale-of-the-tape/).

And as you can see from the picture I just took (attached) the locking mechanism will probably have no problems at all holding a iPhone 4 in place. The part that contacts the iPhone near the top is of soft rubber and gives way, and mocking up the 4's thickness using a gauge and a ruler showed that it's likely to be a perfect fit.

It's also worth noting that the new iPhone is thinner than the old, not longer.
 

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Don't u worry

I was at the apple store the other day and asked that very question... I said to the guy "let's suppose something should be released very soon, will the tomtom car kit be compatitble with that mythical something?" The guy had a very logical answer for me.. He said "think about all the apple compatible products you have had in the past.. why would all of sudden this product break that trend.. He's right i have a beat up first gen nano that works with my brand new phillips speaker dock.
 
Re: price drop

I can't see any reasons why they would be making a new one for the iPhone 4 unless there's a hardware-issue or something.

Another theory may be that they're lowering the price to sell more units. If they have a lot of people sitting on the fence because of the price then lowering the price would make sense.

But as far as the physical goes I can't see any reasons why the new iPhone wouldn't fit.
 
uh oh

Tomtom themselves don't know if it will fit or not

http://apple-investor.com/blog/2010...e-ios-4-multitasking-–-tipb-at-wwdc-2010.html

With the iPhone, Apple is providing the device (and the GPS) but TomTom still offers a car kit to supplement and extend the built-in hardware. (I asked if the existing car kit would be compatible with the just-introduced iPhone 4, but they hadn’t had a chance to get their hands on it yet so they’re waiting to whether it fits, whether it requires an adapter, or whether some reengineering will be in order).
 
I may be wrong guys but isn't in the thickness that matters as the phone has to be in contact with the gps mechanics built in to the holder?
I really think my 2 month old purchase isn't a great decision.
 
I installed the GM version of iOS 4 for the first time on my 3GS yesterday and found that TomTom didn't appear to be communicating with the cradle properly.
 
bwfc0907 said:
I may be wrong guys but isn't in the thickness that matters as the phone has to be in contact with the gps mechanics built in to the holder?
I really think my 2 month old purchase isn't a great decision.
Click to expand...


I am pretty sure the Iphone communicates with the TomTom GPS mechanics via its doc connector, not physically through the back of the phone.

If the only difference is thickness, I am reasonably confident a simply engineering fix like adding padding to the tomtom unit will suffice.

I would not be surprised if tomtom has to update its software to support iOS4, I can't wait for multi-tasking with my tomtom software!
 
I've just returned mine to Apple as it was fairly new & got a full refund.

Love the piece of kit but didn't want to risk not being able to get a refund. Am concerned with this every year so may not bother investing again.
 
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This is one of the main reasons I didn't buy one. I figured that any new hardware might not fit. If I ever get one it would be the Magellan version.
 
v66jack said:
Very glad i never bought the tom tom ca kit, i see it more of a scam than a product. You pay over the odds for a bit of kit which doesn't even have the functionality of tomtom one, not just no IQ routes but you cant even make Homer Simpson the voice.

Whats the point of a tomtom without the silly voices?
Click to expand...

I don't know what TomTom app you're using, but the one I have has IQ routing. There isn't a Homer Simpson voice, but that doesn't make it a scam.

Please don't judge things you've never used.
 
If it is the same length I really can't see why It wouldn't fit inside the holder... The only prob i can see happening is that since iphone 4 is thinner maybe once it is docked it might slide around towards the top of the car kit.. I reeeealy don't wanna have to put a case on my phone or send in my car kit for some kinda mod
 
Follow up

Just to argue my point both sides.. Why would they lower the price if they thought it wouldn't fit... Be kinda crappy for all those new car kit owners to find out that their new product doesn't work with the device it was intended for
 
A tweet from TomTom UK basically says they haven't got a clue. Very poor if you ask me. I want a better design for any new kit so a case can be used.
 
Bumper

Maybe one of those bumpers would help if it doesn't fit.. They actually look pretty good on the iphone 4
 
I think it should fit as its compatible with the original iphone and thats shorter than the iphone 4, well according to wikipedia it is :D also I think the dock connection is just for charging the gps is accessed through bluetooth although i could be wrong :confused:
 
joemolomo said:
I think it should fit as its compatible with the original iphone and thats shorter than the iphone 4, well according to wikipedia it is :D also I think the dock connection is just for charging the gps is accessed through bluetooth although i could be wrong :confused:
Click to expand...


Nope ur absolutely right about how the gps is accessed..

I have another concern about how snug it's gonna fit once it's snapped into the cradle.. Since it's quite a bit thinner than the 3gs wouldn't you have to assume that it may be a little loose in there??? :(
 
joemolomo said:
I think it should fit as its compatible with the original iphone and thats shorter than the iphone 4, well according to wikipedia it is :D also I think the dock connection is just for charging the gps is accessed through bluetooth although i could be wrong :confused:
Click to expand...

I don't think so. I've used the cradle for GPS without being connected over bluetooth. I havent had a chance to test mine yet but the app itself is a little dodgy since I've just fired it up
 
Hi willis are you sure it wasn't just using the GPS inside the phone, because when i push the iphone back into the cradle whilst tom tom app is running it says poor reception briefly, i thought this maybe a result of the swapping between the two GPS's, and pushing phone into the cradle activates the bluetooth, and if bluetooth isn't on on the phone it won't connect at all to the car kit GPS.
 
joemolomo said:
:D also I think the dock connection is just for charging the gps is accessed through bluetooth although i could be wrong :confused:
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that's correct. I thought the bluetooth was only used for the speakerphone connection. I've used the GPS without bluetooth running on the phone before.
 
SooneratND said:
I'm not sure that's correct. I thought the bluetooth was only used for the speakerphone connection. I've used the GPS without bluetooth running on the phone before.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure if your referring to the gps on the phone or on the kit but let me tell you what i know for sure.. The tomtom kit has it's own "enhanced" gps chip inside that's designed to replace the gps within the iphone.. When the phone is docked it disables from the iphone's gps and uses the car kit's gps instead.. I'm almost positive that it connects to the gps through the dock because i've put the phone in airplane mode then docked it and I had a full gps signal. As far as it utilizing bluetooth, that's so it can take and receive calls.. u dig?
 
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