Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

TomTom Developing GPS Module for iPhone?

ShadowHunter said:
Looks fake to me. It looks kinda like the device plugged into the bottom is really just under the iPhone and sticking out some. The lower half of the phone looks slightly raised compared to the upper half to me.

Maybe I'm just nuts.
Click to expand...

just playing a little devils advocate... maybe its a sled or cradle like design where then phone just connects to a small little platform and the gps antenna goes up the back of the phone? Although i do admit that it does look like the thing is under the iphone
 
Question:

I think this is great, but do you think it will work in a touch? Even though the touch does not have wifi constantly, especially when you are in a car, the gps is just built in right? Cuz then I would have GPS in my car via my touch! How awesome would that be!?!?
 
Forget TomTom or Garmin, I want Leica! Since the phone is already internet enabled, I can hook up to the correction server for my city (run by the local govt agencies) and my location would be precise to the foot! It would know when I'm changing lanes!
 
I like this idea a lot. My need for a GPS is just for vacations and trips into the city - I'd be lucky if I used it once a month. So, spending big bucks on a GPS seems like a waste to me. But as a low cost add-on for my phone, that would get my $$$.

Any idea how much something like this would retail for? A previous poster mentioned he had it on another phone or PDA.

Thanks,
 
Object-X said:
It's a bad idea. GPS navigation is most useful while driving. The iPhone can be a difficult and dangerous device to use in the car (while driving); but in the car is where I use the thing the most. Apple needs to design an in-dash touchscreen device that syncs with your iPhone, but can be operated safely while driving.

It's only a matter of time before someone gets killed because they were trying to use Google maps or iTunes on their iPhone while driving.
Click to expand...

The more and more I think about it the more dumb the concept of a touchscreen handheld is. I really like the option of operating things without the need for looking at them.
 
I've never used GPS, but this solution looks fun.

I assume this would work with current iPhones. Meaning, one couldn't just install a GPS app on current iPhones (when SDK is public and such an app is developed) and get the same results, right?
The phone needs a specific transmitter in it (or, in this case attached to it) for GPS functionality?

Would a 3G capable iPhone allow for an app-based GPS solution?
Again, no clue about GPS. Obviously. :p

Thanks.
 
I think it is more likely that Apple is seeking a GPS Navigation partner for their reported in-car systems. They will HAVE to offer GPS navigation in that product, but they do not have the GPS technology.

They should also seek out voice recognition technology to compete with Microsoft's Sync system, which I have to say works flawlessly. I think if Microsoft includes GPS Navigation into their system and is able to get a good display, they would beat out Apple in the car system market. MS is already halfway there and all you would need to do is tell you car where you want to go and never take your hands off the steering wheel. Of course, i love to underestimate Apple that way they can knock my socks off.
 
Object-X said:
It's a bad idea. GPS navigation is most useful while driving. The iPhone can be a difficult and dangerous device to use in the car (while driving); but in the car is where I use the thing the most. Apple needs to design an in-dash touchscreen device that syncs with your iPhone, but can be operated safely while driving.

It's only a matter of time before someone gets killed because they were trying to use Google maps or iTunes on their iPhone while driving.
Click to expand...

In reality, you need a windscreen mount for the iPhone, and a simplified user interface for that case. Touchscreen with very limited amount of things you can do, like telling the device about a traffic jam ahead if it is running as a GPS, or ask it for directions to go home, or to work, or skipping a song on iTunes. You don't program a GPS while you are driving.
 
Macrumors said:
The poor quality image depicts a small add-on device which plugs into the bottom of the iPhone. Meanwhile, the screen shows a typical GPS view.
Click to expand...

Since the iPhone can display any image, it can also display images that look like the screen of a TomTom, so this could very easily be a complete fake. Just go to the TomTom website, grab a screen display of a TomTom, put it into iPhoto, and sync to the phone.
 
This is certainly an interesting development. I was really looking hard at the Navigon 7100. I'll probably end up picking one up after the new year, but this add-on to the iPhone did give me a bit of pause...
 
If you want to add a GPS display to an iPhone you do not need to write a native application; All you need is a physical GPS receiver that is colocated with the phone. That GPS receiver could send a text message to a javascript app runningon the phone the text message would contain the current latitude and longitude. GPS is a very low data rate problem. All it needs is a few numbers once a second.

You could even implement this by reading the dispaly of a stand lone GPS and ttyping the location into the iPhone, But users would never want to do that even if it would be fast enough. Bottom line, SDK is not required
 
dogtanian said:
Give me a TomTom anyday! TomTom is becoming the generic word for 'in-car GPS' in the UK. Plus Garmin are hated for the annoying christmas advert they currently have running :p
Click to expand...

I agree - in the UK, TomTom is the best and easiest to use of all the GPS Units I have used. Garmin's UI seems clumsy, hard to understand and not that intuitive..

I for one welcome our new TomTom overloads onto planet iPhone.

(I would definitely buy one).
 
Voice activated

gnasher729 said:
In reality, you need a windscreen mount for the iPhone, and a simplified user interface for that case. Touchscreen with very limited amount of things you can do, like telling the device about a traffic jam ahead if it is running as a GPS, or ask it for directions to go home, or to work, or skipping a song on iTunes. You don't program a GPS while you are driving.
Click to expand...

I guess what I envision is a double din touchscreen device that runs OS X and integrates with navigation and rear bumper camera. The current devices by Kenwood, Sony, and others have terrible touchscreen interfaces, limited functionality, and very little customization options. Apple could really innovate here using OS X. But you make a good point about touchscreen interfaces being limited. Voice activation in addition to touchscreen actions seems to me to be the answer for the car.

Things most people do while driving:

Change playlist, skip/select songs, ect.
Navigation
Answer/Make calls

All three could be done using voice commands. Everything else could be done the same way it's done on the iPhone, just mounted in your dash. Stick your iPhone in the glove box and sync it with your car. It charges your phone and you have a larger interface to use while in the car.
 
I want one. I love Google Maps on my iPod Touch and if I could have all this without the need for a live connection (e.g. in-built mapping and GPS positioning) it would be perfect.

Just think, geocachers with an iPhone could log into the Geocaching.com website, find a cache listing, navigate into the woods, find the container, take photos, and post the "find" log back on the website, all using the same device!
 
This one of my ideas when the iPhone first came out, along with an iSight that works in the same fashion. Would be interesting to see how this turns out.
 
kingtj said:
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to see any new hardware come out that might be of use to people.... But at the same time, I wish someone other than TomTom was building this for the iPhone.

Garmin would be a great choice, but hey - I'd be fine with Magellan, or even Lowrance, or Navigon.

The problem with TomTom is, they don't use Navteq map data on any of their devices. They use a competing supplier of map data, and they're not as accurate or up-to-date as Navteq's maps. (At least for those of us in the United States.)
Click to expand...

Agreed, I've never understood the love affair folks have with TomTom. Their map management s/w sux, their GPS software lacks text-to-speech (although, apparently, their latest GPS units have TTS.) It's ok s/w, but I hope others enter the market (are you reading this, developers of CoPilot? That's the one app I miss greatly from my Windows Mobile phone.)

And also agree with other comments, why not just use the bluetooth capabilities of the phone? I have a bluetooth gps module sitting unused...
 
djellison said:
Not with the iPhone in its current state they couldn't

Doug
Click to expand...

Third party apps can't be installed in it's current state either. If apple is keen to have someone produce a gps app then it won't be much of a problem for these services to be enabled. I hope . . .
 
I like the fact that it's external so those of us who don't care about GPS and don't need or want one in the phone don't have to worry about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back