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Do Tom Tom devices work well for off the beaten path environments? I need a new GPS for the Jeep and general exploring by foot. Can you enter TOPO maps and way points or are Tom Tom's solely for "street" use?
 
Do Tom Tom devices work well for off the beaten path environments? I need a new GPS for the Jeep and general exploring by foot. Can you enter TOPO maps and way points or are Tom Tom's solely for "street" use?

Pretty much every "street navigator" GPS is pretty much solely for street use. You can't load topo maps and you can't specify coordinates as waypoints, only street addresses or built-in POI's. I don't know if TomTom makes handheld-style GPS units like Garmin and Magellan, which would be better suited to what you want.
 
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.
Honestly you can't be serious? What's the difference between the iPhone with an attachment versus a normal TomTom unit? Or an in-dash touchscreen device, for that matter?

Besides, I use my iPhone in the car all the time. One of the first purchases I made for my car was a mount and a new stereo so that I could connect my iPhone. Who doesn't use their iPod or iPhone (BTW, the iPhone is way easier to use in the car than an iPod cause of the touch capabilities - requires a lot less attention than the scrollwheel) while driving? Hell, I even text (though I'm not defending that habit). :p
 
Why is it *always* a grainy, blurry photo?

With all the zillion-megapixel image-enhancing cameras around, how come the photo is always taken on a webcam from 1999?

The newest GPS chips are so tiny and draw so little power that there's no reason to put them in an external attachment. A future iPhone will have GPS in it, I promise. Will Jobso license a clunky dongle to add functionality that every iPhone needs? That would be so... windows ce
 
Fake?

According to the display the device is positioned on the highway driving into Rotterdam - presumably in a car. So why is it lying on a wooden surface?
 
Holy crap you guys are gullible. That's the fakest looking "spyshot" I've ever seen. Furthermore, it's one of the worst photoshop jobs in history. There's no reason for the image to be such poor quality since clearly, the person was taking the photo in a controlled environment with the phone lying still. It's also apparent that the "card" on the bottom isn't plugged into the phone but is lying underneith the phone. Finally, the image on the screen just looks like someone went to Garmin's web site and copy/pasted a thumbnail sample screenshot. And as the previous poster pointed out, why does the phone say it's currently on a highway when it's clearly sitting on a table.
 
Could they not also use BlueTooth to communicate with the iPhone? If that's the case, you wouldn't even need to plug in.

This wold limit the device to just the iPhone, opening it up to the iPod Touch would generate more sales.
 
Would not be surprised, although they could just use bluetooth like the kit they use for Palm, Symbian and Windows mobile.
Also I recall mention of RouteBuddy wishing to produce an iPhone version.
Hope someone makes one, I'd definately buy a GPS system for my iPhone

Actually it would be best if it was Bluetooth as this would mean that Apple has gotten the stack up and running. That would be fantastic as there are a number of applications that beocme possible with a working Bluetooth stack.

The flip side is to make a Bluetooth GPS module for permanent mounting in your Auto. This would be ideal for people who need GPS for navigation but don't want the drain of a plug in module nor the bulk.

Dave
 
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.

Good point about the risk of iPhoning whilst driving.

I've been using the iPhone since June 29 and the touch screen, while very nice & incredibly effective, does present some potential for less than safe usage - especially behind the wheel. Overall, I like the touchscreen concept and the potential to redefine an entire device based on software. BOOM! It's a remote for :apple:TV. BAM! It's a game pad controller. BIFF! It's a light saber.
But there is something to the tactile feel of a physical button vs. a glass surface. I'm not saying tactile buttons are better, I'm just saying there are instances where a physical button is better. And while txting and driving is easier with physical buttons, I don't think I could argue it is any safer.
No buttons = less txting & driving.
More buttons = more txting & driving.

That said, why not just a simple 3rd party mount for the iPhone in a car (might already be a sufficient mount available)?
How much bigger are the screens of in-car GPS devices?
Wouldn't a landscape mount for an iPhone come close to standard in-car systems? I have not looked at them closely, but they seem in the same ball park, with regards to screen real estate.

Or what about a larger, in-car screen that talks to the iPhone via BT? Possible?
 
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.)

Wouldn't it make more sense to just use the Google Maps that are already available? I imagine this kind of add-on would just give a location to the phone and then you could use whatever map client you wanted. That's how the maps work on a GPS-enabled BlackBerry.
 
No data can travel on the iPhone's Bluetooth. I wish it could, or that they would enable it.
How do you no data can't travel on the iPhone's Bluetooth? Isn't the voice for the earpiece just digitized data? If you can carry digital voice, I don't see why you can't put any other kind of data over it as well. I'm not sure what the bandwidth requirements for GPS data are though.
 
The GPS is so important that it should be built-in the iPhone; not just as an external add-on module!

No bloat for iPhones. My vote is through add-ons. Bluetooth would be ideal (sorry iTouch users), but piggy-backing through the connector port is better than having it on-board. On board GPS would drain the battery and cloud the interface, but most of all it would lock in one solution. I want the ability to choose. Taking the longer view, I want the iPhone to become a platform not just a product. Not just expansion into a tablet form, but a software and hardware ecosystem where there are add-on options.
 
No bloat for iPhones. My vote is through add-ons. Bluetooth would be ideal (sorry iTouch users),

I agree, GPS + Car Charger device to plug the iPhone into the car would be all that is needed.

Most people aren't looking for GPS to go hiking in the woods with their iPhone.

arn
 
hahaha...2 things:

1) Why is every spy photo always so pixelated or blurry? Doesn't anyone have a camera better than a polaroid from the 70's?

2) Why is there always a barcode sticker on these things?

If the iPhone is going to have gps, it will be integrated, not some 3rd party add on device.
 
How to charge iPhone when it is plugged in?
They must have another USB thing on the module?
 
If this actually exists, I see this as only the first of a whole bunch of add-on hardware accessories for the iPhone. It would be ever more full of awesomeness if it works with the iPod touch as well...

My friends have been scoffing at me for months when I predict this.
The 2 I'm waiting for
- quality, stereo microphone for recording
- better quality camera

There's no reason anything that works on the iPhone (that isn't phone related) shouldn't work on the touch. I hope Apple lightens up on the cannibalization fears from the touch... I've only ever wanted the touch, not the phone.
 
Bluetooth?
Could they not also use BlueTooth to communicate with the iPhone? If that's the case, you wouldn't even need to plug in.

I don't like the separate bluetooth modules. I don't want to be tied to my car, or a power source, or have another module to carry around.

It would be nice to use such a device while walking around as well. What if I am on the subway, bus, or taxi, and am trying to get around a city on foot?

Also, for accuracy, I think Magellan are some of the best (I haven't used a magellan car nav system (but I don't know how their car software is), but magellan gear for hiking, geocaching, etc.)

I personally want an Apple GPS chip/device that interfaces with Google Maps (as stated by some previous posters).
 
Don't you guys remember the big hoax about the "real" video iPod??? About how weeks later the guys showed a screencast about how he made the fake....

Well I do, and the barcode sticker on the tomtom dongle looks an awful lot like the barcode sticker on this notorious fake...
 

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I really hope this is not fake that would be so cool to have tomtom on my iPhone. The one thing i was not happy about giving up my SPV m700 was because of the TomTom 6 i had it on.
 
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