TOM TOM for Iphone
JK Coney
GPS units are going to go the way of 8 track tapes. What's more convenient
than getting in your car, and propping your cell phone on the dash or
windshield?
--
JK Sinrod
myconeyislandmemories.com
RBnDFW
> Anyone using the $99 app or the car GPS kit yet? Looks like free standing
> GPS units are going to go the way of 8 track tapes. What's more convenient
> than getting in your car, and propping your cell phone on the dash or
> windshield?
I have the TomTom app and use it frequently.
In September we took a trip from DFW to Minnesota, using the TomTom for
a backup to the Ford OE nav system. Good news and bad news:
Good: The interface and 3D mapping were better than the Ford. It was a
big help getting through Chicago freeways.
Good: POIs made it easy to find food and lodging enroute.
Good: The interface is easy, fast, intuitive, much more so than my
WorldNav standlone nav device.
Bad: If you wanted to use Stanza or any other app, it kills the route
when you exit the app. So to start it back up, you have to
re-create/re-compute the route using the Recent Destinations option.
That was the single biggest issue, due to the lack of multi-tasking on
iPhone.
I think the iPod app works without exiting, but that's it. If a
phone call comes in, you are back to square one.
Bad: It does not have a lot of the features found in more high-end
standalone nav devices, such as traffic monitoring
Bad: In low-speed, city areas the turn prompts come way too early. 1/2
mile prompts don't do much good when the streets are 100 feet apart and
traffic is swirling around you.
Jon Ribbens
> Bad: If you wanted to use Stanza or any other app, it kills the route
> when you exit the app. So to start it back up, you have to
> re-create/re-compute the route using the Recent Destinations option.
> That was the single biggest issue, due to the lack of multi-tasking on
> iPhone.
> I think the iPod app works without exiting, but that's it. If a
> phone call comes in, you are back to square one.
That is really bad programming on TomTom's part. Yes, the app quits
when you run another app, but there's nothing to say it can't go
straight back to the route and display you were looking at previously
when you go back to the TomTom app.
Hopefully they'll fix that in a later release.
I'm not buying the TomTom app for the moment given that, when you add
the cost of the car adaptor, it's cheaper to just buy a 'real' SatNav.
RBnDFW
> On 2009-11-24, RBnDFW <burkh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Bad: If you wanted to use Stanza or any other app, it kills the route
>> when you exit the app. So to start it back up, you have to
>> re-create/re-compute the route using the Recent Destinations option.
>> That was the single biggest issue, due to the lack of multi-tasking on
>> iPhone.
>> I think the iPod app works without exiting, but that's it. If a
>> phone call comes in, you are back to square one.
>
> That is really bad programming on TomTom's part. Yes, the app quits
> when you run another app, but there's nothing to say it can't go
> straight back to the route and display you were looking at previously
> when you go back to the TomTom app.
I agree. MotionX handled it fine. they also incorporated iPod controls
into it.
> Hopefully they'll fix that in a later release.
>
> I'm not buying the TomTom app for the moment given that, when you add
> the cost of the car adaptor, it's cheaper to just buy a 'real' SatNav.
I already had one. I bought the app so i could carry one less gadget -
and charger, mount etc - when traveling.
With a nav app, I always have my nav GPS on me, no matter if I'm in my
car or a cab, or on foot. I have been afoot in a strange city and been
lost on more than one occasion.
NightStalker
burkh...@gmail.com says...
>
>
> Good: The interface and 3D mapping were better than the Ford. It was a
> big help getting through Chicago freeways.
>
> Good: POIs made it easy to find food and lodging enroute.
> Good: The interface is easy, fast, intuitive, much more so than my
> WorldNav standlone nav device.
>
> Bad: If you wanted to use Stanza or any other app, it kills the route
> when you exit the app. So to start it back up, you have to
> re-create/re-compute the route using the Recent Destinations option.
> That was the single biggest issue, due to the lack of multi-tasking on
> iPhone.
>
>
Another "BAD" for me is that the tinny voice coming out of the iPhone
speaker at distorted max volume is still inaudible in everyday driving
situations. My TomTom 930 is MUCH louder. The iPhone speaker is not
designed to be driven at volumes which would be usable during normal
driving conditions - unless you're driving a whisper-quiet Bentley or
similar - which I'm not...! ;)
--
NightStalker
RBnDFW
I agree, but not quite ready to order the car kit.
RBnDFW
denis
Jon Ribbens <jon+u...@unequivocal.co.uk> wrote:
> I'm not buying the TomTom app for the moment given that, when you add
> the cost of the car adaptor, it's cheaper to just buy a 'real' SatNav.
What is the car kit tool that is being offered in the App Store?
It shows a picture of the mounting adaptor.
Todd Allcock
> Anyone using the $99 app or the car GPS kit yet? Looks like free
> standing GPS units are going to go the way of 8 track tapes. What's
> more convenient than getting in your car, and propping your cell
> phone on the dash or windshield?
Using the standalone GPS that's already there on the dash and doesn't
stop navigating whenever the phone rings?
nospam
<elecc...@AnoOspamL.com> wrote:
> Using the standalone GPS that's already there on the dash and doesn't
> stop navigating whenever the phone rings?
it stops if the car stalls though :)
RBnDFW
It has
Hands-free mic and speaker for the phone
A better GPS antenna.
Connections for audio out.
full details on the TomTom site
JK Coney
"RBnDFW" <burkh...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:hegrko$15i$2...@news.eternal-september.org...
> JK Coney wrote:
>> Anyone using the $99 app or the car GPS kit yet? Looks like free
>> standing GPS units are going to go the way of 8 track tapes. What's more
>> convenient than getting in your car, and propping your cell phone on the
>> dash or windshield?
>
> I have the TomTom app and use it frequently.
> In September we took a trip from DFW to Minnesota, using the TomTom for a
> backup to the Ford OE nav system. Good news and bad news:
>
> Good: The interface and 3D mapping were better than the Ford. It was a big
> help getting through Chicago freeways.
Thanks for the report. You bought the app... $99, and the car kit $119?
You need to run the power wire over your visor to the cig lighter, and
another wire to your speakers for better volume? Using the FM transmitter
means you can't listen to the radio at the same time, correct?
--
JK Sinrod
myconeyislandmemories.com
RBnDFW
I have not yet bought the mount. So far I have not used the app for
door-to-door routing by itself.
two problems with that:
1 - No mount means I start it up, then drop it in the console cupholder
2 - If you don't keep it awake, it times out. There's probably an option
to keep it on, but I haven't used it yet.
I'll buy the mount if Santa doesn't come through with it.
My next problem is I have 3 vehicles that I use depending on my mood, or
the weather. I'd hate to keep moving that mount around.
Chris
Chris
RBnDFW
If the software has to switch to the 2nd GPS antenna, I'd say no other
app is designed to do that.
Are there any other outside GPS antennas for iPhone?
Verizon has a fee for that - $3 for Visual Voice Mail
>
> Using the standalone GPS that's already there on the dash and doesn't
> stop navigating whenever the phone rings?
Navigon for the iPhone is on sale today for $69 in the USA. The real
time traffic package is $14 also.
Many reviews before its recent updates called that as being the best
iPhone GPS app. Navigon has gotten better.
A video on YouTube shows the latest version switching from nav to
phone and back to your spot in nav after the call.
It shows the text to speech working while the iPod function is
playing,
The iPod is also seamlessly controlled by Navigon to which is rather
neat, better then the Apple built in application.
There are a ton of good videos on the Internet about these GPS
applications.
There is one big flaw with the Google free GPS app and any other app
with online download of map data as you need it. Users will probably
be screwed in a disaster where a lot of people will try to use smart
phones to seek a route to safety and the network fails due to
overload. I was on Verizon during 911 and saw that for myself in
Atlanta where Verizon was generally was very good. Relying on a cell
phone or the cellular Internet just isn't going to cut it when things
get tough and your life is at stake. Even my expensive Verizon phone
itself couldn't make a call for hours. Verizon + disaster=FAIL
Verizon has a fee for that - $3 for Visual Voice Mail
Mail" <vic.hea...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> There is one big flaw with the Google free GPS app and any other app
> with online download of map data as you need it. Users will probably
> be screwed in a disaster where a lot of people will try to use smart
> phones to seek a route to safety and the network fails due to
> overload. I was on Verizon during 911 and saw that for myself in
> Atlanta where Verizon was generally was very good. Relying on a cell
> phone or the cellular Internet just isn't going to cut it when things
> get tough and your life is at stake. Even my expensive Verizon phone
> itself couldn't make a call for hours. Verizon + disaster=FAIL
FROM CNET today
November 25, 2009 9:30 AM PST
Sale: CoPilot Live GPS for iPhone, $19.99
Why spend upward of $100 on a navigation app when CoPilot's on sale
for $20?
At $34.99, ALK's CoPilot Live North America is already one of the
least-expensive navigation apps in the iTunes App Store. At $19.99,
it's an outright steal.
That's the deal ALK is offering this holiday weekend, and you can grab
it starting right now.
CoPilot Live offers complete turn-by-turn navigation for the U.S. and
Canada. Its features include text-to-speech (meaning it announces
street names), address book integration, tap-to-call POI listings, and
easy switching between different modes of travel (car, bicycle,
walking, and so on).
You'll definitely want to read Dong Ngo's CoPilot Live road test that
covers the highlights and letdowns--but keep in mind the app's been
updated since then. For example, Ngo dings it for lacking text-to-
speech, but it now has that feature.
Still missing, alas, is real-time traffic information, which
apparently remains on the coming-soon list. Thankfully, future updates
to the app will be free, though any premium services like traffic will
cost you.
Even without that option, it's hard to pass up a full-featured
navigation app for just $20, especially with competitors like Navigon,
iGo My Way, and TomTom still selling in the $70-100 range.
The only missing ingredient is a dashboard or windshield mount for
your iPhone. I recommend heading to a Web site like Eforcity or
Meritline and picking up an inexpensive gooseneck mount.
Richard B. Gilbert
You would have been damned lucky to get a call through with wired OR
cellular phones. Every idiot in the country found it necessary to call
someone and discuss the tragedy.
The phone company uses a statistical distribution to estimate the
capacity needed. It's called the Erlang B Distribution and is much used
by businesses to calculate the number of servers required to ensure that
each customer gets attention within X minutes and seconds. The
distribution does not allow for EVERYONE trying to make a call at
approximately the same time! The phone companies could not afford to
maintain the capacity required to allow fifty percent of the people to
place a call at approximately the same time. It would pay for itself
ONLY on days such as 9/11/2001.
If you need to be able to contact the branch office in Timbuktu you can
install a T1 connection that will allow you to reach Timbuktu whenever
you wish. At the company I worked for, phone connections to friends and
relatives were as close to impossible as anywhere else. We had no
problems calling Headquarters in Massachusetts or another division in
Missouri because we paid for private T1 lines between sites.
If you really need phone service during ANY sort of emergency, install
the necessary leased lines to connect you to wherever you need to talk to.
Todd Allcock
> On Nov 25, 12:02 am, Todd Allcock <eleccon...@AnoOspamL.com> wrote:
> >
> > Using the standalone GPS that's already there on the dash and doesn't
> > stop navigating whenever the phone rings?
>
> Navigon for the iPhone is on sale today for $69 in the USA. The real
> time traffic package is $14 also.
> Many reviews before its recent updates called that as being the best
> iPhone GPS app. Navigon has gotten better.
I put a Navigon standalone PND in my wife's car I bought cheap a couple
of Black Friday's ago . It works well enough.
> A video on YouTube shows the latest version switching from nav to
> phone and back to your spot in nav after the call.
Wow. Imagine how impressive it'd be if it didn't have to shut down at all,
like the GPS apps on other phones...
You're damning it with praise!
> It shows the text to speech working while the iPod function is
> playing,
> The iPod is also seamlessly controlled by Navigon to which is rather
> neat, better then the Apple built in application.
How well do the streaming radio apps work while the GPS is running, Vic?
> There is one big flaw with the Google free GPS app and any other app
> with online download of map data as you need it. Users will probably
> be screwed in a disaster where a lot of people will try to use smart
> phones to seek a route to safety and the network fails due to
> overload.
Humming a different tune these days now that standalone GPS apps are
(finally) available for the iPhone? For the first year, before iPhones
had a GPS (or could use an external unit!), all we heard was Skyhook
(Cell/WiFi positioning) was "good enough," then when the 3G got GPS but
no offline apps were available for it, all we heard was that online apps
were preferable because they didn't use much storage and were always up
to date. Now that GPS apps with on-board data are available, suddenly
online apps are dangerously deficient since that's all Android has for
the moment, eh?
> I was on Verizon during 911 and saw that for myself in
> Atlanta where Verizon was generally was very good. Relying on a cell
> phone or the cellular Internet just isn't going to cut it when things
> get tough and your life is at stake. Even my expensive Verizon phone
> itself couldn't make a call for hours. Verizon + disaster=FAIL
Any cell company + disaster might = fail, but Verizon has the best
network to ride out a disaster, as reported in the (now sadly defuct) RCR
Wireless News post-Katrina. Verizon has more redundancy, and use on-site
generators at every site where allowed (some site owners' rules about
indoor fuel storage limits Verizon from outfitting every site with
generators) and long-life backup batteries (8+ hours) at other sites.
Other carriers, like AT&T and T-Mo, use few, if any, generators and
typically plan for a few hours of backup battery power on just a skeletal
subset of their sites. They rely mainly on COWs ("Cells On Wheels") to
prop up the network during emergencies which is fine if you only have
local/regional disasters that you can anticipate in advance (e.g.
hurricanes.) If caught with their pants down, loss of electricity would
drain the batteries and knock off the network before the COWs can be
deployed where needed.
While I'm not a Verizon customer, I'll give credit where credit is due-
whatever disaster KOs Verizon's network will have knocked down _everyone_
else first! NO one takes disaster preparedness as seriously as Verizon
Wireless.
denis
RBnDFW <burkh...@gmail.com> wrote:
But in the App store, it retails for FREE...
What's the difference between that and what costs $119 at the TomTom
website??
Verizon has a fee for that - $3 for Visual Voice Mail, $350 for ETF
> Other carriers, like AT&T and T-Mo, use few, if any, generators and
> typically plan for a few hours of backup battery power on just a skeletal
> subset of their sites. They rely mainly on COWs ("Cells On Wheels") to
> prop up the network during emergencies which is fine if you only have
> local/regional disasters that you can anticipate in advance (e.g.
> hurricanes.) If caught with their pants down, loss of electricity would
> drain the batteries and knock off the network before the COWs can be
> deployed where needed.
>
Todd = ERROR
AT&T not only uses backup cellular generators they have a field full
all kinds of brand new surplus yellow CAT generators they don't even
currently need on I-85 north of Atlanta. Some of these are huge. I was
going to buy one or two until I discovered I would have to change the
output AC to match what we use off the power grid. That would cost
tens of thousands per unit and made a good deal a bad one for me. That
and the cost of moving one of those suckers. A heavy duty pickup truck
would never work. You would need a least a slide back to wench one up
off the ground and a concrete pad to keep it on.
These will probably be sold to another cell company or some
government.
If AT&T needed more these as you imply, they would not even be for
sale at a loss.
Chris
coverage disaster or no. For this type of application the network would
likely become very sluggish.
Chris
Chris
JK Coney
"denis" <mrwi...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:mrwilson-C1BF9B...@news.eternal-september.org...
Free? Where do you see that?
--
JK Sinrod
myconeyislandmemories.com
RBnDFW
That's just a free app to let you see signal strength from the GPS
antenna on the car adapter.
I am a bit pissed to see that the TomTom nav program is now $69.95 after
I paid $99.95
Ness-Net
"Verizon has a fee for that - $3 for Visual Voice Mail, $350 for ETF" <vic.h...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8b407bd6-fce8-42f9...@f16g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
This could differ region by region.... here in the PNW, the below is the case...
The legacy 800MHz sites differ considerably from the newer 1900MHz sites.
The old AT&T / Cell One 'A side' sites vs the newer Cingular / GTE PCS ones.
The old 800MHz sites were actual buildings with battery plants and gensets at the bottom of the tower.
An actual building was installed to house the RF, and power.
The 1900MHz sites are a simple concrete slab with a 'ped' - basically just a smaller metal cabinet.
These sites obviously do not have generators - just a hook up for one.
The point of the discussion is this:
Batteries and generator on site ready to go on line - immediately.
Or...... have to haul a generator in and hook it up - taking hours or even days.....
JK Coney
Hey it'll be 19.95 in a blink of the eye...
--
JK Sinrod
myconeyislandmemories.com
George
little. Best one I ever saw was the once heavily touted super quality
<cough> nextel network. I was working at a location that had a site in
the rear of the property and wandered over to look when I saw someone
working there. They had one big box class lead acid battery sitting
under the rack. I also noticed the various wiring was incredibly sloppy.
I asked if this was a typical site and was told it was.
George
Same deal with any of the newer 800 MHz AT&T sites. Just a pedestal with
a tiny battery inside.
I mentioned this to a number of folks and got a deer in headlight look
until around this time last year. The large higher elevation area just
above me got hit with a huge ice storm which killed commercial power.
AT&T stuff quickly went silent and lots of AT&T customers had nifty
paperweights for 4 or 5 days.
Meanwhile VZW sites which have tons of battery plus a generator kept on
humming along. To be fair Sprint customers were also down. I don't
believe tmobile even has coverage there.
>
> The point of the discussion is this:
> Batteries and generator on site ready to go on line - immediately.
> Or...... have to haul a generator in and hook it up - taking hours or
> even days.....
>
>
According to the one tech I met they actually only have a few trailer
mounted generators for the very wide area the local service folks cover.
According to my friends in the area I mentioned above they were down for
the entire time.
denis
"JK Coney" <jkc...@verizon.net> wrote:
It's called the TomTom Car Kit Tool...
JK Coney
$119 is the car kit, the free one is a little program they call a tool.
--
JK Sinrod
myconeyislandmemories.com
QN
> I was on Verizon during 911 and saw that for myself in
Atlanta where Verizon was generally was very good. Relying on a cell
phone or the cellular Internet just isn't going to cut it when things
get tough and your life is at stake. Even my expensive Verizon phone
itself couldn't make a call for hours. Verizon + disaster=FAIL
About a year ago, after a minor/moderate earthquake, the local landline POTS
lines were dead, but the Verizon cellphones still worked. Also, my internet
connection on my PC was still up.
denis
"JK Coney" <jkc...@verizon.net> wrote:
Thanx!!