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Thursday, September 24, 2009, 03:00 pm
TomTom clarifies: £99.99 hardware, application sold separately
Correcting an Apple online store listing from earlier Thursday, TomTom U.K. announced that the iPhone car kit accessory will have a retail price of £99.99 but will not include the TomTom application."TomTom announces today that the TomTom car kit for the iPhone will have a recommended retail price of £99.99," the company said in a press release. "The TomTom car kit will be available this October and will be sold separately from the TomTom app. It will be compatible with the iPhone 2G, 3G and 3GS. All further details on the car kit will be made available soon."
That conflicts with earlier reports that the kit would include the software as a bundle. It also disputes the Apple Store page, which was listed for a short time Thursday, that explicitly stated the TomTom application would be part of the package.
Not stated in the press release is whether the iPod touch will be compatible with the hardware kit. The windshield mount includes an external GPS receiver that is said to improve the reception of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
Unlike those models, first-generation iPhone does not include an internal GPS receiver, but the press release states that the device will work with the hardware. That corrects an apparent error in the previous Apple Store listing, which said that the TomTom software would not work on the first-generation iPhone.
Originally due for release over the summer, the kit was delayed until October. The TomTom application was released in the App Store in August at a price of $99 U.S. No U.S. price for the hardware kit has been made available.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider 
Correcting an Apple online store listing from earlier Thursday, TomTom U.K. announced that the iPhone car kit accessory will have a retail price of £99.99 but will not include the TomTom application.
"TomTom announces today that the TomTom car kit for the iPhone will have a recommended retail price of £99.99," the company said in a press release. "The TomTom car kit will be available this October and will be sold separately from the TomTom app. It will be compatible with the iPhone 2G, 3G and 3GS. All further details on the car kit will be made available soon."
That conflicts with earlier reports that the kit would include the software as a bundle. It also disputes the Apple Store page, which was listed for a short time Thursday, that explicitly stated the TomTom application would be part of the package.
Not stated in the press release is whether the iPod touch will be compatible with the hardware kit. The windshield mount includes an external GPS receiver that is said to improve the reception of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
Unlike those models, first-generation iPhone does not include an internal GPS receiver, but the press release states that the device will work with the hardware. That corrects an apparent error in the previous Apple Store listing, which said that the TomTom software would not work on the first-generation iPhone.
Originally due for release over the summer, the kit was delayed until October. The TomTom application was released in the App Store in August at a price of $99 U.S. No U.S. price for the hardware kit has been made available.
Correcting an Apple online store listing from earlier Thursday, TomTom U.K. announced that the iPhone car kit accessory will have a retail price of £99.99 but will not include the TomTom application.
"TomTom announces today that the TomTom car kit for the iPhone will have a recommended retail price of £99.99," the company said in a press release. "The TomTom car kit will be available this October and will be sold separately from the TomTom app. It will be compatible with the iPhone 2G, 3G and 3GS. All further details on the car kit will be made available soon."
That conflicts with earlier reports that the kit would include the software as a bundle. It also disputes the Apple Store page, which was listed for a short time Thursday, that explicitly stated the TomTom application would be part of the package.
Not stated in the press release is whether the iPod touch will be compatible with the hardware kit. The windshield mount includes an external GPS receiver that is said to improve the reception of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
Unlike those models, first-generation iPhone does not include an internal GPS receiver, but the press release states that the device will work with the hardware. That corrects an apparent error in the previous Apple Store listing, which said that the TomTom software would not work on the first-generation iPhone.
Originally due for release over the summer, the kit was delayed until October. The TomTom application was released in the App Store in August at a price of $99 U.S. No U.S. price for the hardware kit has been made available.
99 pounds, no Tom Tom app?
Riiiiight.
Are they retarded? Seriously you can buy a TomTom GPS for £69 why on earth would you buy this cheap plastic cradle for £99 followed by the software?
I'll repeat what i said before that i suspected part of the delay in the car kit was to see how many people buy the app then set the price. Clearly at £99 Tom Tom must have sold a lot of apps.
My advice to those iPhone users who have already bought the app, me included, is to resist pre-ordering the car kit. Make them sweat!!
Bargain, I will take 3 please......oh, wait.. you need an iPhone and the app at £60. erm, no thanks. LOL
Since they fixed co-pilot its been ace and for only £25. I used it to go across Scotland on tuesday to a really obscure destination near Dunoon and it worked no problem on my iPhone 3GS. The iPhone was in a standard, window mounted, mobile cradle and connected up to the in-car charger and I had no issues whatsoever. Bargain!
They are counting on people thinking "well, shit, even at $250 for kit and app, it does so much more than the stand alone units, cuz it uses the iPhone".
Which of course would mean intentionally ignoring the fact that you have to also buy the iPhone. And signing up for a voice plan. And data plan. I guess if you already have the iphone, you could consider those sunk costs, but it really is unfair to say the kit/app/iphone does more than the stand alones without then including the real cost.
Tomtom is alienating their base. No wonder Navigon is #1 in gross sales and Tomtom is #14 (and tomtom is more expensive!). Shame on tomtom...
£99.99 for the hardware? £59.99 for the software? No ****ing chance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xian Zhu Xuande
So... we can have the pleasure of using our iPhones as docked GPS units for something like $260? What a joke. Better to buy an extremely nice GPS unit on sale--high end stuff here--rather than conform to our iPhone screen and complicate use of our phones. Or even better yet, buy a perfectly functional GPS for under $100 and bank the rest.
So... we can have the pleasure of using our iPhones as docked GPS units for something like $260? What a joke. Better to buy an extremely nice GPS unit on sale--high end stuff here--rather than conform to our iPhone screen and complicate use of our phones. Or even better yet, buy a perfectly functional GPS for under $100 and bank the rest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saarek
Are they retarded? Seriously you can buy a TomTom GPS for £69 why on earth would you buy this cheap plastic cradle for £99 followed by the software?
Are they retarded? Seriously you can buy a TomTom GPS for £69 why on earth would you buy this cheap plastic cradle for £99 followed by the software?
I think we've covered this many times before. I've not made the comparison myself, but many people have stated that the features of the iPhone version is equivalent to the $300-$400 TomTom stand alone units. If all anyone wanted was a sub-$100 unit, why would TomTom bother selling a $400 unit? Obviously, some people are willing to pay for more than basic functionality. If you aren't, that's fine. Go buy the cheaper units.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulkas
They are counting on people thinking "well, shit, even at $250 for kit and app, it does so much more than the stand alone units, cuz it uses the iPhone".
Which of course would mean intentionally ignoring the fact that you have to also buy the iPhone. And signing up for a voice plan. And data plan. I guess if you already have the iphone, you could consider those sunk costs, but it really is unfair to say the kit/app/iphone does more than the stand alones without then including the real cost.
They are counting on people thinking "well, shit, even at $250 for kit and app, it does so much more than the stand alone units, cuz it uses the iPhone".
Which of course would mean intentionally ignoring the fact that you have to also buy the iPhone. And signing up for a voice plan. And data plan. I guess if you already have the iphone, you could consider those sunk costs, but it really is unfair to say the kit/app/iphone does more than the stand alones without then including the real cost.
That's a pretty foolish argument. If you are buying an iPhone soley for the purpose of using the TomTom software and hardare, then you deserve to get screwed out of your money. Nobody is going to say, "wow, I'd like to use TomTom, I need to go buy an iPhone." And if you already own an iPhone, it's not even "sunk costs". That implies you spent the money for the purpose of getting the TomTom unit and aren't using the iPhone for anything else other than the TomTom unit.
Yes, it's expensive. But keep in mind that according to early information you are also able to use the TomTom cradle with other GPS software on the iPhone. Should TomTom offer the cradle at little-to-no profit, which would be fair to TomTom app purchasers, but then let other app developers leverage their product? Hopefully there will eventually be a bundling or rebate offer to reward those who purchase both the TomTom hardware and TomTom app.
Aye, that's a bit bawz, eh?
No chance. I'll use Google Maps directions, and my other half, thanks. Much cheaper!
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So... we can have the pleasure of using our iPhones as docked GPS units for something like $260? What a joke. Better to buy an extremely nice GPS unit on sale--high end stuff here--rather than conform to our iPhone screen and complicate use of our phones. Or even better yet, buy a perfectly functional GPS for under $100 and bank the rest.