Apple iPhone gets TomTom turn-by-turn navigation

by Stevie Smith - Aug 17 2009, 16:00

If you don’t have a TomTom in-car navigation system but you do own an Apple iPhone, then assured guidance across the whole of North America can now be yours without first having to strap an ugly and ungainly nav unit to the dashboard of your beloved motor.

More pointedly, users of the Apple App Store will today be greeted by the TomTom application for iPhone, which is compatible with the existing 3G and 3GS iterations of the iconic smartphone and comes complete with mapping information for both the U.S. and Canada, courtesy of Tele Atlas.

Delivering the same spoken, turn-by-turn navigation and easy-to-use interface enjoyed by the 30 million in-car customers already utilising TomTom devices, the latest App Store arrival is, according to company managing director Corinne Vigreux, “the most natural fit for an advanced navigation application on the iPhone.”

Rather than merely relying on travel time assumptions, TomTom for iPhone includes the exclusive IQ Routes platform, which calculates the fastest possible route recommendations and generates the industry’s most accurate arrival time estimations based on actual travel experience amassed by and collated from TomTom drivers.

While TomTom for iPhone costs $99 USD (what price for additional iPhone cool points?), the application also includes automatic rerouting if a turn is missed, alternative route options to bypass roadblocks, toll ways and high occupancy vehicle lanes, and map coverage of the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand (with more than six million points of interest thrown in for good measure).

Other features and functions helping to justify the price include, landscape and portrait viewpoints, night and day colour mode, 2D and 3D map display options, multi-touch interface gesturing, navigation to address book contacts, and point-of-interest search capabilities.

While presently restricted to the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS handsets, TomTom has said compatibility with the non-telephonic iPod Touch and other iPhone models will arrive in the near future.

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