Road test: TomTom U.S. & Canada GPS iPhone app
TomTom has a very easy-to-use menu with large buttons.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)
TomTom U.S. & Canada is the third full-feature turn-by-turn flat-fee navigation app with built-in maps in the App Store that covers the entire U.S. and Canada.
Like the first two apps, Navigon and iGo My Way, the TomTom app will turn your iPhone 3G or 3GS into a decently dependable driving navigator. However, like the other two, it’s far from perfect.
The TomTom app takes about 6 seconds to load on my iPhone 3GS, which is very fast (the other two apps take about 15 seconds), and displays a very easy-to-use interface with big buttons. It also offers a quick and convenient way to enter an address or to find a point of interest (POI) from its very large database of POIs.
The map view of the TomTom is rather messy and much less beautiful- and clean-looking than that of the Navigon or the iGo My Way apps.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)
After almost a week of use, I found that both the map and POI database are slightly outdated. It once couldn’t find an address and twice showed me POIs that were no longer in business. During this recession, however, it’s not exactly the app that’s to blame.
Good news is, like the Navigon after its first update, you can tap on a POI to dial it up, and I would highly recommend doing this before you decide to go there, just to make sure that it’s still in business.
Similar to the Navigon, the TomTom can also pull addresses from the phone’s contacts, which is a very convenient feature. However, while the Navigon is very good at reading contacts’ addresses, the TomTom is very picky. It seems to only understand addresses that have a ZIP code. Take the ZIP code out and it will ask you to enter the address manually. This means more than 60 percent or so of the addresses in my contacts won’t work. This is sort of strange, as the app won’t require a ZIP code when you type in addresses manually.
The TomTom takes very little time (a few seconds) to pick up a GPS signal on my iPhone 3GS, and its navigation is accurate enough. Once in a while it would probably lead you to a location that’s slightly off from the actual address, but that happens with every GPS navigator I’ve used.
Of the three apps, the TomTom has the largest selection of voices, including many languages from English to Danish, Thai, and Chinese. With English alone, you’ll find 11 different accents, both male and female. Still, like the other two apps, it doesn’t have text-to-speech where it can read you the name of the street that you’re supposed to turn onto.
The TomTom’s map view, unfortunately, is not as good-looking as that of the Navigon or the iGo My Way. …
TomTom $99 GPS app heads to iPhone
(Credit: TomTom)
A hundred-dollar makeover can turn your iPhone into a GPS device. GPS specialist TomTom announced Monday that its new $99.99 iPhone app is now up for sale at the iTunes store. TomTom for the iPhone comes with features typically found in standard GPS units, including voice directions …
Originally posted at News – Apple
Navigon iPhone app gets new features
Now you can dial up a POI's phone number directly from the Navigon app.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)
I recently did a road test of both the Navigon MobileNavigator and iGo My Way GPS navigation app for the iPhone and found the Navigion a slightly better product for …
Originally posted at iPhone Atlas
iPhone GPS road test: Navigon vs. iGo My Way
Navigon shows an image to help you pick the right freeway, which is helpful but could be annoying as the image takes up the whole screen for a few seconds.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)
I’m a big fan of GPS navigation devices. Actually, I depend on them. It’s therefore natural that on my iPhone 3GS you’ll find both the newest turn-by-turn GPS navigation applications, the $70 Navigon and the $80 iGo My Way. Both have just recently been released to the App Store. (In my car I also have the Tom Tom One XL.)
After about a week of using the iPhone apps in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in a few other states, here are my impressions.
First of all, both Navigon and the iGo can turn your iPhone (3G or 3GS) into a decently dependable GPS navigator. They both take about 15 seconds to load on my iPhone 3GS and about the same time to lock in with a GPS signal when outdoors. This is much faster than the Tom Tom, which can take up to a minute or two. Overall, the iGo My Way seems to pick up the signal faster than the Navigon but it also loses the signal more easily, especially when in a big city with lots of high-rise buildings.
My biggest disappointment with both is that they don’t offer real-time traffic updates, which you can get anywhere in the States with Google Maps.
Both apps offer beautifully rendered 3G maps that can be viewed vertically or horizontally, and a very convenient way to enter a new address or find a point of interest (POI). They come with good database of POIs, too. I was in a few rather remote areas and was able to find what I needed. However, the database is not very updated–twice, both apps took me to restaurants and bars in La Cross, Wis., that were no longer there. Unfortunately, you can’t tab on the listed POI to call its phone number, which defeats the main purpose of the device, which is, after all, a phone.
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The Real Deal 173: Road Test – Navigation
Rafe and Tom talk navigation issues, take calls on the Verizon MiFi, and solve some pesky computer problems.
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Originally posted at The Real Deal Podcast
