We looked at the TomTom iPhone app a while ago and that application has just received an update to bring along a few more functions. But the elephant in the room is how you attach your iPhone to your car to use the application. Of course, the TomTom Car Kit for iPhone.

The Car Kit features a number of elements that make it appealing. First up is TomTom's EasyPort mount, so you just have to offer it up to your windscreen and twist and it is secured. You need to know this is going to stay put, as the last thing you want is to see your iPhone heading into the footwell when you hit the first speed bump. Fortunately, TomTom know what they are doing in this area.

You are then presented with a slidey-swively mount in which your iPhone will be held. This bracket means you can have your phone either in landscape or portrait, with the sliding aspect letting you adjust the position relative to the rest of your car, so you don't have to worry about the angle of the windscreen to the dashboard.

Connecting both pieces is a hinge so you can set the phone at the best angle for viewing.

It still sounds expensive for ?99 however. But the TomTom Car Kit for iPhone does bring a little bit extra. It's a Bluetooth device, so you'll need to pair it with your iPhone on first use. Once connected it will act as a handsfree kit with an onboard speaker, as well as giving commands using this speaker, rather than the iPhone's built-in one.

The results are much louder audio commands whilst you are driving, with the added advantage of being able to take calls whilst motoring. Incoming calls break through the TomTom app, although unfortunately they don't appear in landscape if that is how you happen to be using the phone.

There is also a rocker switch which can change the volume, although once your iPhone is mounted, it's tucked around the back and not within safe reach to use whilst driving.

The Car Kit is hiding another secret, which is its own SiRFstar III GPS receiver chipset, so you don't have to rely on the one built-in to the phone. This is designed to boost the performance and help clear up troubles encountered in built-up areas. This it certainly did in our tests, however performance will depend on a number of real world factors as it will with all satnav devices.

We found that it noticeably boosted the GPS reception staying in touch whilst in multi-storey car parks and the like, making it a much more seamless experience, avoiding the "Poor GPS reception" notification.

As the Car Kit contains these elements that need power, you'll have to plug it in to benefit from them. A Mini-USB on the bottom of the cradle arm connects to a 12V power supply in your car, cable provided. This sits next to a 3.5mm audio out jack, so you can connect to a car stereo, if you have a 3.5mm input that is. Unfortunately the Mini-USB only provides power and you can't use it to connect to any other devices, i.e., you can't sync or get access to your music through it.

Once connected you have the added benefit of your iPhone being connected to the power all the time, so you aren't depending on the iPhone's battery to run the show. Whether you are using the TomTom application or not doesn't matter, you still get a decent mount and charge for your phone.

Verdict:

Overall it is difficult to fault the TomTom Car Kit for iPhone on anything other than price. The TomTom application for iPhone is good too, except that it does come in rather too expensive. Once you've paid for the TomTom mount and the application, you feasibility could have purchased a standalone unit, so don't think that adding TomTom to your iPhone is a way to save money.

For those that must follow through with convergence, this does its part to overcome the GPS reception and small speaker problems that you encounter without it. But once you've parted with the cash, we'd have rather bought an independent TomTom unit with greater functionality.

Read our TomTom for iPhone review here.

Tags: Car And GPS GPS TomTom TomTom Car Kit TomTom for iPhone iPhone iPhone accessories Apple Mobile phone accessories

TomTom Car Kit for iPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:00 +0000

GPS units like those made by TomTom have a number of key selling points that make a dedicated device king of the crop when it comes to getting from A to B and beyond.

A large screen, good GPS receiver, the ability to search for addresses and points of interest all at the press of a button. However as the iPhone promises all of the above can it really save you having to worry about a dedicated unit?

Before you think that the app is going to be 59p or the like, it's not. This is a full blown GPS software package and because of that it will set you back ?59.99 for the UK and Ireland maps app and ?79.99 for maps of Western Europe. You get the application on your iPhone to use as you will in your car, but you don't get the optional iPhone cradle you might have seen.

Structured like the TomTom software on the company's dedicated units, the main menu screen provides you with a number of navigation and setup options. Settings include enabling sound, night colours, 2D map, Manage favourites and other not so exciting options. Yes you can change the voice, language and tone, but TomTom hasn't bundled anything out of the ordinary here. UK still gets Jane and Tim, although opting for Ken from Australia or Katrina from New Zealand will give you that holiday feeling.

The settings also allow you change distance units, route favourites like Toll Roads and whether to avoid unpaved roads. Get past the settings and you get a number of features: you can call a POI, browse the map as you would a Google Map and plan a route ahead of schedule.

The Advanced Planning mode is incredibly handy as using IQ routes (included) you can work out how long a journey will take at a specific time before you even get in the car.

For those in the dark as to what IQ routes is, it's basically TomTom's massive database of traffic and scheduled estimated journey times. Rather than saying it will take you the same length of time to cross London at 5pm on a Friday and 2pm on a Sunday, it knows that the former will involve heavy traffic and gives you a travel time accordingly.

Before you press the route button you are given a series of choices from: fastest, shortest, avoid motorways, walking, bicycle, limited speed and choosing gives you different results.

Driving from Tower Bridge in London to Edinburgh Castle leaving at 7am will take you 7 hours 15 minutes for example while walking will take you considerably longer, 122 hours.

Of course the main function of the TomTom for iPhone app isn't Advanced Planning but day-to-day navigation and for that there is the Navigate To... menu option. Here you can punch in your Address, Recent Destinations, Points of Interest, Postcode, Point on Map as well as Contact from your Contacts Book on the phone.

Full postcode support is provided allowing for quick address entry and it was the most common way for us to enter an address in our tests. Entering information into the system is all down via the touchscreen interface, and the application works in both portrait and landscape modes making it easy to enter information.

So the data entry is easy, the software offers plenty of features, surely this will replace the dedicated device market? Not so fast.

The software does work very well and we had no qualms with the software, the GPS signal or the performance of the device. The TomTom for iPhone app was quick to start and quick to find a GPS signal in our tests. Likewise traffic updates while driving were as good as a dedicated machine.

So what's the catch? The main one is that you've got to find somewhere to perch it on your dashboard, the second is running the GPS on the iPhone is a power hungry experience. The iPhone battery is poor as it is, let alone if you plan to drive for 2 hours on top of that. Just don't expect to get much use out of your phone at the other end if you've stuck to the battery.

Of course there is a solution. TomTom just happen to make a cradle, which for an additional ?99.99 will offer you a place to put your iPhone, will boost the GPS signal and offer you a speaker to boost the audio as well.

But here is the rub? ?99 plus the ?59 for the app means that before you know it you've spent ?158 for a device that is as good as a dedicated device, but not a dedicated device. You'll still have the cradle to hide and you'll still be able to get cheaper solutions, even from TomTom themselves.

Verdict:

The TomTom for iPhone application works and works well, the problem is that by the time you buy either the official TomTom cradle or a cradle and car charging kit you'll be better off getting the newly announced TomTom Start for just over ?119.

Good, but unless you really need, and or want to have the TomTom software with you wherever you go on your phone and not just hidden in your glove compartment, then there are cheaper solutions out there.

Read our TomTom Car Kit for iPhone review here.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps TomTom for iPhone TomTom Apple iPhone Car And GPS

TomTom for iPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0100