TomTom Finds All Roads Lead To iPhone
Yesterday, Peter-Frans Pauwels, TomTom's co-founder and CTO, test-drove his company's navigation software in combination with a car kit on the iPhone during Apple's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Two new TomTom products comprise the iPhone 3G solution. The first, the TomTom navigation application for iPhone, is an Apple version of the turn-by-turn software, including IQ Routes as well as the most recent maps from Tele Atlas. The second is the TomTom car kit for iPhone. The specially developed product enables secure docking, enhanced GPS performance, clear voice instructions, hands-free calling and in-car charging.
The Apple iTunes App Store will carry the TomTom application, following the release of Apple's OS 3.0 operating system. Apple said at the conference that it has now sold more than 40 million iPhones. Pricing details were not yet available but are promised by the TomTom before the products' launch later this summer. The announcement sent TomTom stock up 13.83 percent Tuesday morning. According to AppleInsider, an accessory kit will act as a basic suction-cup mount for the dashboard or windshield and will also amplify the GPS signal, support both hands-free calling and music through the stereo system, and charge the iPhone from the car's 12-volt port.
Interestingly, a Reuters report from exactly one year ago noted that TomTom had a version of its navigation software running on Apple's iPhone.