Mobile Phones News :New TomTom Car Kit For iPhone Introduced, CEO Unfazed By Navigation On Mobiles

TomTom are continuing to support their in-car navigation app for the Apple iPhone, introducing a new dashboard cradle for the iconic device.
The two-part TomTom mount from Pro-Clip enables the iPhone to snag onto various parts of the car’s dashboard, as opposed to the suction

=============
Article Content:


TomTom are continuing to support their in-car navigation app for the Apple iPhone, introducing a new dashboard cradle for the iconic device.

The two-part TomTom mount from Pro-Clip enables the iPhone to snag onto various parts of the car’s dashboard, as opposed to the suction cup required to adhere to a windscreen, but does require a separate mount depending on the vehicle type to be purchased.

Just like the original, the cradle boosts GPS reception with an in built chip, as well as a speaker and mic for hands-free communications.

Pre-orders of the device, costing £99.99 can be made from the TomTom site, whilst the Pro-Clip attachment must be purchased directly from the US-based retailer at a price of around £35.


This release comes hot on the heels of a statement from the CEO of the sat-nav giant, Harold Goddijn, stating that the rise of mobile applications posed little threat to their core business.

“We need to get away from the impression that the various navigation platforms are competing with each other,” Goddijn said to Dow Jones in an interview.

He felt free navigation on mobile phones is “as old as the road to Rome,” whilst the quality of the maps on TomTom devices was “hard to match.”

2010 was then said to be “an important year for positioning ourselves for future growth.” Despite the hammering taken by TomTom shares in recent months following free mobile sat-nav solutions from both Google and Nokia, they recovered heavily following a Q4 earnings reveal showed strength in device sales and cost cutting around the business proved positive.

However, with around three quarters of their total sales coming from in-car navigation devices, the rise of free alternatives such as Ovi Maps navigation coming out of the box with phones like the Nokia 5230 – a handset that costs fifty pounds less than their entry-level TomTom and twenty quid less than the iPhone cradle alone – must certainly rattle the Dutch manufacturer.

Source: Wall Street Journal

———————