Introduced earlier this month for the European market, TomTom announces today the U.S. availability of the TomTom car kit for iPhone which can be purchased either on the TomTom website or at the Apple online store. Just to recap the features, the TomTom car kit for iPhone comes with:

• Secure mount which docks the iPhone in the desired position on the car windshield or dashboard, using a twist-and-lock motion
• Adjustable mount securely rotates iPhone to either portrait or landscape mode
• Easily removed with one twist upon arrival at a destination
• Built-in GPS receiver reduces the chance of signal drop in areas where GPS reception is limited, such as cities with tall buildings or forested areas
• Significantly improved positioning accuracy in all areas
• Built-in speaker for clear voice instructions
• Integrated microphone and speaker allowing hands-free calling
• Charges iPhone while on the go, so it stays fully charged
• Plays your iPhone music through the AUX OUT port over your car stereo

The TomTom car kit for iPhone is available now for $119.95. Keep in mind you’ll still need to buy the TomTom application for the iPhone.

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Owners of the TomTom app for the iPhone will be interested to hear the company has announced a new car kit for the iPhone in Europe. The TomTom car kit for the iPhone is designed to provide a safer driving experience with the iPhone as well as increased GPS performance thanks to a built-in GPS receiver. The full feature list includes:

• Secure docking using the EasyPort mount
• Built-in GPS receiver enhances the GPS signal especially in areas where GPS reception is limited
• Built-in speaker and volume control
• Hands-free calling via built-in microphone
• Charges iPhone while driving
• Rotates for optimal viewing
• Line out port to connect to car audio system
• Compatible with iPhone 3G and 3GS

If you’re living in Europe, you can purchase the TomTom car kit for the iPhone at the TomTom website or at the Apple online store for $99,99 euro. The car kit will be available in the U.S. in the near future. Note – the car kit does NOT come with the TomTom app – you’ll still need to purchase the app for the iPhone.

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TomTom introduced a new entry-level car navigation solution today for the European market called the TomTom Start. Designed for the occasional driver and for those who have never really used GPS devices, the TomTom Start features the following:

• A simplified menu displaying a two button user interface – “Plan Route” and “Browse Map”
• Lightweight design with a 3.5 inch display
• Semi-fixed EasyPort mount
• Choice of six colors
• Support for IQ Routes – provides users with faster route any time of the day with accurate travel times
• Support for Map Share technologies – allows users to make their own map changes and benefit from thousands of free map corrections made by TomTom users every day free of charge
• Realistic visual instructions
• High quality speaker
• Help menu
• Available in black and white

The Start will be available in UK and Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. Prices are $129 for a regional map and $149 for a European map.

Technorati Tags: TomTom, TomTom Start

After a prolonged development cycle, the Garmin nüvifone G60 handset will FINALLY see the light of day here in the U.S. thanks to AT&T. The companies announced today that the Garmin nüvifone G60 will be available to AT&T customers starting on October 4th.

In case you forgot about the G60 (and really.. who hasn’t now?), here are the features/specs:

• Linux OS
• Same core features as a high-end Garmin nüvi GPS device
• Comes preloaded with maps and millions of points of interest for North America
• Comes with dashboard and windshield mount
• Turn by turn voice promoted directions
• Automatically recalculates routes
• Built-in GPS receiver with Garmin HotFix technology and assisted GPS
• “Where Am I?” feature provides users their exact latitude and longitude coordinates, nearest address, intersection, hospital, police station, and gas station with one touch of the screen. nüvifone will also automatically mark the position in which it was last removed from the windshield mount
• Full HTML browser
• 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity
• Location Link – parses addresses on the web with latitude and longitude information
• Touch-screen virtual keyboard with predictive text
• 3.0 megapixel camera with auto-focus
• Geotagging images with latitude and longitude information
• Free access to AT&T Yellow Pages, flight status, and converter
• Premium Connected Services gives customers access to real time traffic information, fuel prices, White Pages, weather etc

The Garmin nüvifone G60 will be available at AT&T retail stores or online at www.wireless.att.com starting on October 4th for a price of $299 (after a new two year agreement and after a $100 dollar mail-in rebate). nüvifone Premium Connected Services will cost ya $5.99 a month after a 30 day trial.

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TomTom and AT&T announced a new agreement today whereby the AT&T wireless network will power the new TomTom XL 340S LIVE’s connected services. The XL 340S LIVE’s connected services include Local Search powered by Google, real-time traffic information, TomTom Fuel Price service, and TomTom Weather (there are others).

All services are preloaded on the XL 340S LIVE and will work immediately out of the box. Expect future collaboration between the two companies on future products.

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Imagine for a second if you will.. a laptop which you can take anywhere around the world that’s capable of picking up GPS signals, radio signals, and all regional analog/digital TV signals – all made possible thanks to a single programmable RF IC (and some software). Sounds pretty cool right? Well all this will soon be a reality thanks to CrestaTech’s CrestaTV Universal Broadband Receiver technology. The company announced on Tuesday that reference designs and samples of the technology were now available for PC manufacturers.

With CrestaTV Universal Broadband Receiver Technology, manufacturers can ship a single TV tuner module which they know will work no matter what country the device is located in. The integrated GPS receiver helps the system figure out which regional channel guide to pull up for the area. 

The receiver itself supports formats including DVBT, ATSC, Cable QAM, NTSC and PAL, along with FM radio and GPS capabilities. CrestaTV is made up of the CTC-200/201 programmable RF and Interface IC as well as multi-threaded signal processing software. Equipment manufacturers can implement CrestaTV on PCI Express cards, PCI mini-express cards, or USB TV modules.

Here’s hoping that the next time I travel around the world, I’ll have a device with the CrestaTV technology embedded.

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Technorati Tags: CrestaTech, CrestaTV Universal Broadband Receiver, TV tuner

Fans of TomTom portable navigation devices will be happy to hear that the company is introducing a new larger-display series called the TomTom XXL. Two models were announced today – the TomTom XXL 530S and the TomTom XXL 540S – both of which feature an extra-large 5 inch display.

Common features of both XXL devices include:

• TomTom IQ Routes technology which uses historical speed measurements for every time of day and for every road segment to help create the fastest routes possible
• Full maps of the US and Canada
• TomTom Map Share technology which allows users to instantly modify street names, street direction, points of interest, etc and benefit from corrections made by others
• TomTom Help Me menu allows users to easily access local emergency service providers
• New user menu with optimized icons for easier navigation
• Fold and Go EasyPort mount – folds flat against the device for easy transportation
• TomTom HOME – free desktop application to keep users’ devices up to date at all times

Features specific to the TomTom XXL 540S include:

• Advanced Lane Guidance for realistic representations of complex highway junctions and lane-specific visual directions
• Preloaded maps of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada
• 7 million points of interest
• High quality black finish

Both TomTom XXL devices will be available in October with the XXL 530S priced at $279.95 and the XXL 540S priced at $299.95.

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iPhone owners who are also fans of TomTom GPS navigation products will be thrilled to hear that the TomTom App for the iPhone is now available for purchase via the Apple App Store for $99.99 (though you might not be thrilled with the price point). The TomTom App for the iPhone provides the same easy to use, intuitive user interface found on today’s TomTom Personal GPS devices – except they’re now available on the iPhone instead.

The TomTom app is available for both the iPhone 3G and 3GS and includes a map of the US and Canada via Tele Atlas. Features of the app include:

• IQ Routes technology which bases route calculations on actual experiences of millions of TomTom drivers to calculate the fastest route
• Fast route planning and clear voice instructions
• Automatic re-routing if a turn is missed
• Route demo or map of route when trip planning
• Alternative route options if avoiding roadblocks, toll ways or looking for high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes along route
• 6 million POI
• Optimized for iPhone
• Multiple display options including portrait and landscape mode
• Night and day color mode
• Support for 18 languages
• 3D or 3D map display
• Support for multi-touch gestures
• Navigation to contacts in the address book
• POI search and call capabilities from iPhone

TomTom claims to expect compatibility with the iPod touch and other iPhone models (I assume the 1st gen iPhone??) to come soon.

Below is the WWDC presentation of the TomTom App

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Garmin introduces their latest handheld GPS navigators – the Dakota 10 and the Dakota 20 – both of which offer a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, worldwide basemap and a color touchscreen display in a compact waterproof form factor with up to 20 hours of battery life.

Features of the Garmin Dakota 10 include the following:

• Palm sized navigator
• Sunlight readable 2.6 inch color touchscreen display with 160 x 240 resolution
• High sensitivity GPS with HotFix satellite prediction
• Worldwide basemap
• Durable and waterproof
• Supports up to 2000 caches for information such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints, and description
• 850 MB of memory
• Measures 2.2″ x 3.9″ x 1.3″ and weighs 6.75 oz

Features of the Garmin Dakota 20 include the following:

• Palm sized navigator
• Sunlight readable 2.6 inch color touchscreen display with 160 x 240 resolution
• High sensitivity GPS with HotFix satellite prediction
• Barometric altimeter
• 3-axis electronic compass
• microSD card slot
• Worldwide basemap
• Durable and waterproof
• Supports up to 2000 caches for information such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints, and description
• 850 MB of memory
• Share your waypoints, tracks, routes, and geocaches wirelessly with other compatible Dakota, Foretrex, Oregon, and Colorado users
• Measures 2.2″ x 3.9″ x 1.3″ and weighs 6.75 oz

The Dakota 10 is available for $299.99 while the Dakota 20 is available for $349.99

Technorati Tags: Garmin Dakota 10, Garmin Dakota 20

Having been announced back at CES 2009, Mio has finally gotten around to globally launching their new Moov S-series lineup of portable navigation devices as well as the integrated Mio Spirit Navigation software. The new Moov S-series features three models – the Moov S300, S500, and S700 with screen sizes ranging from 3.5 inches to 7 inches respectively. The new Spirit Navigation software features an easy-to-use user interface, complete functions for exploring places, and features to help plan trips in “intelligent economical ways.”

Common features of the Moov S-series include:

• Includes Mio Spirit Navigation software
• Lane Guidance function display clear lane instructions
• Junction Views provides realistic 3D images of signposts and turn indicators
• Explore Mode provides new way to explore your surroundings by browsing maps and seeing all points of interest (POI) at a glance
• Keyword search for POI
• Combine keywords like places and city names for more specific search results
• Integrated Travel Book with details such as historical data, business hours and other useful facts.
• Photo Navigation – one touch photo navigation for quickly finding a place to explore
• Economical Routing – provides the most fuel-saving route
• Desktop Planning – Plan routes and manage content on a PC
• Speed Limit Warnings
• Bluetooth wireless technology

Here’s a breakdown of the three new models:

Mio Moov S300:

• 3.5 inch display with 320 x 240 resolution
• microSD slot
• Rechargeable Lithium battery
• USB 2.0
• Measures 3.66 x 3.07 x 0.7 inches and weighs 4.9 oz

Mio Moov S500:

• 4.7 inch widescreen display with 480 x 272 resolution
• microSD slot
• Rechargeable Lithium battery
• USB 2.0
• 13.9 mm thickness
• Capture Button for instantly recording details of journeys, locations, or voice memos to My Places for future revisiting from a PC
• Measures 5.1 x 3.3 x 0.5 inch and weigh 5.78 oz

Mio Moov S700:

• 7 inch widescreen display with 800 x 480 resolution
• microSD slot
• Rechargeable lithium battery
• USB 2.0
• Measures 7.5 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches and weighs 10.58 oz
• Full multimedia support – A/V input, digital TV support, and built-in media players
• Capture Button for instantly recording details of journeys, locations, or voice memos to My Places for future revisiting from a PC

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Technorati Tags: Mio, Moov S300, Moov S500, Moov S700, Portable navigation device, GPS