Tom Tom Mobile Map

Having been founded in 1991, Tom Tom has become a company that is recognised all over the world having dominated the satellite navigation market for many years. Their maps cover over 104 different countries and with the company turning over billions of pounds every year, it would be fair to say that they are one of the most established firms in the satellite navigation market.

However, when it comes to mobile maps Tom Tom is not as advanced. The company have concentrated the majority of their efforts on their satellite navigational hardware and with that, they have very little to show in the way of mobile applications. At the moment, their mobile range just covers the one application with the company releasing software that can run on the iPhone platform. This means that the vast majority of mobile phone users are unable to utilise Tom Tom mobile map technology.

iPhone Application

While they appear to have invested very little in the mobile maps market, Tom Tom’s iPhone application is still highly sophisticated and will appeal to a lot of iPhone users. The company have attempted to make the application as similar to their standalone satellite navigation devices as possible and the software currently boasts the following features:

Users will be able to use the application exactly as if it was a Tom Tom device, with the software appearing exactly like the company’s satellite navigation products
Just like the company’s other products, the application arrives with IQ routes which means that all route times are calculated in accordance with every variable. This means that users will know the best time of day to travel to a particular location, for example.
If the user is utilising the real time updates feature, the software will alert them to all speed cameras, including mobile ones.
Tom Tom have included Google’s local search technology into the application, meaning that users will be able to locate local businesses with the click of a button.
Over twenty four languages are supported by the software.
Those users who wish to add some functionality to their application can purchase various add-ons, such as the Simpsons’ instructional voices.

Additional Tom Tom Mobile Map Products

While the iPhone software is the only application Tom Tom have released, they do have two more products that can be purchased that fall into a similar category:

Car kit for iPhone – This will allow users to get maximum performance out of the Tom Tom mobile map application.
Car kit for iPod Touch – This product is identical, but is designed to function with the iPod Touch.

Tom Tom Mobile Map Summary

It is clear to see that Tom Tom have not seriously penetrated the mobile map market. However, the iPhone application that they have released is hugely impressive and possesses practically all of the features that their standalone devices offer. With this application being free to download, there is no doubt that it will appear to a lot of iPhone users.