*Updated 6-8-2010*
The App Store is cluttered with iPhone GPS apps, and sorting through them is a daunting task. This guide is designed to cut through the clutter, gather all relevant info in one place, and aid you in making the best choice. We also take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of iPhone GPS vs personal navigation devices, and examine the new elephant in the room, Google Maps Navigation.
The TomTom iPhone car kit, which we’ve talked about before, has landed in the Apple online store at the hefty price of $120. While it’s not in stock yet, this gives the chance for people to pre-order if they want.
The kit is designed to attach your iPhone to the car’s windshield and comes with an extra GPS unit built into the kit itself. TomTom claims using the hardware with your iPhone provides a more steady and accurate GPS reading.
The kit doesn’t include the cost of the TomTom iPhone app, which is an extra $99 (iTunes link). What will be interesting to see is if the GPS unit in the kit will work with other, perhaps less expensive GPS apps (ie, provide an enhanced GPS connection to something like MotionX GPS Drive).
The eagerly anticipated car kit to for TomTom’s GPS iPhone app (iTunes link) has been given a price, a rather substantial $120. While earlier rumors leaned toward the GPS bundle including the $100 application, the official announcement says otherwise. This brings the overall cost to $220, beyond the cost of many dedicated GPS units.
TomTom Car Kit
The kit provides a suction cup to allow you to attach the iPhone on the car windscreen, and also a power adapter that plugs into the car’s cigarette lighter. That said, you can get kits similar kits from Amazon for less than $30 (although TomTom claims their kit provides “enhanced GPS performance”).
