JPP

Well, my cel phone contract is up on November 3rd and I've decided to take the leap and get a new i-Phone 3GS. I've been looking at all the apps and the TomTom navigation app looks interesting. Downloads all NorthAmerica maps to the phone with turn-by-turn navigation software for $99 (map update procedure TBD but I'm sure it's gonna cost something, heh). In the last few weeks TomTom and Apple announced a new in-car cradle that dashmounts on a stickyplate. Swivels verticle/horizontal, built-in enhanced GPS antenna, hands-free mic and through car stereo calling, i-tunes compatible, charges phone while connected for $120. Demo's online and reviews look promising. Anyone have this or experience with TomTom on i-Phone? Other i-Phone mounts that are better? Any input would be appreciated as I'm investigating it all at this point. Here's the mount:

JasonF

I bought the Tom Tom app for my iPhone and overall, it's just okay.

One of the main downsides is that it won't provide spoken street names on a turn by turn basis. In other words, it will merely say "turn right in 400 feet" when better Nav programs will say "in 400 feet, turn right onto Maple Avenue." That doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you are in an unknown location and navigating busy roads, you have no idea which street to turn on unless you take your eyes off the road, and push up the written directions on the iPhone itself.

The App is not as accurate as my Garmin, so "400 feet" in reality could be off by several hundred feet, and not knowing which actual street to turn onto is a handicap.

Now maybe the Tom Tom cradle will help with accuracy since it has a built-in antenna, but after shelling out $99 for the App, and $120 for the cradle, you're spending big bucks for a middling effort from Tom Tom. The reviews on the App store bear this out and it's a PR disappointment for the company. If they were smart, they would provide free updates for at least the first few versions while the bugs get worked out. I recently downloaded Version 2, and it's not a significant improvement.

JPP

Yeah, I noted that in the video review from Macworld I saw yesterday. They rated 3 apps and none of them actually spoke the street names, but all of them did display the next streetname to turn on, on the bottom of the screen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRJDP...ayer_embedded#

TomTom claims that the built-in GPS antenna on the cradle makes the i-Phone app as good as their standalone Nav units. I used Applechat to dig further and they said the cradles' GPS antenna boosted the apps functionality substantially. I'll check out the App store reviews. I also own a Garmin Nuvi which works really well. It would be sweet to have that kind of functionality plus the phone and i-tunes all in one device.

V

JPP, I have also looked into this.. I will be putting mine on the centre console though, not using the suction mount.. How is the cradle hardwired to the head unit? I understand that the cradle has some kind of built-in microphone but does it feed audio through the head unit/speakers? Is the power also supplied through the head unit or is it some kind of cigarette lighter solution? Is there any feed back on how well the hands free function works (i.e just answering the phone while it sits in the cradle)? That alone would be worth a lot. Plus it let's you play the music (iPod) through the head unit and it charges the phone. And there's built in navigation.. What more can you ask for? . I hope the audio input cable is compatible with my Becker Traffic Pro.. . As far as street name and directions, I'm pretty sure this will be available in coming SW updates. I din't see why they shouldn't have this on the iPhone if it's on the regular SatNAVs..

JPP

As far as I can tell from the descriptions, video's and pictures of the cradle, it looks like power is from the cradle charger plug out to cars cigarette lighter then there's an optional cable that runs from the cradle Audio Out to the head unit audio in. My car's Alpine head unit has an iPod cable so I imagine I would need a cable from that to the cradles Audio Out. The Applechat folks said it pumps incoming phone calls through the car's stereo and your voice it picked up on a mic in the cradle which I've read works well. When any audio comes in while your playing iTunes, the cradle turns off music, then resumes music when other Audio stops. Same with Navigation, when a call comes in, Navigation audio stops until the call is finished then Nav resumes trip. I've also learned since my original post that the cradle will work with other Nav apps including Navigon which has TTS, Trafic Pro and lane assist and it's 10% cheaper ...

V

JPP - That's great news. So correct me if I'm wrong: I will need one cable to power the cradle (12V, preferably not cigaratte lighter solution) and one cable to hardwire the cradle to the Head unit? Is this optional cable an "Apple" product? Do they provide a list of compatible head units? The cable I have now connects the iPhone to the head unit, lets me play music through the head unit and also powers/charges the iPhone. Maybe this "optional" cable in the only one you need?

If one could get that sorted this is a great solution. Especially with how the NAV is paused/resumed with incoming calls etc. Very nice. And if the hands-free function works - brilliant! Only problem I would suspect is echoes as your own voice transmits 1.through the mic in the cradle and 2.through the speakers. But it sounds like they worked their way around that problem, which is great!

Thank's a lot for sharing this information with us JPP. Do you have a link to the applechat thread in question?

JPP

I have the same questions, Viggo, but unfortunately we won't be getting a physical product in stores to look at for another 2 to 3 weeks. From what I've read, the cable is Apple. When I look at the picture of the cradle:



It makes sense that the "D" connection on the side would be where this optional cable plugs in and would then connect to the head unit iPod cable/interface where it should then charge the phone, answer calls and play iTunes through the stereo without the need for any additional connection to a cigarette lighter. The way I understand the hands-free function, the mic in the cradle just pics up your voice with noise cancellation and does not use the car stereo audio so no 'echo'. My Applechat session was live with one of their support people, so no link, but anyone can ask questions on the Applestore website by clicking the 'Chat Live' icon, just coordinate your time in Sweden with Pacific Standard Time business hours and you should be golden.
After reviewing all the upside of having the cradle (hands free calling, iTunes functionality), the downsides of the TomTom application seem trivial. As you said, they (TomTom) are under a lot of pressure at this point to bring their navigator app up to snuff. The reviews comparing it to Navigon on the App Store website are brutal. When you bring up the TomTom app to purchase, there's a very long statement by TomTom's president saying they appreciate the feedback, realize the Apple user forum is their customer and are working as hard as they can on the problems, so I think they're getting the message, heh. In the meantime, unless Navigon brings out their own cradle in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to get this cradle for it's awesome functionality and wait and see on the navigation apps. I've never used a 'mounting disk' for a dashboard mount and don't like the idea of sticking anything to the dash. Anyone done this? Does it damage the dash? Anyway, I've been looking at some products from a company called ProClip that mount without any hardware or tape, these just clip inbetween the vent housings and dash with no damage or modifications:


They make one for 993's that clips onto the centervent on the face of the dash for $29. I'd stick the mounting disk onto this and then the cradle would suction to the disk. Only problem would be blocking airflow, but it would keep the phone cooler

JPP

O.k., time for an update on this thread. I finally got my TomTom cradle in-car kit for i-Phone and had it hardwired into the car. After looking at all the options for where to mount it, I decided I didn't want to block any vents on the dash, so I simply used the suction cup mount on the back of the cradle to stick it on the clockface which works perfectly because it positions the navigation screen out of the windshield area and keeps the mic/speaker close to your face for hands-free bluetooth phone calls. Since I posted this thread, TomTom came out with an upgraded version of their Navigation application that added Text to Speech directions and an enhanced real-time traffic warning system all of which makes this system as good if not better than my stand-alone Garmin Nuvi unit. The best part is, the application has built in i-Pod controls along the bottom of the screen so you can listen to i-Tunes while your using the Navigator. If the Navigator starts giving voice directions or an incoming phone call happens, the cradle turns the volume down on i-Tunes and either the navigator voice comes through the stereo system speakers or the phone call comes through the built in mic/speaker in the cradle. It all works perfectly and I couldn't be happier. Hardwire cables for the Alpine head unit cost around $20 from Crutchfield and my local indie stereo shop hardwired that and the power cable in for $45 and showed me how to program the digital clock on the head unit to always stay on I couldn't be happier. Here's some pics:

ilko

That is a pretty cool location

JPP

I know, right? When I posted about how folks were mounting their Nav systems, after several comments about various aftermarket clips/mounts, Pickled Piper ( great forum name) and Terry Adams both said they just suction to the clock. I'm an ex-mechanical aerospace guy so I always overthink things. I thought this solution was classic. It's the kind of matter-of-fact comments I used to get when I'd go out to the Flight line with some 'fix' and find out the shop had already done my job for me

From previous post 'Anyone use these for phone/navigation mounting?'
pic and caption courtesy of Terry Adams:

"Who needs a clock?"

The fact that many stereo head units can display a digital clock, even when off, is just frosting ....

ilko

I like the clock location and tried to use it for my Navi unit but mine has a CRT display (well, not really it's just the older, bulkier kind) so I ended up doing this with my RSA and was going to do it with the C4S as well:



I'm really digging what you've done and might just pony up for the Tom-Tom app and use my iPhone instead. It works in areas with no cell phone reception, correct? How is the signal strength? I had to use an additional antenna with my set-up above, because the Garmin didn't like that location.

JPP

Yep, the Application downloads all the maps to your phone so if there's no 3G or cel signal, the Navigation system still works great. The cradle is $120 from Apple or TomTom, and the application just happens to be on sale right now for the lowest price I've ever seen it, $49. Without the cradle, the i-Phone's built in GPS antenna is not very strong, but with the built-in GPS antenna in the cradle, it's as good as any stand alone GPS unit, plus all the other features like phone charging, bluetooth hands-free calling and i-Tunes control. I'd order the cradle through Apple. I bought another one for my S.O. (you knew that was coming, right?) for Christmas through TomTom over a month ago, and it's still not shipped

ilko

Cool, thanks a lot!

95_993

Jon Paul,

Just picked up the mount after seeing your post. How did you route the power cable and are you using the cig plug or did you hardwire it in?

ggg1ggg

So can you get TomTom voice directions over bluetooth through your head unit? If so, does music mute when it's giving directions?