TomTom Navigator 7 smartphone navigation sold online by TomTom

TomTom users from the first hour might remember that the TomTom car-navigation on the Windows Mobile PocketPC was one of the features that gave the PDA market a great boost in terms of growth (at least in the Netherlands).  

During the “Shaping the future of Navigation” event back in 2008, some projection figures shown (1) the largest revenues come from the personal navigation devices (PND), and (2) the smartphone market is an opportunity providing growth in the upcoming years.

Announcement

“TomTom will offer TomTom NAVIGATOR 7, its navigation software solution for selected smartphones, via its web shop – www.tomtom.com/navigator7. The microSD card will be sold and shipped with the map of Western Europe, covering 22 countries* for € 99,95″ [ref01]

The announcement of TomTom today shows that TomTom is ballencing it’s efforts to generate contiuous and autonomous growth from different types of offerings, and more important going back to where it all started:  a TomTom navigation solution on a smartphone !! TomTom will offer TomTom Navigator 7, which was already offered purely bundled with the HTC Touch Pro, via it’s own webshop for a nice pricepoint.

“In addition to offering NAVIGATOR 7 on microSD card, TomTom has made NAVIGATOR 7 available for licensing to business partners. Local operators, system integrators, distributors or local offices of handset manufacturers now have the option to bundle TomTom’s navigation software with their products.” [ref01]

Features

Lets have a look at a list with features that are offered for the pricepoint above:

• TomTom’s unique Map Share™ technology;
• New safety features including ‘Help Me’ menu;
• Improved address input for faster search including country switcher, postcode search and ‘accent spelling aid’;
• A new traffic interface that lets you avoid traffic easily and effectively;
• Share voices, POIs and other content – use TomTom HOME to personalise your device with free content from the TomTom community.

For the TomTom PND users these features sound very familiar, however very cool to see these also in the smartphone offering !

Compatibility

With the offering of TomTom Navigator 7 for mobile devices, compatiblity is a very important focuspoint. You might remeber that a version of TomTom Navigator 7 was offered in a bundle with the HTC Touch Pro in the Netherlands. However TomTom has expanded compatibility.

“TomTom NAVIGATOR 7 is currently compatible with a wide range of HTC devices and operator variants that run the Windows Mobile OS. To check if a phone is compatible or keep track of new developments for a specific model, and even a dedicated microsite has been launched including a compatibility wizard to check the current and future options for users’ phones.” [ref01]

With the fast clock-speed in the smartphone market I truly hope that TomTom can keep up with adapting the Navigator 7 software to be compatible with a wide range of Windows Mobile devices. 

Wrap up 

I’m very excited with todays announcement of TomTom today, which reminds me of the good old times riding around with TomTom Navigator 2.  A huge advantage of this business decission of TomTom is that end-users don’t have to take an extra device with them, when they leave their car.

On the other hand it’s a logical step for growth, since embedded GPS in a Windows Mobile smartphone is becoming the standard, and the market for smartphones is large and probably still expanding. I can’t wait to see TomTom Navigator 7 to hit the “webshop-shelves”, and probably am equally excited as Corinne Vigreux (TomTom Managing Director) summarizes:

“Complementing our partnerships with handset manufacturers we have decided to make NAVIGATOR 7 available to fans of TomTom who want the latest navigation software on their phone.” [ref01]

Have a look at the TomTom Navigator 7 website over here ! 

Reference list 

1. PRESS RELEASE:  TomTom starts selling NAVIGATOR 7 online
2. WEBSITE: TomTom Navigator 7 Product Page