tomtom iPhone cradle or alternative?

[Techmonkey]

as a new iphone user with a serious need for a sat nav unit i have been waiting and watching for the release of the tomtom iphone app, but after reading some of the reviews on the app store and looking at the price of the app + cradle I must say I am put off more than just a little.

So here are my questions:

1) Will the tomtom iPhone cradle work with other satnav apps? i.e. will the enhanced gps receiver work with CoPilot etc?

or

2) WHat other cradle has the same features as the tomtom cradle? most preferably the fm tuner, hands free kit and gps enhancer?

[andys_mf]

Hi Techmonkey,

1) Will the tomtom iPhone cradle work with other satnav apps? i.e. will the enhanced gps receiver work with CoPilot etc?

The car kit will work with other sat nav applications, but the GPS enhancer will only work with the tomtom software. other software won't know how to 'talk' to the receiver so it won't be used. Other features such as the handsfree, fm transmitter etc will all work fine.

2) WHat other cradle has the same features as the tomtom cradle? most preferably the fm tuner, hands free kit and gps enhancer?

Currently there isn't an all in one alternative. as mention above, the gps enhancer will need to be developed by the same people as the software that you're using. so copilot, navigon would all need to bring out their own in order for it to work, or release some coding info to third parties in order for them to make one - something i can't see happening.

currently the closest bit of kit to the TomTom car kit would be the Jabra SP700 or the BlackBerry VM-605 coupled with an in car holder.

If it helps, I wrote a blog post covering the options a couple of weeks ago:

Alternatives to the TomTom iPhone Car Kit | Mobile Fun Blog

[Mark H]

Hi Techmonkey if you use a navigation device casually i.e. just now and again the TomTom app for the iPhone is great but if you need it alot personally Id get a separate TomTom unit. I have both the app and an old TomTom 710 but still use my 710 for journeys it has more features and seems to be more accurate thats probably becuase I don't have the iPhone TomTom Holder I have wrote an in depth review here if you want to see.

One thing I will say though TomTom do say they will be adding more features to the app in the future but with it taking so long to get this App out all I can say is we may be waiting some time!

Mark