Apple pulls in TomTom, kicks Google off iPhones Buried among the data in Apple's new iOS is a win for TomTom, which will be providing the maps for iPhone-navigators. Apple is ditching Google Maps, as expected, and providing its own mapping service on its iWare, which will come from TomTom's TeleAtlas database. Eagle-eyed fanbois spotted the C of TomTom in screen grabs from …
I've heard that OpenStreetMap is not much good in many parts of the world so I just looked at the map of a village in the south of France that I happen to know well. On the little square that I know best, OpenStreetMap shows a pedestrian street (with steps) as a road and, what's worse, it also shows a road that simply doesn't exist - there is a 5 metre high and 1 metre thick wall where the 'road' is supposed to start.
I think I'll stick to Google for the moment as Google Maps is correct. I've no idea about TomTom.
On the little square that I know best, OpenStreetMap shows a pedestrian street (with steps) as a road and, what's worse, it also shows a road that simply doesn't exist - there is a 5 metre high and 1 metre thick wall where the 'road' is supposed to start.
So why don't you fix it?
I dunno. I think you need to treat any mapping service with some degree of skepticism. Examples of every service screwing up abound. The criticisms that Tom Tom tries to lay on OSM are true for ANY mapping service. You just have to keep your wits generally and know better than to blindly trust the computer.
YMMV. Seek out the best option for your particular circumstances. Don't be afraid to dump you chosen option if need be.
OSM has been pretty useless every time I've used it. For years it didn't even have my road in it, and I lived next to the A13 in the middle of a town near a main-line train station. Nor did it have several of the adjoining roads - just one nearby one that someone had obviously driven down while mapping.
This is a road that's been there for many decades, most likely, has its own postcode, is on every satnav and online map I've ever tried and they didn't have a vector for it even existing on the map (not even just an unnamed vector from the associated map). It's there now but for years it just didn't exist on their map (I wasn't bothered about adding it because with such accuracy I just couldn't rely on OSM to actually do anything interesting anyway - certainly nothing that Google Maps didn't do a thousand times better).
Even now, there still a lot of missing information - it actually plots the contents of an obscure village in the middle of Italy better than it does my local town and I can't find my local schools or pub on it anywhere (and the maps suggest that it doesn't know about several roads, houses and other features in that same area - but hey! It's got electricity pylons mapped!).
I honestly can't see how anybody navigates by an OSM map on a regular basis. Sure, it's fine for casual use and it's no problem for a small local map ("Find Us" on a website kinda-thing), but in terms of actually finding somewhere (the postcode search appears completely flummoxed today, but I'm assuming that's just a glitch), locating it using local landmarks, or even finding a particular pub, school or whatever, it's next-to-useless.
By comparison, a TomTom IQ Routes Europe 2Gb map that I refused to update since even before TomTom put in their "now you have to change the map every time you change country while driving through Europe" policy (at least 2-3 years now, probably a lot more) has very minor errors on it (due to new road layouts), has one roundabout that it likes to send you in circles upon (go around the roundabout, go around the roundabout, go around the roundabout, ....) but for which the mapping is correct, and hasn't failed to look up a postcode even in the Highlands or Cornwall and get me to it. I drive 500 miles a week and it's invaluable. Hell, even Google's Navigation app for Andriod does a stupidly good job at things that OSM fails at miserably and that's free (but it does often disagree about the best route with my TomTom but I know from experience the difference is a matter of seconds).
I'm not saying TomTom are perfect either (hell, I'm not buying any more of their devices until this current one dies and they put out models with some kind of map availability guarantee), but OSM are significantly worse. I'd put them at the bottom of the list of any mapping effort, below even things like Google's free apps.
I truly support the "make it ourselves" open-source philosophy of OSM but in terms of actual data, it's still lacking despite a lot of hefty data donations by entire nations. And there just aren't enough users mapping to keep it anywhere near up-to-date.
OSM coverage is a bit luck-of-the-draw. Some areas are mapped with extremely impressive levels of detail, far more so than any commercial mapping service (my local town has better OSM coverage than OS, and the Ordance Survey seem to make some of the best easily available maps in the world).
Most places however just don't have the density of frequency of contributors, and as can be seen from the preceding comments not many people feel like contributing their time and effort towards improving things, making it a less than brilliant choice for a company who can afford to buy whatever they like.
Probably not related but I found with one implementation of OSM in a mobile app that it displayed not road names ("Blueblue Crescent") but road reference numbers (C12354) which is what the local council used for tracking maintenance etc.
the latter (needless to say?) existed nowhere in common use outside the local transport and planning department and made following the apps instructions rather tricky.
I've also found Google Maps to be pretty useless. I had to map a couple of hundred addresses for on customer and it got about 10% wrong, one was even put on the wrong continent, despite having a UK post code!
I then tried using them to find the hotel I was going to stay at and the office I had to go to when visiting a client site. It got both wrong by about 1 or 2 km, which is hopeless in a big city!
Tom Tom has some experience of living in a world where its licensees compete with it.
Sygic (which is probably the best navigation app for Android) uses licensed TomTom maps. It also ships it for ShinyShiny and for Nokia/Symbian. I bet it is not the only one to use TomTom maps - there are others.
And wave goodbye to the TomTom app, Co-Pilot Live etc as Apple banishes them from the App Store for "duplicating in-built funtionality", and screwing over iPhone 4 users who can't get the new "magic" features of iOS6 (check - turn-by-turn is 4S only).
Suggest iPhone 4 users consider upgrading very carefully...
"Iphone 3GS is getting iOS 6, how's that Android update coming along? Oh, thats right, you get Android updates every 3 months, just as long as you keep buying new phones."
You might want to check up on the reality of that. The 3GS and iPhone 4 won't get any of the fancy mapping stuff. Besides, the 3GS is still a "new" phone currently sold by Apple, so kind of has to be supported.
So Android users are now saying that getting updates are bad, LOL. Here is a clue, try restricting yourself to buying good phones instead of shit.
My crowing is more impressive than your excuse for buying shit, Oh and how is that galaxy "whatever" update working for you. What are you on now 2.31`? 2.32?
Are we saying that? No I don't believe we are saying getting updates is bad. What is bad about it is that w get our updates given to us slowly to be sure, but with CLEAR outlines on what will do what when we get it without being told the new shiny PhoneOS is going to work on all devices (that are current) with little information on what features are going to be for the latest and greatest JesusPhone to date.
I also wouldn't call my phone shit when it comes to the hardware. Rather like it personally since the EVO 3D is a nice phone in and of itself even when I never use the 3D feature. Got it for the hardware.
In response to your comment about updates I will treat these as two distinct questions.
So the platform is the Galaxy update? Ill assume you meant the phone being updated which in this case I can say this: Beats the hell out of me how it is.
And in reference to your comment about version numbers, yep, you got us there. I guess if that's what it takes to make yourself feel justified in slamming people so that you feel high and mighty, so be it. Twat.
"Are TomTom suicidal"
No, probably the reverse. Smartphone penetration will continue to eat into the SatNav market, if not reduce it to a small fraction of its former size. TomTom's products are feeling increasingly clunky; the touchscreens are a generation (or two) behind the phones; they just don't have the resources to keep up. The deal with Apple allows them to remain a relevant player for a few more years, and the massive increase in user base will should allow them to keep their maps more current through their crowd-sourced corrections scheme.
I'd guess they'll end up as an Apple subsidiary (with a nice fat payout to their shareholders) somewhere down the track.
You may not recall, but TomTom used to make smartphone packages. TomTom Navigator 6 was the last major version to be widely released over here; I'm a former customer of theirs. They lost me when they refused to release any more map updates or WinMob update versions two or three years back, and then went to great lengths to try to persuade people to buy PNDs instead; I said at the time (boiled down) that smartphone users would outnumber PND users massively, and that SatNav packages on said smartphones would force them to change their tune or die trying.
Looks like while not being suicidal, they're still as blinkered, though.
Google Maps never had all the functionality of a Satnav, and I'm guessing that the maps app built in to the iPhone won't either. Here's a few differences ...
* a Satnav has to work even when you don't have a data connection
* a Satnav has to give directions
* a Satnav has to recalculate your route when you deviate from its instructions
* a nice-to-have is that it knows about heavy traffic and can navigate you around it
"Google Maps never had all the functionality of a Satnav, and I'm guessing that the maps app built in to the iPhone won't either. Here's a few differences ...
* a Satnav has to work even when you don't have a data connection"
Google Maps doesn't do that, no ...
" * a Satnav has to give directions "
Google Maps DOES do that
"* a Satnav has to recalculate your route when you deviate from its instructions"
Google Maps DOES do that
" * a nice-to-have is that it knows about heavy traffic and can navigate you around it" "
Apple's new software will do this. Google Maps I think also can too, may be wrong ... My TomTom doesn't.
Prepare for a downgrade Apple owners...
Google Maps is pretty much bang upto date, and this will surely push Google to make it even better...
Of course TomTom is JUST the route maps, they won't be getting Streetview, Google Earth, or any of the Google Places data, which is superb.
Where I live google maps was using 6 - 8 years old maps. Only last week there was an update.
Streetview? Yes, I saw the Google car a year or two ago but this is still not available for non- paying customers.
TomTom is also lacking. It was great several years ago but the cards do not get updated in my area.
I uploaded a score of error reports to Tele-Atlas. Hopefully they will fix it now.
OpenStreetmap has current cards of my area but Apple is using some old snapshot missing a lot of the newer streets.
Ah yes, TeleAtlas. Google Maps used them. It took almost two years for them to change the fictional Lugsmoor Lane in SW1 to the actual Cleveland Row after i reported it. London walking guides are full of references to the fictional Lugsmoor Lane, rather gives away that the person who wrote the guide had never actually done the walk and taken notes.
Have you not been reading the news for the last, oh, few years? You know, where Apple have been throwing lawsuits at all and sundry over their use of Android, alongside Microsoft's Mafia trying to extract protection money? Maybe not Google directly, at first, but it's not like Apple or Microsoft have been trying to beat Android via innovation, have they?
In response, Google are suing Apple over FRAND patents they bought from Motorola Mobility. I'd hoped that Apple would have seen this as a warning and said something like "yeah okay, we're dicks, fair enough".
But no, Apple sue Google (in the US) to get Google to stop suing Apple (in Germany). Really you couldn't make this up.
And it's "you're". As in, "you're an unemployed hater".
I have a Tom Tom GPS in my car. Never again. Nevermind that the hardware likes to lock up in moderate heat, the maps are not reliable and the cycle of updates is a never-ending cycle of "pay even more." Google Maps is much more reliable around here, plus I don't have to pay Google yet another stipend for the latest "update." Tom Tom is NOT a selling feature. Wonder if iTards are going to have to pay for the latest maps? Ah who am I kidding...they're used to paying out the nose for things with a smile on their faces.
Unfortunately, unless you specifically pre-cache areas and don't mind the satellite view disappearing, you can't use Google Maps without a network connection.
Even with pre-cached areas, Maps tends to use the network for everything else, such as search.
Tom Tom on the other hand has its (admittedly expensive) maps built into the device or on SD card. Instant advantage, especially if you're going to use it anywhere outside of a city.
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Why the hate? What Apple is doing now is exactly what Samsung will be doing in one year or two...
Samsung Pulls an Apple, Tells Users How Not to Hold Their Galaxy SIIIs
Especially now they've been shoved aside in the mapping department cutting off a rather valuable user profiling vector.
And let's not sniff at the Facebook integration either. Whist many here prefer Google+ (me included) just about very other person on the planet that has access to mains electricity has a Facebook account, -their dogs included-.
Making the iPhone the de facto Facebook phone will bring millions upon millions of additional users to iOS which will not be good for Android market share.
Android peaked? who knows, but its not looking as good for the OS as it did last week.
"Making the iPhone the de facto Facebook phone will bring millions upon millions of additional users to iOS which will not be good for Android market share."
I completely get what you're saying but I don't think people will think of the iPhone as a de-facto Facebook phone, just like most users at the moment don't think Android is de-facto Facebook phone. Most FB users just consider a smartphone or tablet as an extra device to access their Facebook on, they all have the same functionality. What's iOS going to offer that they can't already do on their iPhones? For the same reason I don't think these FB specific phones with an FB button are going to sell that much more because of that feature.
One of the main reasons Android has more market share is not entirely down to it's features/functionality, the killer that always said Android would outstrip iOS was saturation by varying price points. They are so many Android handsets in various form factors and at various price points all with various target audiences and various target budgets in mind. Which unfortunately is where Apple failed to go with it's product (although now Jobs has gone, Apple might change that stance).
Hello fandroid #467853445!
If you bothered to actually watch the presentation yesterday, there's a little more than that. Passbook, improved siri, DND mode, shared photo streams, and 200 other things.
Hey, it isn't Apple that want to effectively try sell their OS as a "new" OS everytime it's released. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just improve it and I see this again as a great step foreward. Keeps my iP4 fresh and same for older 3GS devices. As already said, Google and keep doing their ditch and resell method for only so long until the peak shows and then declines.
Don't forget, the iPhone is a PHONE. Not a computer like most fandroids want to think their devices are. :)
Thing is, the current iOS map offering is pretty good and seamless. Who wants to go monkeying about with other apps when you can just tab to a street view of the location you're looking at?
Plus, Apple's first stab at ditching Google maps in their iPhoto app has a technical description – SHITE.
Why they didn't go with Route66?
It has experience on mobile platforms and in my opinion does quite a good job. What I always liked were the many options off navigating. A quick route vs. a short route for example.
And the fact that R66 also supports walking seems also quite an advantage when used on a smartphone.
I stopped using TT due to the ridiculously high annual map update charges and use the free Nokia maps in my smartphone. It's great and I prefer it to Google Maps because it includes a "drive" software that gives turn by turn, etc, just like Tom Tom but more instructive. For example I'll make a turn and then the voice announces that "continue for 5 miles", so need to keep checking the screen or wondering when the next turn will be announced. All
All that, plus a Nokia E72 (for work SIM) and a C7 (personal SIM) with superb quality 8mp camera and 720p video recording, music, radio, the f'ing lot, and I am as a happy as a pig in sh1t and have no desire whatsoever to leave Symbian and become an iFashionista.
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Could have been that need to read again. Is this article saying IOS6 will give users free TomTom or just that it'll be integrated into opsys and activated on payment? If it's not free, whats the point? Surely people will just stick to basic but acceptable freebies such as SatFree / NavFree or whatever it's called or carry on ripping off TomTom by grabbing it through Cydia? If Google do start charging Android users that's another matter but in the meantime & based on my own experiences of TomTom the GoogleMaps is years ahead for mapping. Does TomTom do the handy stuff like auto zoom to road signs and show streetview of destination?
Apple .... providing its own mapping service on its iWare
iWare!!!!!, are the fruity ones going to have to sue Specsavers now because they supply eyeWare????
Are they going to project maps on to peoples glasses?? There may be prior art on that, not that that ever worried the fruity firm.
Eagle-eyed fanbois spotted the C of TomTom.....
Must have gone to Specsavers to get their iWare eye ware
OK, I've got it, I'm going...
I expect to see hundreds of baffled iTat users flooding into Manhattan then. Every time I need to get on or off Long Island my bloody Tom-Tom insists that the route cross that benighted strip of traffic-choked, pothole-infested concrete, even if I've set explicit waypoints and told the bugger I want to use the Verrazano Narrows Bridge - Staten Island - Goethal's Bridge route like any sensible person would.
I've even had Tom Tom plot a complex u-turn off Staten Island just so it can send me into Manhattan before I go where I intend to. Naturally, I pay the demented thing no attention. Clearly, Tom Tom have received some sort of quid pro quo (or buck pro quo, this being America) from the County of New York.
Google maps on my Android phone was utter useless shit. It told me I arrived home at my destination two streets and by streets I mean very long streets about two major city blocks. I ditched it for an iPhone and the google maps their still is so out of date with the town center and geographical feature on the wrong side of the highway. My fellow local free yards have submitted error reports over the years and nothing is update or fixed. Utter pointless crap. I've not run TomTom on iPhone as I run Navigon which is light years better tan google maps on my android ever was but mates at work tell me they like it so I will reservedly wait and see but no worries here as I have Navigon to fall back on.
Well Google Maps is free, and you are entirely within your right to buy Navigon for Android, it's about £20 I recall, and allows for offline maps, traffic updates and stuff, and is rather good.
Of course Android allows you choice. Do you really believe Apple won't pull the rug from under all other mapping software when iOS6 launches....
As the TomTom deal with Apple, TomTom get a payment from Apple on a per-user, per map basis for the TurnByTurn navigation.
I'm suspecting that this will be a significant amount of cash, and Apple will be passing it onto end-users.
I'm guessing that you will soon be buying iTunes credit for "Pay As You Go Satnav "on iPhone....
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