TomTom and Zipcar announce new apps for iPhone
For all of you who aren't Apple fanboys and haven't been refreshing Engadget's live coverage of the 2009 WWDC this afternoon, there's some major news involving everyone's favorite little smart phone and two big auto-related companies. The first is a new app from TomTom that was previewed back in January but finally became official today. The long awaited TomTom app will turn your iPhone into a full feature navigation system, a function this phone's been sorely lacking for quite a while despite housing the hardware to make it happen. While pricing wasn't given, TomTom will also be offering a mounting accessory that will hold the phone in either portrait or landscape mode and charge it while you navigate.
The other app is from car sharing service Zipcar. This one's particularly neat, allowing a user to locate him or herself relative to the nearest available car for rent, purchase the drive time and even unlock the car's door, all from inside the app. The program's ease of use could make a big impact on Zipcar's popularity, as currently the only way to make reservations is through the web.
[Source: Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Guy 3:43PM (6/08/2009)
video: http://thecarfanatic.com/wordpress/2009/06/08/tomtom-for-iphone-demonstrated-at-wwdc/
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Sea Urchin 3:46PM (6/08/2009)
Nice video, whoever designed it did an excellent job.
Sea Urchin 3:44PM (6/08/2009)
It is only natural for a phone with such large screen to have NAV and live traffic and more. Once the GPS function and Internet on phones will drop in price (2 more years) auto companies will have difficulties selling their NAV systems. People will not pay 2K+ for something they can pay probably $15 a month on IPhone or any other large smart phone.
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Serge 3:48PM (6/08/2009)
In cheaper cars, you're probably right... however, luxury cars have many features built into the "navigation" system that can't be had without one.
Erik 3:45PM (6/08/2009)
Why is it that Zipcar seems to almost exclusively stock foreign cars? I am not really interested in supporting a business the seems to intentionally avoid using American products simply because they are American.
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Alex 4:07PM (6/08/2009)
I just guessing here, but probably just reacting to market demands. They cater almost exclusively to city dwelers, a demographic that trends towards imports over domestics. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Fiesta show up in Zipcar's inventory.
TelegramSam 6:25PM (6/08/2009)
They offer a few Ford models. Mostly, they offer more premium options, but for the lesser models (civic, scion Xb, etc) they don't offer any. Why might you ask? Probably because there is no American car south of the 20k mark that can compete with a civic as far as fit and finsh. The fit and finish of American econo-cars is by far the worst in the US market place. Example: Look at the Cobalt's interior versus a Civic.
asifgrkhan 5:32PM (6/08/2009)
Erik,
This could be a clue.
"VIDEO: Scott Griffith, Zipcar CEO: We have never had a request for a GM product"
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/02/video-scott-griffith-zipcar-ceo-we-have-never-had-a-request-f/
9600baud 5:36PM (6/08/2009)
So if zipcar had nothing but Chinese built GMs would you support them or not? Or would your head just instantaneously explode while it was stuck in your a$$?
Erik 5:39PM (6/08/2009)
@Alex
Good point, I hadn't considered that
@asifgrkhan
I know for a fact that statement is not true, since I have personally requested a GM product from them in the past. Doesn't give me much confidence is this guy.
@9600baud
You are an idiot
BrianM 6:11PM (6/08/2009)
Actually the CEO of Zipcar was on TV recently and answered that very question....he does not seem to care which car he buys and does a survey of customers every 6 months to see what they want and the customers do not request Chrystler or GM Products at all!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/02/zipcar-ceo-tells-cnbc-no_n_210230.html
Honestly I am a zipcar member, and I rent from Avis and Hertz, I cringe when I have to get into a GM or Chrystler product, Ford on the other hand I like the Mustang at least but the suspension still floats in the V6 even on that "sports car".
I guess you would force poorly made crap on us in an attempt to be "American".
Personally I like freedom and letting the customers make the choice so I say Yay ZipCar for letting your customers choose the cars you carry!
Erik 8:21PM (6/08/2009)
"Actually the CEO of Zipcar was on TV recently and answered that very question....he does not seem to care which car he buys and does a survey of customers every 6 months to see what they want and the customers do not request Chrystler or GM Products at all!"
This logic is flawed. Imagine there is a company that sells only black widgets. Every 6 months the owners poll their customers asking what color widgits they like. They all say "black!" of course because by definiton, the sample population is made enirely of people who like black widgets enough to purchase them. Based on the poll results, the company continues to sell only black widgets. If they had taken a sample of the general public (rather than just black-widgit-likers), they might find that there are some people out there that like white widgits. A smart company would see these people as potential customers, and maybe expand their offerings to include white widgits as well.
"I guess you would force poorly made crap on us in an attempt to be "American"."
Absoloutly not. First, nothing is forced on you - one of the great things about car sharing is you chose whatever car you want to drive that day! Second, if you still think Amreican companies produce only poorly made crap, you need to get with the times.
akatsuki 12:26PM (6/09/2009)
Zipcar is mostly located in urban environments as well. Foreign car companies just do a better job with smaller cars.
And frankly, US car companies are very uneven, very uncertain in their status, have almost zero desirability among the yuppy clientele, and are always compromised. GM has a few good cars: The Cadillac CTS, the Corvette, and the Saturn Astra and a couple of okay cars: Cobalt SS and Malibu. Ford has no good cars in the US and lots of great ones abroad (the Mustang is the most claustrophobic thing I have ever been in and makes a terrible random commuter for an hour here and there). Chrysler, well, they deserve whatever happens to them.
@Erik- the same could be said of the US car companies- they have been too loyal to their existing clientele - mostly non-urban, straight line acceleration, power hungry, large car buyers. The only thing that stopped GM from having a Mini competitor was GM. The only thing that keeps the much better Euro Ford Focus and Mondeo from US shores is Ford.
Berto 3:47PM (6/08/2009)
As an avid user of zipcar, I think that application would be really useful and pretty neat. There have been quite a few times when I have been near a zipcar but can't book it because the website acts retarded on my phone.
Now I just need to get an iphone...
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ropeburn 4:06PM (6/08/2009)
both apps are nice for us driving/tech people.
finally a turn by turn GPS for the iPhone, sorry Garmin
looks like you got beat to the punch.
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Alex 4:11PM (6/08/2009)
I'm curious what the price will be for the Tom Tom. I wouldn't be too shocked if it was over $100.
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Fabin 6:19PM (6/08/2009)
You can buy a small TomTom - hardware and mapping software - for under $100, so I expect this to be a very low cost add-on to the iPhone. My thoughts are that they will sell the maps for sections of the US - you buy what you need (leveraging to new add-on support in the 3.0 software for the iPhone). My only concern is what happens when I am sitting in my driveway programming it - it doesn't know which way I am facing. Hopefully that issue will be addressed with some enhancements (compass) built into the next iPhone. I'd gladly upgrade all the iPhones in my family for the TomTom application if the next iPhone includes a compass.
tump 4:07AM (6/09/2009)
Fabin, the "next" iPhone (3G-S) announced today does have a compass. A pretty damned spiffy one, too. Grrrr at the upgrade price, though.
9600baud 5:34PM (6/08/2009)
how accurate will this be on non-compassed phones? Without a compass the current A-GPS gets quite lost sometimes.
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