By Chris Scott Barr
Last month TomTom announced their first GPS app for the iPhone, which weighed in at $99. That’s one of the more expensive pieces of software out there, though on-track with some of the other GPS offerings. When I wrote about it, I expressed my disinterest in such an application due to its high price and the fact that it would be a huge drain on your phone’s battery. Sure, TomTom made mention of a Car Kit, which is basically a mounting kit for the phone which also serves to charge it. The real question was just how much this would cost you.
Well we finally have the answer to that question, and it’s just plain ridiculous. TomTom has announced that the kit will be available next month for the price of $120. To give you an idea, you can purchase the TomTom ONE XL for the exact same price. This device has a larger display (4.3-inches compared to the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen) and as far as I can tell, all of the same features that are included in the iPhone app. So at the same price it might be a toss-up for some people, as having a full-fledged GPS application on the iPhone might be appealing.
Here’s where it gets really fun though. That $120 price does not include the software. That’s right, you’ll still need to pay $99 for the application. I really don’t know who was in charge of this over at TomTom, but they should be sacked. They’re offering all of the functionality of a $120 device for $220, and you have to supply the most important piece of hardware. I love my iPhone and all, but there’s nothing that could convince me to drop the cash on this grossly overpriced pair of products.
[ TomTom ] VI A [ CrunchGear ]
You know, this is the first tech review blog to address the absurd Tom Tom pricing that struck me the very first time they mentioned what it was going to be.
You'd logically think that you'd use your own processing hardware for a product in order to save money. I guess the folks at Tom Tom see it differently. I suppose it's as if Viewsonic or Samsung decided to market a $300 converter box that lets you use your computer with any television instead of a monitor!
Why is anyone shocked at TomTom for basically copying the Apple pricing model of selling something for three times its worth? Maybe TomTom should have hired some d-bag in jeans and a black turtleneck to hype the product for 12 months prior to the release.
Why is anyone shocked at TomTom for basically copying the Apple pricing model of selling something for three times its worth? Maybe TomTom should have hired some d-bag in jeans and a black turtleneck to hype the product for 12 months prior to the release.