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New TomTom App for iPhone/iPad available in iTunes

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

TomTom South East Asia V1.10 is now available in the iTunes store. Priced at US$69.99, existing V1.9 users can download the update for free.

TomTom App for iPhone/iPad South East Asia V1.10 available now on iTunes.

The latest version of the TomTom App integrates TomTom navigation with social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter – allowing users to navigate to friends, places and events more easily.

First previewed during CES 2012 in January, the TomTom navigation app for iPhone and iPad fully supports social networks as a source for turn-by-turn navigation.

The new version automatically plans routes based on information from Facebook events and places.

Additionally, drivers can use the app to share their destination and arrival time on Twitter, Facebook, by email and by SMS text.

The app offers regional coverage and the update includes the latest maps of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Brunei.

Tags:app, GPS, iPad, iPhone, maps, navigation, Southeast Asia, TomTom
Posted in App, Availability, Gadgets, GPS, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Prices, Software, Specifications, TomTom | 2 Comments »

Visit the Amazon on Google Street View

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

Ever fancied taking an adventure tour of the Amazon River to explore its nature and culture? Now you can – right from your armchair in the comfort of your home.

Armchair explorers can now trek through the forests of the Amazon Basin from the comfort of their home.

In conjunction with World Forest Day on 21 March, Google has brought more than 50,000 photos of the Amazon Basin onto your computer in the form of immersive, 360-degree panoramic views within Google Street View.

Spot a critter while cruising down the Amazon river.

Cruise down Amazon river, trek through the jungles, try to spot a forest critter, or peer into life in the local community.

Many areas of the Amazon, including Rio Negro Reserve, are under the protection of the Brazilian government with restricted access to the public.

Many of us would therefore not have the chance to visit these areas even if we wanted to.

Google’s photographers were invited by Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), the local non-profit conservation organisation to collect ground-level images of the rivers, forest and communities in the Rio Negro Reserve.

Check out the depths of the Amazon via Google Maps Street View.

These images are now available in Google Maps via its Street View feature.

The images were collected by a Street View trike, and a tripod camera with a fisheye lens—typically used to capture imagery of business interiors —to capture both the natural landscape and the local communities.

The apparatus allows access to rugged terrain inaccessible to the usual Google Street cars.

A similar trike was used to capture 360-degree street-level images of iconic landmarks in Singapore last year.

Tags:adventure, Amazon, forest, Google, maps, outdoors, photos, river, Street View
Posted in Google, Internet, Launch, Photos | No Comments »

Explore Singapore’s most iconic sites on Google Street View

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Google has launched, today, a new set of 360-degree panoramic views of Singapore’s most iconic sites, including the Singapore Flyer, Hwa Par Villa, and Fort Canning Park.

At some locations, like in public parks and the Singapore Flyer here, Google Street View brings you right into the place.

These sites were chosen by Singaporeans in a poll jointly organised with the Singapore Tourism Board, of which spots they wanted to see on Street View.

Street View provides 360-degree street-level images in Google Maps to allow users to view and navigate through historic buildings, parks and gardens.

In areas where Street View is available, you can see the images on Google Maps (on a PC or an Internet-enabled mobile) by zooming into the lowest level, or by dragging the orange “Pegman” icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street.

Google first launched Street View in Singapore in 2008, and since then new places have been added while images have been regularly updated.

Google says it has gone to lengths to safeguard privacy.

Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads. And in the case of the partner program collections, it has permission from the landmark to drive and collect imagery.

Street View also uses technology that blurs both faces and licence plates. In addition, any user can easily flag images for removal that he or she considers inappropriate by clicking on “Report a problem.”

The new images, collected by a Street View trike, allow a viewer to intimately explore the nooks and crannies of popular Singaporean spots. The trike is a mechanical masterpiece comprising three bicycle wheels, a mounted Street View camera, and a specially decorated box containing image-collecting gadgetry.

It has the same capability as the Street View cars for collecting street-level imagery but is specially designed to help Google go to places less accessible by cars, such as historic landmarks and coastal paths.

Street View first launched in 2007 and is currently available in more than 30 countries and 100 metropolitan areas worldwide, including large areas of the U.S., Australia, Japan, France, Italy and Spain.

The new images feature the following Singaporean favorites:

Tags:Google, maps, Singapore, Street View
Posted in Google, Launch, Software, Tech news | No Comments »

TomTom maps extends coverage to 35 million km

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

TomTom has added some 400,000 kilometres of coverage globally to its maps. This extends its navigable map database to 35.2 million kilometres of roads in 104 countries with 3.4 billion people worldwide.

TomTom has enhanced its road network database and improved key features throughout Europe.

In Western Europe, 74,000 km of roads were added or realigned, including routes that are being built to accommodate the London 2012 Summer Olympics. A new low emission zone feature was added throughout “With the latest map release we are adding significant coverage in emerging countries like Brazil, Russia and India, … to a truly global offering” said Maarten van Gool, Managing Director of TomTom Licensing.Western Europe to support environmental driving. In Eastern Europe, over 36,000 km of roads were updated in key markets in Russia, Poland and Turkey.

In the Americas, TomTom expanded coverage in growth markets like Brazil where over 100,000 km of roads were realigned – for increased accuracy – and 600,000 Points of Interest were added, ensuring users can easily find businesses, places and people.

Users now benefit from features including specialized lane information and back road designation, which will lead to safer navigation. Having an up-to-date postal information available in the US and Canada is especially important for Enterprise and Business customers.

TomTom Licensing is the division of TomTom responsible for delivering relevant, fresh and high-quality digital maps, and dynamic content, to a wide range of business customers. Its product portfolio includes digital maps covering over 200 countries and territories globally, as well as real-time and historical traffic products.

This latest release resulted in an Address Point uplift totaling more than 1.5 million throughout Asia Pacific, enabling more accurate routing and geocoding in this important region.

3D Landmarks, Landmark Icons, 2D City Maps and Junction Views were also updated, resulting in better visualization with a more realistic map display.

Tags:GPS, maps, PND, TomTom
Posted in Gadgets, GPS, Specifications, TomTom | No Comments »

TomTom launches redesigned maps

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

TomTom launches today the new version of all its online maps, after having redesigned them for easier use. The new maps are more detailed than before, with enhanced colouring and shading, as well as clearer labeling of cities, districts and roads.

New online maps from TomTom.

The new TomTom online maps offer a number of improvements:

Location names are now clearer to view.
Country names are depicted in the local language.
The format of names and numbers around roads and cities has been optimised and localised.
The map now features extra details such as bridges, tunnels and even ferry names.

Map readability has also been improved with the introduction of 2.5D rendering, allowing the user to recognise the environment easily. The colours have been chosen to make the routing as clear and easy to understand as possible.

Check the maps out at www.routes.tomtom.com.

Tags:maps, TomTom
Posted in Gadgets, GPS, Launch, TomTom | No Comments »

Unexpected loss from TomTom as portable navigation devices lose popularity

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Europe’s largest maker of portable navigation devices reported a surprise second-quarter loss after writing down the value of assets to reflect a declining market for those devices.

The company reported a net loss of 489 million euros compared with a profit of 34 million euros a year earlier. The average forecast of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was net income of 10.7 million euros.

Portable navigation devices from TomTom The company took an impairment charge of 512 million euros in the quarter “reflecting the reduced outlook” for the personal navigation device market. Of the charge, 473 million euros related to goodwill. Sales decreased 13 percent to 314 million euros.

Earlier on June 27, TomTom had reduced its full-year profit and sales forecasts, saying U.S. demand for its devices had declined faster than anticipated and that consumers were opting for cheaper navigation systems.

Amsterdam-based TomTom was founded in 1991 and listed in 2005 After the statement, TomTom’s stock plunged 27 percent the day after. Its shares have declined 54 percent this year, reducing the market value of the Amsterdam-based company value to 812 million euros. Its U.S. rival Garmin has gained 5.6 percent this year.

Built-in car navigation from TomTom Maaike Noordhuis of Bloomberg reports that TomTom, which competes with Garmin and Google, aims to get more revenue from maps, services and built-in systems in cars amid a slowdown in sales of portable navigation devices.

Tags:Garmin, Google, GPS, maps, PND, TomTom
Posted in Figures, Gadgets, GPS, Tech news, TomTom | No Comments »

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