GPS World

Tag: TomTom

  • TomTom App Center Offers Integrated Fleet Apps

    TomTom has launched a new resource to showcase the range of business applications available for integration with its fleet management technology.

    The TomTom Business Solutions App Center is a dedicated web resource, detailing a range of partner applications ready for integration with TomTom’s WEBFLEET platform. These include office solutions, such as CRM, ERP, scheduling and planning software.

    This move is at the heart of TomTom Business Solutions’ strategy to create added value for connected vehicle and fleet management solutions and expand its network of development partners.

    “The new App Center will enable companies to identify those solutions that can be swiftly deployed and integrated with their TomTom system,” said Thomas Schmidt, TomTom Business Solutions’ managing director.

    “By bringing fleet management data together with information from a host of other software systems, companies can benefit from greater efficiencies across all areas of their business — from workflow management to customer service. With our seamless integration options customers do not have to change the way they work, they simply improve it ”

    The App Center will also host in-vehicle and mobile applications. Recently, TomTom opened the Bluetooth channel on its in-vehicle LINK tracking device, enabling connectivity with a host of hardware devices for use in and around the vehicle.

    The App Center launch is designed to spark the development of more integrated business applications, further enhancing the potential of TomTom’s fleet management platform. Developer partners can work with TomTom’s API WEBLFEET.connect and LINK.connect to create new solutions.

    Detailed developer resources can be found here.

  • TomTom Congestion Index shows that Moscow is the Most Congested City

    TomTom announces its annual 2012 Congestion Index, a report comparing congestion levels in 2012 versus 2011 in 161 cities and across five continents. The Annual Congestion Index finds Moscow the most congested city.

    According to the announcement, on average, journey times in Moscow are 66% longer during non-congested periods when traffic is flowing freely, and 106% longer during morning rush hour. TomTom’s Congestion Index, including individual continent and city reports, can be found at www.tomtom.com/congestionindex.

    TomTom’s Congestion Index is a barometer of congestion in urban areas. The Index is uniquely based on real travel time data captured by vehicles driving the entire road network. TomTom’s traffic database contains over six trillion data measurements and is growing by five billion measurements every day.

    The top ten most congested cities, ranked by overall Congestion Level, in 2012 are:

    1. Moscow 66%

    2. Istanbul 55%

    3. Warsaw 42%

    4. Marseille 40%

    5. Palermo 39%

    6. Los Angeles 33%

    7. Sydney 33%

    8. Stuttgart 33%

    9. Paris 33%

    10. Rome 33%
    “TomTom’s Annual Congestion Index provides accurate insight into the world’s most congested cities,” said Ralf-Peter Schäfer, Head of Traffic at TomTom. “This detailed knowledge of the entire road network helps businesses and governments to make more informed decisions about how best to tackle, and avoid congestion. TomTom’s world-class traffic information also helps drivers get to their destinations faster. Significantly, when used on a large scale, TomTom HD Traffic has the potential to ease congestion in cities and urban areas by routing drivers away from congested areas.”

    About the TomTom Congestion Index

    The methodology used in the Congestion Index compares measured travel times during non-congested periods (free flow) with travel times in peak hours. The difference is expressed as a percentage increase in travel time. The Index takes into account local roads, arterials, as well as highways. All data is based on actual GPS based measurements.

    As well as assigning and ranking the overall congestion levels of over 161 cities around the world, the report analyses the congestion levels in cities at different times of the day and on different days of the week. TomTom analysed capital cities as well as cities with a population of over 800,000. In addition, a selection of key cities with smaller populations was included based on their regional importance to the transportation network. The purpose of adding these smaller cities was to provide a better understanding of congestion levels within individual countries.

    Individual city reports include more detailed information such as the most congested day, time delay per year for commuters and congestion levels on main and secondary roads.

  • TomTom, Telenav Extend Mapping Partnership

    TomTom, global supplier of location and navigation products and services, is extending its partnership with Telenav. TomTom will provide mapping data for Scout, Telenav’s daily personal navigator. Additionally, TomTom will remain the provider of map content for Telenav-powered Sprint applications.

    Scout, currently available on the iPhone, provides personalized information that includes navigation directions, optimal departure time and things to do at the destination. Together, Telenav and TomTom will provide up-to-date map content to Scout customers. All Sprint customers will also continue to have access to TomTom maps via Scout.

    “We believe the new contract with Telenav is an endorsement of our high quality maps,” said Anders Truelsen of TomTom. “We are pleased that Scout users will be able to experience the added value of our rich map content.”

    “Our goal is to always provide a reliable and easy-to-use service for our customers,” said Hassan Wahla of Telenav. “We are pleased to extend our agreement with TomTom because of its parallel focus and commitment to high-quality map content.”

     

  • TomTom at the ESRI International Users Conference

    GPS World magazine interviews at the ESRI show, talking with Dan Adams of TomTom.

  • TomTom Business Solutions Debuts Software Alliance Program

    TomTom Business Solutions has launched the TomTom Software Alliance Program, a software integration, marketing, and sales program that delivers additional value to commercial fleets by integrating core TomTom fleet management technology with industry leading software, the company said. TomTom already has more than 100 industry leading software partners from the office automation, CRM, ERP, and Field Service Automation sectors as well as specialized industry software for towing, service, and transportation fleets.

    TomTom’s Software Alliance Program provides easy access to TomTom Business Solutions’ set of APIs, enabling the development of integrated “over-the-road” vehicle and driver management capabilities, the company said. Leveraging these APIs and the company’s industry-leading map data, IQ routes, and HD traffic, TomTom and its partners can rapidly deploy a host of solutions including: quickest ETA vehicle assignment, real-time ETA calculations, two-way communications for dispatching and work-order flow, integrated turn-by-turn navigation, real-time GPS tracking, and driver safety features.

    “Our fleet customers are already realizing a high degree of value from TomTom’s fleet management solutions and our value-added software partners,” said Michael Geffroy, vice president, TomTom Business Solutions. “Our decision to make more of our core technology freely available to more software companies shows our commitment to partnering. We believe our new Software Alliance program will lead to greater levels of innovation and value-add to a broader range of commercial fleets.”

    “Working with TomTom, we have significantly increased the value of our solution for our customer, and this has enabled us to generate more revenue and profits to our company,” said Jim Weaver, CEO of Tracker Management. “We are very excited about exploiting the new APIs to factor real-time traffic info into our capabilities.”

    “TomTom is an essential component of our solution and path to market,” said Greg Wietholter, president of Route Solutions. “Having a partner with a clear focus on developing over-the-road management solutions allows us to focus on our core competencies. The new software alliance program gives us more opportunities to remain competitive and on the leading edge of technology.”

  • TomTom Expands Map Coverage with Latest Release of Global Maps

    TomTom announces map enhancements around the globe, delivering new coverage and features for automotive, government, enterprise and consumer customers.  TomTom maps cover more than 200 countries and territories globally, now with navigable coverage for 112 countries across 36.5 million kilometres of roads.

     

    Some of the enhancements include:
    • Addition of nearly 2.5 million Address Points in the United States to enable premium geocoding and navigation;
    • Upgraded 17,000 kilometres of AutoVias in Spain to motorway classification to improve routing and display functionality; 
    • Increased  street network coverage in Latvia to 100%, supporting street level navigation applications throughout the whole country; 
    • Voice Maps reaches 20 million names and more than 30 million voice transcriptions;
    • Addition of lane and signpost information on freeways and inner city lanes in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar enables easier, more efficient and safer routing; 
    • Introduction of new 3D landmarks for advanced visualization in India and South East Asia.
    Visit TomTom at the Esri User Conference booth #1217 to learn more about global map products. 

  • TomTom Launches Quarterly Congestion Index

    TomTom launches the first quarterly Congestion Index that accurately identifies and analyses traffic congestion in major cities across Europe. The report, initially covering 31 cities, finds Warsaw the most congested city in Europe.

     

    On average, journey times in Warsaw are 42% longer than when traffic in the city is flowing freely and 89% longer during morning rush hour. The TomTom Congestion Index, including individual city reports, can be found at www.tomtom.com/congestionindex.

    The TomTom Congestion Index is the world’s most accurate barometer of congestion in urban areas. The Index is uniquely based on real travel time data captured by vehicles driving the entire road network. TomTom’s traffic database contains over five trillion data measurements and is growing by five billion measurements every day. The overall congestion level for all the cities analysed in Europe is 24% – meaning journey times take 24% longer than when traffic is flowing freely.

    The top ten most congested European cities, ranked by overall congestion level, between January and March 2012 were:

    Warsaw, 42%
    Marseille, 41%
    Rome, 34%
    Brussels, 34%
    Paris, 32%
    Dublin, 30%
    Bradford – Leeds, 28%
    London, 27%
    Stockholm, 27%
    Hamburg, 27%
     
    “Over the years, with the help of our customers, we have built the largest and most accurate database of travel times in the world,” said Harold Goddijn; Chief Executive Officer of TomTom. “When we combine this travel database with our detailed real-time traffic information and routing technology, we can not only pin point congestion, but can guide drivers away from congested areas onto faster routes.”

    “Even when only a percentage of drivers use a different and faster route, the available capacity on the entire road network increases, which benefits all drivers,” Goddijn added.

    TomTom’s Congestion Index also compares congestion levels between January and March 2012 with the same period in 2011.  Based on this analysis, Bradford – Leeds in the UK saw the biggest increase in traffic congestion with journey times slowing significantly. Munich, Berlin, Marseille and Vienna all saw increased levels of congestion. Lisbon, Bern, Amsterdam, Milan and Rome all experienced a reduction in congestion levels.

    TomTom also launched the first quarterly Congestion Index that accurately identifies and analyzes traffic congestion in major cities across North America. The report, initially covering 26 major cities, finds Los Angeles to be the most congested city in North America. On average, journey times in Los Angeles take 33% longer than when traffic in the city is flowing freely and 77% longer during evening rush hour. 

    The Congestion Index compares travel time during non-congested periods (free flow) with travel times in peak hours. The difference is expressed as a percentage increase in travel time, representing the congestion level. The top ten most congested North American cities, ranked by overall congestion level, between January and March 2012 were:
     
    Los Angeles, 33%
    Vancouver, 30%
    Miami, 26%
    Seattle, 25%
    Tampa, 25%
    San Francisco, 25%
    Washington, 24%
    Houston, 23%
    Toronto, 22%
    Ottawa, 22%
     
    TomTom’s Congestion Index also compares congestion levels between January and March 2012 with the same period in 2011.  Based on this analysis, Seattle saw the biggest increase in traffic congestion, while Houston, Ottawa and San Francisco also saw increased levels of congestion. Conversely, Edmonton, New York, Boston, Minneapolis and Toronto experienced a reduction in congestion levels.

  • Apple Chooses TomTom for Mapping Services, Setting Up Battle with Google

    Apple signed TomTom for mapping services, and is apparently jettisoning Google Maps, to set up a potential collision between the two industry giants.  The deal between the media giant and TomTom came after Apple rolled out mapping options for its new operating system at a conference in San Francisco.

    The deal can’t come soon enough for TomTom, which provides maps for Google. However, that deal is ending soon, according to published reports.

    “Apple’s choice of TomTom is a marriage of necessity on both sides. From Apple’s perspective, they needed a worldwide, navigation-quality digital map that was not built by a competitor,” said Marc Prioleau, principal Prioleau Advisors and author of industry blog, prioleauadv.com. “That leaves only TomTom. From Tom Tom’s perspective, they needed a toehold in the mobile mapping business which was otherwise going to Google and Nokia. The partnership was needed by both parties.”

    Prioleau said it be interesting to see if the relationship involves deeper cooperation between the two companies than is typical. “That will likely determine if this is a long term arrangement,” he said. “Google obviously has a new, well-resourced competitor in Apple. I doubt they cared whether Apple chose TomTom or someone else. They are reducing Tom Tom’s role on Google Maps anyway.”

    What will be more interesting to Google will be whether Apple will share traffic and user data with TomTom to improve and maintain the maps, Prioleau said.

    Until perhaps now, Google has dominated all phases of the location and navigation industry. Google Maps software not only runs on the Android operating system, but also on Apple’s iOS platform.

    Both Apple and TomTom have been tight-lipped about the new licensing agreement. Industry observers believe that the deal will be a windfall for TomTom, though how much of one remains to be seen. TomTom, along with other navigation companies, has seen a huge drop in the sale of portable navigation devices

     

  • GPS-Enabled Sports Watch

    TomTom and Nike have unveiled a new range of the Nike+ Sportwatch, coinciding with the launch of a brand new Nike+ website. The range includes several editions and color combinations, and introduces a starter product for those new to running.

    Whether they own an original or new edition, all Nike+ Sportwatch users can now access Nike’s intelligent measure of athletic ability, Nikefuel. This converts a runner’s mileage into universal units that measure movements in a wide variety of different sports. As a result, it’s easy for people to compare their performance against that of athletes in other sports, and share their achievements with friends, the companies said.

    “Our extended range of products will be very useful to those adding running into their exercise regime. And the new NikeFuel measurement brings added motivation, allowing people to share and compare their performance with friends in other sports,” says Corinne Vigreux, managing director, TomTom.

    The new Nike+ Sportwatch colors have been chosen to match Nike’s apparel and shoe ranges. They include black/anthracite, anthracite/blue glow, and high-impact volt green. The anthracite/blue glow edition is available as a starter product, priced at €149.

  • TomTom and Nike Launch New Range of the Nike+ Sportwatch

    TomTom and Nike Launch New Range of the Nike+ Sportwatch

    Photo: Nike

    TomTom and Nike today unveil a new range of the Nike+ Sportwatch, coinciding with the launch of a brand new Nike+ website www.nikeplus.com. The range includes several editions and color combinations, and introduces a starter product for those new to running.

    Whether they own an original or new edition, all Nike+ Sportwatch users can now access Nike’s intelligent measure of athletic ability, Nikefuel. This converts a runner’s mileage into universal units that measure movements in a wide variety of different sports. As a result, it’s easy for people to compare their performance against that of athletes in other sports, and share their achievements with friends, the companies said.

    “Our extended range of products will be very useful to those adding running into their exercise regime. And the new NikeFuel measurement brings added motivation, allowing people to share and compare their performance with friends in other sports,” says Corinne Vigreux, managing director, TomTom.

    The new Nike+ Sportwatch colors have been chosen to match Nike’s apparel and shoe ranges. They include black/anthracite, anthracite/blue glow, and high-impact volt green. The anthracite/blue glow edition is available as a starter product, priced at €149.

  • TomTom Launches New Global Geocoding Web Service

    At the Geospatial World Forum, TomTom announced the launch of its high volume batch geocoding web service. The TomTom Global Geocoder enables businesses to process large amounts of data with a single click of a button and return results quickly.

    According to the announcement, geocoding is the process of converting addresses into geographic coordinates to allow location analysis. By combining geographic knowledge with business information, businesses can make smarter decisions that will lead to better products, as well as cost savings and process improvements. For example, insurance companies are relying on geocoding techniques to help set premiums and make underwriting decisions based on the physical locations of the insurance projects.

    “Geocoding is part of TomTom’s DNA. With close to 30 years of experience developing global digital maps, TomTom is known for its expertise in geocoding,” said Dan Adams, Vice President, Location and Live Services at TomTom. “By launching our global batch geocoding web service, we are providing critical spatial data to fuel our customers’ analytic engines.”

    The TomTom Global Geocoder offers the following benefits:

    • High volume results in one easy step, with no usage restrictions
    • International coverage enables one stop for all geocoding needs
    • Highly accurate, address point level matching
    • Fast results delivering hundreds of thousands of records per hour

    Visit TomTom at Geospatial World Forum booth #19 in hall 10 to learn more about the TomTom Global Geocoder, as well as other products.

  • Leap Year Confuses TomTom PNDs

    A leap-year bug caused some TomTom satellite navigation devices to malfunction, reports BBC News.

    TomTom posted an information page on its website, offering a software update. “Some customers have been experiencing GPS positioning issues since 31st March,” TomTom said. “The issue is caused by a ‘leap year’ bug in the software of the GPS receiver provided by a third party.”

    TomTom said that a problem with its global positioning system firmware had caused models worldwide to fail to identify their location, BBC News said.

    The TomTom devices affected are:

    • Start 20/25
    • Via 110/120/125
    • Via LIVE 120/125
    • GO LIVE 820/825
    • GO LIVE 1000/1005/1005 World
    • Blue & Me TomTom 2
    • TomTom Connect

    To download the firmware to their device, users will need to set up an account at the TomTom site if they don’t already have one.

    Users are discussing the issue on the TomTom message board.