TomTom’s IQ Routes Feature Blends Social Networking to Avoid Bad Traffic

TomTom, a leading provider of portable navigation devices, announced several new aggressively priced features that used to only be available on the higher end TomTom Go series. The new TomTom ONE 140 series and TomTom XL 340 series incorporate TomTom’s innovative IQ Routes Technology and Advanced Lane Guidance feature. TomTom also announced a deal with TrafficCast International to provide its Go 740 Live users with continuously updated traffic, weather conditions, and nearby gas prices. TomTom has been buffeted of late with financial woes and a lawsuit settlement with Microsoft, so these developments are welcome news for the company.

While these announcements at first blush may seem fairly pedestrian and obvious for a GPS manufacturer, it is how TomTom is implementing them that is actually quite revolutionary. TomTom’s Go 740 Live device is the company’s first two-way wireless device launched in the U.S. that will combine TrafficCast’s real-time road speed data with near real-time GPS data from TomTom’s network of GO 740 LIVE devices on the road. TomTom’s powerful IQ Routes technology, also available on the One 140 and XL 340 series, will use data pooled from its users to provide up-to-the-minute traffic speed and incident reports, and intelligently re-route drivers to less congested roads. In effect, it’s social networking on wheels.

"IQ Routes allows drivers to take those routes that only well-informed locals know,” said Jocelyn Vigreux, president of TomTom Inc. “It takes away the stress of not knowing where to go and when you will arrive, as well as gives you a faster route in up to 35% of all cases. In addition, our Advanced Lane Guidance feature gives drivers the information they need to drive more safely and more confidently when dealing with complex road junctions."

IQ Routes Technology uses time of day and day of week historical traffic data to determine the best routes while driving. It anonymously gathers speed profiles from millions of participating TomTom users and also adjusts for factors such as traffic lights, tools, and windy roads. Traffic delays are announced and also displayed on the screen along with the estimated time saved and new arrival time.

The Advanced Lane Guidance feature helps you prepare for tricky highway junctions, where the position of bridges, tolls, or off-ramps require you to be in a certain lane to safely navigate the road.

These announcements give TomTom much-needed ammunition against rivals such as Garmin, and also help the personal navigation device (PND) category stay relevant against encroachments by cell-phone applications that replicate what a PND does, albeit with less features and a smaller screen. The iPhone has several apps such as its built-in “Maps for GPS” and Verizon Wireless uses technology from Networks in Motion to power it VZ Navigator service. While cell phones are not purpose-built to do what PND does, they do give a good amount of utility without having to purchase a separate device, and they are always on you.

We will be following these developments to see if TomTom’s service, and others like it, catches on with mainstream consumers. The two-way and social networking aspects of these devices have a lot of potential. While data is currently anonymized, it would not be such a stretch for TomTom to allow users to opt-in to a service to tag, rate, and share points of interest and secret short-cuts. Heck I could even see them roll out mobile games using GPS data, maybe even a mobile dating service based on travel location and user profile mapping. The point is, the genie is out of the bottle now— with two-way technology and the ability for users to become self-aware as a powerful network, “Internet rules” now apply. And who knows where that might lead.

The TomTom ONE ($180 for the 140 and $200 for the 140s) and TomTom XL ($230 for the 340 and $250 for the 340s) devices will be in retailers across the United States and Canada in April 2009. The Go 740 Live will retail for $400, and will waive the first three months of the $10 service fee.

In addition to the above mentioned features, the new TomTom ONE and TomTom XL devices come with:
• Full maps of North America, now including Mexico.
• Seven million points of interest, with much more information on restaurants, hotels, gas stations, etc.
• TomTom Map Share technology, with the ability to make map improvements and share with others free of charge.
• TomTom Help Me! menu and safety features, giving users direct access to safety and emergency services information.
• TomTom’s newest user menu with an elegant interface with optimized icons for easier navigation.
• Award-winning Fold and Go EasyPort® mount, that easily folds to fit in any bag or shirt pocket.
• TomTom HOME, a free desktop application to keep users’ devices up-to-date.