LAS VEGAS—Further proof that the stand-alone GPS market is still alive and kicking, TomTom today unveiled the GO 2505 M LIVE, a fully loaded, connected GPS that includes Google Local Search, lifetime free map updates, and the company's HD Traffic service.
Let's be clear: this is the next generation of GPS devices. If you're stuck in traffic, with no apparent accident, the GO 2505 M LIVE will report that to other GO 2505 M LIVE devices every two minutes, so others won't have to suffer the same fate you do.
Retailing for $349 starting mid-year, the TomTom GO 2505 M LIVE features a 5-inch capacitive glass touch display, so you can pinch to zoom and swipe between screens like you would on a smartphone. GPRS-based LIVE services, powered by AT&T, includes weather reports and fuel prices, along with Google Local Search for nearby points of interest including restaurants, stores, and tourist attractions. The device comes with a free trial subscription to LIVE services, but the length of that trial hadn't been determined at press time.
Connected traffic
In 2006, Dash Navigation announced a connected in-car device that could talk to various services, including other devices on the network. But it pulled out of the hardware business in 2008, eventually being acquired by RIM, where it has languished ever since.
The GO 2505 M LIVE is the first device to include TomTom's HD Traffic service, which the company claims offers the highest accuracy available, covering 6 million miles of road and delivering updates every two minutes. To compare, the RDS-TMC, which provides traffic information to most GPS devices covers just 500,00 miles of roads and delivers updates only every 15 minutes.
HD Traffic has been available for some time in Europe, and the technology is a year or two ahead of what's offered in the U.S., TomTom executives have said.
For now, however, TomTom won't use the traffic data collected by the GO 2505 M LIVE devices to improve the other traffic reports sent to non-HD Traffic devices, a spokeswoman said.
Other features include voice recognition for hands-free text entry and an integrated Bluetooth module for hands-free cell phone calls.
The company also announced the mid-range VIA Series, which includes four models: the 4.3-inch-screen VIA 1405 and 1435, and the 5-inch VIA 1505 and 1535. The XX35 models include voice recognition and hands-free Bluetooth calling. All four can be purchased with lifetime map updates and/or lifetime traffic, but the VIA series does not offer the GO LIVE's HD traffic service. Also, the displays on the VIA devices are resistive touch screens, not capacitive. Exact pricing for the four models was not announced, but the series will be available mid-year and start at $169.