The navigation gear maker strikes a deal that could slow competition from mobile phones loaded with GPS…
“Google, the internet search giant with interests in areas ranging from word-processing software to mobile telephony, intends to conquer yet another new territory — the car…”
Amsterdam — TomTom, the Dutch-based navigation device maker, said on Wednesday it is teaming up with Internet search leader Google Inc. so users can find and send business addresses directly from the Google Maps Web site to TomTom devices.
“TomTom, the largest satellite navigation group, with ten million users, said that it was to allow them to download details from Google’s online mapping to their cars’ sat-nav systems.”
“This cooperation represents a major step for TomTom in meeting the growing demands of our customers for personalized content for their TomTom devices,” said Eric Pite, vice president for product management at TomTom.
“The GPS maker says that users of its service will be able to send business information from Google Maps to its devices through its “Send To” feature.”
Google’s tie-in with TomTom is not bringing the Mountain View, Calif. Company’s mapping software to the device, but is rather giving users an easier way of navigating rather than having to go through multiple menus on the device itself to locate a destination.
Google Maps, the market leader, includes the locations of tens of thousands of retailers, restaurants and other enterprises throughout the UK on a database that it says is growing by the hour. Businesses can either pay to advertise their location on the system or input data free.
Google, which says that its mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally useful,” said that the tie-up with TomTom was an important step in making Google Maps a “one-stop-shop for finding all the local information and directions that people need.”
In delivering the new feature, TomTom said it is leveraging the “send to GPS” option on Google Maps. The option uses satellite transmissions in finding and mapping to locations on the ground.
Clicking on Google’s GPS option after locating a business address sends the information to TomTom Home, the company’s desktop application for managing, updating, and sending data via a PC or Apple Mac to a variety of TomTom devices, including its car navigation systems.
Once the data is stored in Home, it can be transferred to a TomTom device via Bluetooth or wired connection. People can view the location on a map displayed in the TomTom device, which can provide directions to the address.
“The location can also be saved for a future trip.”
Drivers can then navigate to their new destination, as well as view the location on the map of the TomTom device or save it as a favorite on the device for later use.
“We are constantly working to make our maps more useful so they become a one-stop shop for finding all the local information and directions that people need,” Giorgio Scherl, product manager at Google, said in a statement.
The tie-up would for instance allow TomTom users to plan a city trip by searching for accommodation, restaurants or museums using Google Maps on their computer and then transfer the places they want to visit to their TomTom device.
TomTom’s devices do include so-called “points of interest” — such as restaurants, petrol stations and parking garages — but if a user has not regularly bought map upgrades, such data can become out of date.
Last month, TomTom launched in Europe a gadget called “TomTom One XL High Definition Traffic” that delivers drivers up-to-date traffic conditions. The information is delivered to the in-car device over a cellular network that uses Vodafone’s telephone network.
The service, to be launched with Vodafone in the UK early next year, is intended to be used solely for sending traffic updates, partly due to bandwidth costs, but could later be expanded to include other information.
TomTom, which is one of the world’s largest makers of navigation systems, has announced plans to buy digital data map provider Tele Atlas NV for $4.2 billion.
“The device is available in the Netherlands, and the company plans to make it available in other countries starting early next year.”
For TomTom, the arrangement could help stave off increasing competition from cell phone makers who are starting to add GPS to their devices. In October, Nokia paid $8.1 billion to acquire digital mapmaker Navteq.
Navteq provides map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation systems and Internet-based mapping applications. Nokia also owns Traffic.com, providing traffic information and content to consumers.
TomTom is seeking more ways for customers to use and improve its devices, including allowing them to correct map errors or mark road works, at a time when mobile-phone makers such as Nokia are integrating global positioning system chips into more of their handsets.
Harold Goddijn, chief executive, is unruffled by the threat of GPS-enabled phones replacing TomToms on car windscreens. “What you see on mobile phones will be complementary and not replace personal navigation devices,” he said last month.
Last month the Dutch company emerged as the victor in a bidding war against US rival Garmin for control of mapmaker Tele Atlas. The deal is seen as strategically important after Nokia’s purchase of Navteq, the other big digital mapmaker.
Nokia’s decision to buy Navteq, analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates said in a recent interview with eWEEK, is not only a pre-emptive strike against fellow handset competitors such as Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericcson, but also against Google, which had been rumored to be interested in acquiring Navteq.
Gold predicted that LBS (location-based services) will be a “fundamental service offering for a wide array of mobile needs. LBS will be such a fundamental enabler that all search companies, entertainment suppliers and especially mobile marketing firms will have to include it in their infrastructure.”
TomTom expects a substantial number of devices sold next year to be online and receiving real-time traffic information and eventually other services over wireless networks.
These services could help TomTom fend off a challenge from handset makers such as Nokia, which are increasingly building global positioning (GPS) technology into phones, promising to turn a cellphone into a navigation device.
TomTom shares, which tumbled on Tuesday after announcing the equity issue to help fund its purchase of digital map supplier Tele Atlas, were up 2.4 percent at 60.40 euros by 3:03 a.m. EST, compared with a 0.7 percent rise on the DJ Stoxx technology index.
“It said it would continue to explore partnerships with third parties to expand the personalization options it offers.”
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. A spokesman for TomTom said that the group had considered collecting the information for itself but had opted against “spending millions” in favor of “using the information that is out there already.”
Both the Tele Atlas acquisition and the Google partnership are designed to bolster a central plank of TomTom’s strategy — that of tailoring maps to individuals. Personalized information is seen as key if TomTom is to maintain its lead over rivals offering lower-cost systems.
Through the Tele Atlas deal, first announced in July, TomTom said that it hoped to transform its users into an army of automated surveyors that will continuously improve and update maps and allow new features such as daily map updates and “intelligent routing” services.
TomTom said that it would explore “partnerships with third parties to expand the personalization options and to increase the ease of use of navigation”. It already has a partnership with Enjoy England, the domestic marketing arm of VisitBritain, the national tourist office for Britain.
More information on the service can be found here: http://www.tomtom.com/page/tomtom-on-google-maps?Lid=4.