email from TT: "Introducing RDS-TMC antenna"

[bobball]

Email from TomTom today, 8/30, reads:
"This new accessory from TomTom makes routing you around traffic incidents easier than ever before. Simply plug the RDS-TMC antenna into your compatible TomTom device and you're ready to go. The antenna scans FM frequencies for incoming traffic data. The RDS-TMC traffic antenna even comes with one year of traffic data free!
Learn more."

Learn more? Not very easily:
Clicking on "learn more" takes me to an accessories page which does not include the RDS-TMC antenna, and other references to it on the TT site don't show it's available in US. The feature was one reason I bought the 910 a year ago. But the traffic feature won't work through my Razr and Centennial Wireless, so I've wondered how the RDS-TMC alternative would work.

Maybe I'm missing something. Or a whole lot.

 

[Pedro2NR]

I also received this email.
It doesnt make sense.
TMC-RDS should be free.
And if it was going to start in North America, they would need a new firmwire to be update for the North America users.

 

[bobball]

Re: email from TT

Scanning their website shows references to the North American version of the product and in 2-3 places makes it clear that it's good for a year. No reference to the cost after that. That absence will cost them some sales.

But I'm confused about the whole traffic thing. Other posters in the forum indicate that the traffic warnings work, more or less well. For some, the warnings are accurate and timely, for others, they're inaccurate enough to be useless. Do these users use the cellphone linkup? Have they paid an annual subscription yet for the service?

I also gather that some users can use TT Home to add traffic information. Can all of us do that with our x10? If we can, is it limited to PCs, with Mac users of TT Home excluded?

These questions, I'm almost sure, have been asked and answered on the forum. I suppose I should have searched threads to find them.

 

[uocooper]

Looks like they sent out the newsletter before they updated their site but they do have a page for the receiver up now. It's at http://www.tomtom.com/products/accessories/accessory.php?ID=294

They are using Clear Channel's traffic data which has also partnered with Inrix.

For what it's worth, this is the same service Garmin uses and their traffic receiver for their Nuvi line is listed at $214 although you can get it for less at some internet retailers.

According the the FAQ at realtimetraffic.net, renewal subscriptions generally cost around $60/year and this is what Garmin charges to renew with their service.

 

[Nextourer]

Email from TomTom today, 8/30, reads:
"This new accessory from TomTom makes routing you around traffic incidents easier than ever before. Simply plug the RDS-TMC antenna into your compatible TomTom device and you're ready to go. The antenna scans FM frequencies for incoming traffic data. The RDS-TMC traffic antenna even comes with one year of traffic data free!
Learn more."

Learn more? Not very easily:
Clicking on "learn more" takes me to an accessories page which does not include the RDS-TMC antenna, and other references to it on the TT site don't show it's available in US. The feature was one reason I bought the 910 a year ago. But the traffic feature won't work through my Razr and Centennial Wireless, so I've wondered how the RDS-TMC alternative would work.

Maybe I'm missing something. Or a whole lot.

Well if you looked carefully, it actually does show you the cities that have RDS-TMC.

It's Cdn$140!!

 

[The Spook]

I also received this email.
It doesnt make sense.
TMC-RDS should be free.

RDS-TMC data is free in Europe, hence no subscription is required. AFAIK, this is not the case in the 'land of the free', where you must pay for everything.

That is why all other RDS-TMC receiver providers in the US also charge a subscription fee, right?

 

[berkisho]

Looks like US cost is $129 for the antenna and 12 months of service...

However the device is temporarily unavailable in the US....

 

[jwiv]

I'm going to be really curious to see which of the traffic services (RMC transmitter or Cell-phone based) gives more accurate and timely updates.

 

[berkisho]

I also received this email.
It doesnt make sense.
TMC-RDS should be free.
And if it was going to start in North America, they would need a new firmwire to be update for the North America users.

This link shows that firmware v6.522 (for 510/910) supports RDS traffic receiver for US...

 

[Balthazar_B]

RDS-TMC data is free in Europe, hence no subscription is required. AFAIK, this is not the case in the 'land of the free', where you must pay for everything.

That is why all other RDS-TMC receiver providers in the US also charge a subscription fee, right?

Wrong. The Navigon 7100 apparently offers lifetime free traffic via ClearChannel/Inrix.

 

[GAW]

traffic receiver

They had advertised on their website that the service would be free beginning last year - period. The only cost was to be the receiver purchase. I would suggest that we all work together and try to hold them to it.

 

[The Spook]

Wrong. The Navigon 7100 apparently offers lifetime free traffic via ClearChannel/Inrix.

What does the 7100 cost then? TMC subscriptions must be priced into the unit because ClearChannel charge annual subscription fees for the data. Navigon must be covering that cost in the unit price.

As I said, there is no free RDS-TMC data in the US. Whether or not manufacturers of receivers pass the subscription cost onto consumers is another matter entirely.

 

[The Spook]

They had advertised on their website that the service would be free beginning last year - period. The only cost was to be the receiver purchase.

Did they advertise this on the US version of the site? The service is free in Europe, the only cost being the receiver.

 

[dooley]

TomTom RDS

This might help clear things up.

http://www.tomtom.com/page.php?Page=rds-tmc

TomTom has a comparison of the traffic info. They have a footnote regarding the TMC-RDS in the US. States it comes with a 1 year subscription. Free in the UK though.

 

[The Spook]

They have a footnote regarding the TMC-RDS in the US. States it comes with a 1 year subscription.

Yep, because ClearChannel charge a subscription fee to receive their data

Free in the UK though.

It's is free everywhere in Europe (that has a TMC service, 12 countries I think), not just the UK!

 

[GAW]

They had advertised it free here for a long time.

Now the website says it will not be free in the US. Might want to consider a consumer complaint in states like California that take these things seriously. This is one of the reasons I and others purchased the TT to begin with last year.

 

[tomtom2338]

how about complaining about how we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this rds/tmc to be released and now they tease us by putting it up but saying its unavailable.
geez tomtom

 

[Bontrager]

From what I've read elsewhere, the EU pays for it by taxing your income. It's free market in the US (they don't tax us) so it's on a subscription basis.

I've never seen any advertisement saying "it's free for life." Free doesn't imply free forever.

FWIW, you might want to read about how slow and useless some of the traffic data is. Garmin is moving some of their higher end devices to MSN traffic services (a competing service) that often is better and more accurate than ClearChannel.

 

[The Spook]

It's free market in the US (they don't tax us)..

You don't pay any taxes in the US?? No income tax? No tax on vehicles or road use? It sounds like paradise!!

...MSN traffic services (a competing service) that often is better and more accurate than ClearChannel.

Actually, I think that Clearchannel supply all of the traffic data for MSN Direct. They also own all of the transmitters that send out the MSN data. Therefore, it is probable that the only difference is that there is worse coverage with MSN Direct than RDS-TMC. I believe that the source data is the same.

 

[uocooper]

It's finally actually available.

Taken from Clubtomtom.com

How much?
$129.95

Where can I get it?
Check the Store Locator on the TomTom homepage, or head over to the webstore.

Where does it get its traffic data?
The receiver gets data from the Clear Channel traffic FM data feed. Here’s a map of all the areas where the RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver can provide incident data

Is the traffic data free?
Each RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver comes with a one-year subscription to the traffic data. It will be $59.95 per year thereafter.

Is the Traffic Receiver locked to one device?
No. The RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver can be moved from device-to-device without affecting your subscription. There is an internal timestamp in the receiver that is activated when you first plug it in, however, the TomTom device does not affect this at all.

With which TomTom devices is it compatible?
GO 720
GO 910
GO 510
ONE XL
ONE 3rd Edition