TomTom Go 720 new firmware 7.221

[dhn]

Thanks DHN, I see you used my quote

I did??

Don't know where but I normally attribute quotes when I steal, uh, use them.

 

[TwinTom]

I just downloaded firmware 7.221 to my 720 purchased on 8/30 and installed the support_asr.dat file as documented. I have the 7.05 maps installed and found as expected that the voice recognition works, but only for house numbers.

I called TomTom support and went through the usual discussion - voice recognition is not supported on the 720, yada, yada, yada - and asked for an extension of the "latest map guarantee" on the basis that voice recognition works whether they want to admit it or not; and the fact is, I can't purchase the maps via their site - the North American map doesn't show up for sale - and when I try to buy throught TomTom Home the map is priced only in Euros. So I don't really see how I can buy the map right now even if I wanted to.

TomTom support steadfastly refused to provide the 7.10 maps for me. It's been "more than 30 days".

I was going to buy a Garmin but decided on TomTom after reading about all the controversy surrounding maps and updates with Garmin. Bought the 720 immediately after release - paying $500 for a device which is now on sale all over the place for $350. Very disappointing support provided by TomTom.

 

[ddbenz]

One thing i must point out,when you call tt customer service,do not discuss anything about this hack or tweak thats been done to get the voice recognition going,just tell them how displeased you are about not being able to get the map update because you bought your 720 too early.It does not help the situation.I called this morning and told them how unhappy i was and they were willing to let me download it

 

[mikemike2]

Okay, I got voice recognition to work following the advice on this board. I downloaded 7.1 to a 2 gig sd card in the TomTom, and then erased 7.05 map and copied in the 7.1 map. Then I deleted everything on the 2 gig card so I can use it again in my mp3 player.

One thing I would find very useful is to use voice recognition to dial my phone which is connected by bluetooth. This seems natural, and I'm suprised its not implemented since the system is already in place. Also I would like to be able to navigate to favourites with VR by just giving them a name, instead of having to say and confirm City, then street, then number.

Obviously 7.1 is designed specifically to support voice recognition for North America. I wonder if TomTom will officially turn this feature on? I will be very cautious in the meantime with any updates which could potentially disable this feature.

 

[rkrmpg]

TomTom support steadfastly refused to provide the 7.10 maps for me. It's been "more than 30 days".

The entire process of the "latest map guarantee" is missed my LOTS of people by having the small print saying "valid for 30 days..." I think they should be a little more up from with that little disclaimer but I think they should also be a little more generous increase this time to pehaps 60 or even 90 days for the "latest map"

I am sure they have it set only to 30 days because this one of the ways they can get recurring revenue by having people buy the upgrade if they release one. But it also pisses people off who have had their TT for 2 or 3 months and in my case have lots of missing streets that have been there for well over a year.

Lets say that you wanted to spend the approximate $75 USD to upgrade to the latest map. How can I be sure that the streets I travel that are not on my current version of the TomTom map are on the new one? How about providing some release notes to give a high level overview of what may or may not have been added. This would be extremely lengthy but the mapping folks would have this data.

I called TomTom support today to see if I could possibly get the "latest map"
As I expected they said no when I asked if I could get the lasted map even though I have had my TomTom for 3 months. I asked the support guy if the 7.10 US/Canada maps was worth purchasing and he said "probably not...perhaps in a year".

The TomTom US web site needs allot of work. Their CRM software RightNow that runs the support part of their web site has the ability to do allot more then what they are doing.

Would it not make people feel a little better about their TomTom purchase if you had a guy from TomTom on these boards and making a comments here and there? How about TomTom putting link to this site on their site. TiVo does it with tivocommunity.com which is not run by TiVo. TiVo has a couple of people who respond to threads on the forums too.

I am sure their are lots of folks who don't know about tomtomforums.com who have questions about the TomTom and they cant find answers on TomToms web site.

Sorry for the ramble and somewhat off topic comments, but I feel TomTom is really not interested in their NA consumers.

 

[neojohn]

hi rkrmpg
actually tomtom.com has a link to tomtomforums.com...
it is seen at their links section... the last one is tomtomforums.
but i think i also have a feeling like you said.... they are not very interested in their NA customers

 

[MTSanch]

Mac & TomTom

I'm new to TomTom (and GPS). I bought a One 3rd edition, took it back, bought a Garmin StreetPilot c550, took it back, and ended up getting the TT G720 for $350. I've had it for 24 hours now and am very pleased to see this hack! Now the only differences between the 720 and the 920 are Enhanced Positioning, Western Europe map, and the (silly) remote control. BTW you should all be aware, while it is not illegal, it is a hack! You should NOT discuss this with TT tech support as if it gets out beyond the techs to management, they will very likely (and justifiably) disable VR on the 720. I would think this goes without saying, but it sounds like several people have actually done this.

I have everything updated except the maps, and that is because I am running TomTom Home v1.6.02 on my MacBook. Apparently Home v2 is not Mac compatible, and that is the only version of Home that works with the latest map guarantee (you can no longer download the latest map directly from the website). Does anyone know of a solution for Mac users?

Also, do any of you know if there are places where you can download additional POI's? This is the biggest TT weakness in my book.

 

[Timon]

I'm still waiting for my 920T, won't be here until after XMas but I only cost $530 , but even-though others can get voice recognition to work the 920 still has more to offer such as larger memory, Enhanced Positioning, Western Europe map, and as MTSanch said "the (silly) remote control". In addition I don't have to worry about an upgrade removing voice recognition.

Rant on

I'll use a hack as much as the next guy but I think is a bit bold for some to call support asking for map updates for a 720 because voice recognition does not work and then have the temerity to complain when support won't respond. A hack is a hack and one should not complain if it does not work the way you want, support won't help or it gets removed.
​

rant off

BTW, the "(silly) remote control" would not be so silly if it could be mounted to the steering wheel like some head unit remotes. That would be cool as you could control the 920 with your thumb and with both hands on the wheel.

 

[sonjohn1]

Why did I buy a 920T

Can someone tell me why I returned my 720 and bought a 920T? I'm begining to suspect that the folks at TomTom might be a bit intellectually challenged. Between the bad software updates and the manipulative marketing ploys I'm starting to think that maybe I should have bought a Garmin.
John

 

[tundra914]

Can someone tell me why I returned my 720 and bought a 920T? I'm begining to suspect that the folks at TomTom might be a bit intellectually challenged. Between the bad software updates and the manipulative marketing ploys I'm starting to think that maybe I should have bought a Garmin.
John

sonjohn1
I have a Tomtom 720 and a Garmin 360. I hate the garmin with a passion. Its almost completely useless here in wash DC/Virginia area. It gets lost constantly and gives me turn instructions whenever Im passing the turn (city streets only). Always late at giving turn instructions, I end up having to wait for the reroute, which takes a few seconds to recalculate. The tomtom gives me directions earlier and more than once, which is a huge plus. Also if I screw up and miss my turn, coz I was not listening, it automatically reroutes immediately, no waiting. I leave the Garmin in my wifes car since she says she doesnt need it, but when I drive her car, I need to bring the very trusty tomtom, because the Garmin has very poor time delivery of instructions. I see it as the Garmin relies on Tomtom for instructions. Check out some of the garmin forums, this is one of the major complaints from other garmin users. And if anyone drives with a garmin near the woodrow wilson bridge in virginia....good luck on finding your way around, it does not know where its at and will keep saying "recalculating" for a good 10 to 15 minutes.

 

[Woody1961]

Weather Dates Fixed

Not to take away from the voice discussion, but it looks like the latest firmware fixed the weather date bug too...

Woody

 

[Calavera]

To Tundra914

...
What worked for me was to restore my backup, and then install the new map file to a 2 GB SD card (which is really only 1.9 something in size - why?). I could then switch between the two maps.
...

The problem here lies in the difference in the definition of a gigabyte. Most companies use the SI definition of a gigabyte to be literally one billion (10^9) bytes. This is what you see listed on the front of the package.

Computers, however, are based entirely on powers of two, so they represent one gigabyte as 2^30 (1024^3 = 2^30 ≈ 1.074x10^9). This means that for each GB listed on the package, your computer will only see that as about 0.93GB of actual memory.

This is why you see a discrepancy between manufacturer specced storage and the amount of storage your computer reads. Don't listen when people try to tell you it's "file system overhead" or anything like that.

As a Computer Engineer, I can't help but think how much easier it would be to understand computers if we'd been born with 8 fingers and toes (or 16!) instead of 10. It would be much easier to think in a base 2 (binary) system if we'd been raised on something similar like octal or hexadecimal.

Sorry for the long-winded rant, just browsing the forums trying to learn what I need to know for when I get a TomTom (hopefully) for X-mas, and I thought I'd clear up some confusion on this issue, since it's a pretty common one.


Back on topic: I think it's fantastic that the new update supports voice commanding the unit, but can anyone confirm that it does or does not fix the other issues people seem to be having with the squealing noise people on the receiving end of a phone call are having when using the handsfree bluetooth? This is one feature of the unit I'm very interested in, since I hate wearing a headset and it's illegal to use a cellphone while driving in NY.

 

[dhn]

Back on topic: I think it's fantastic that the new update supports voice commanding the unit, but can anyone confirm that it does or does not fix the other issues people seem to be having with the squealing noise people on the receiving end of a phone call are having when using the handsfree bluetooth? This is one feature of the unit I'm very interested in, since I hate wearing a headset and it's illegal to use a cellphone while driving in NY.

As a computer engineer, you know the argument about whether it's better to keep a computer on 24/7 or shut it off when not in use. Well, similar issue with the squeaking issue ... there are many on the forums that feel this is a hardware problem, not a software problem.

 

[tundra914]

The problem here lies in the difference in the definition of a gigabyte. Most companies use the SI definition of a gigabyte to be literally one billion (10^9) bytes. This is what you see listed on the front of the package.

Computers, however, are based entirely on powers of two, so they represent one gigabyte as 2^30 (1024^3 = 2^30 ≈ 1.074x10^9). This means that for each GB listed on the package, your computer will only see that as about 0.93GB of actual memory.

This is why you see a discrepancy between manufacturer specced storage and the amount of storage your computer reads. Don't listen when people try to tell you it's "file system overhead" or anything like that.

As a Computer Engineer, I can't help but think how much easier it would be to understand computers if we'd been born with 8 fingers and toes (or 16!) instead of 10. It would be much easier to think in a base 2 (binary) system if we'd been raised on something similar like octal or hexadecimal.
.

Thanks Calvera for the info, I dont work in the computer engineering section like you do and I dont claim to be an expert, but I do deal with Long haul communications like routers, switches, ATM, multiplexers etc etc. so I do have an understanding of what your talking about. I totally agree with you that theres math involved, but I got my info from the SanDisk website explaining overhead on an SD card. http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/Categories/Products/sd_capacitydisclaimer.pdf

 

[Calavera]

Thanks Calvera for the info, I dont work in the computer engineering section like you do and I dont claim to be an expert, but I do deal with Long haul communications like routers, switches, ATM, multiplexers etc etc. so I do have an understanding of what your talking about. I totally agree with you that theres math involved, but I got my info from the SanDisk website explaining overhead on an SD card. http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/Categories/Products/sd_capacitydisclaimer.pdf

Alright, looks like with SD cards at least, and probably most other types of flash memory, it's a little of both, with some of the storage space being used for security-type features and some minimal overhead. That paper does, however, also mention the difference in units as well. I guess I was a little quick to dismiss overhead altogether, I mostly just wanted to point out that there was an inherent difference between the storage on the package, and the storage your computer sees.

 

[Ted]

Voice Recognition on TomTom720

Greetings Forum,

I'm still on day 2 of my TomTom. There are lots of interesting things to learn about the device. Most is not in the manual.

The voice recognition is an advertised feature of the device. TomTom shows it in their advertisements and on many many product descriptions for North America as well.

I know there are three models of the 720 (at least) out there. There is the 720 Go t (for the traffic updates). I just use the radio (plain old am or fm or my cell phone). There is the 720 Asia (which is cool if you're asian and driving around usa) and then there's this 720 I bought at best buy with GPS v 1.21.

I did as this forum instructed, a forum that TomTom avidly directs users to, especially when it's a weekend and they are closed. My unit works. I created the file using wordpad. Truth be told I never knew to just look in my Navigate To: Address, so the icons may have been there proper and all....but i doubt it.

The photographs I loaded on my SD card were also freezing the unit, until I read that I had to rename the files to not look like they were autonamed on my digital. I just named them Tom, Dick, Harry, short alpha names.

The new problem I'm researching is this trouble with the SD card versus the internal memory. I want, at the onset of going on my machine, to tell the machine to look either at my SD card or my TomTom (the machine) without having to use my computer. It would be great for TomTom to have a file explorer type feature on the 720 unit, so that one could , carrying a bunch of SD cards in the glove compartment, make changes or do backups stat. This can't be hard to do.

Again, the voice recognition is an advertised feature and thus should be present and easy to use. I'm happy for this forum.

 

[dhn]

Ted.....

The 720 advertises TTS (text to speech) where the unit can verbalize street names and other instructions using a provided compter voice (like Susan_US). To my knowledge, it has never advertised nor promoted what is referred to as 'speech recognition'' where you can give the unit verbal instructions regarding city, street and number of the location you wish to travel to.

 

[asbaker]

Sorry - That is not true that Tomtom did notadvertize speech input. When I bought my 720 Aug 5, the ad on their website had a video showing the man replying to questions asked by the 720 on where he wanted to navigate.

That video was removed within a couple of days. It obviously was meant for the European model.

In fact, all along, it appears Tomtom continues to be geared to the European market. If I use Home to look into buying maps, the prices are all in Euros.

 

[dhn]

Sorry - That is not true that Tomtom did notadvertize speech input. When I bought my 720 Aug 5, the ad on their website had a video showing the man replying to questions asked by the 720 on where he wanted to navigate.

That video was removed within a couple of days. It obviously was meant for the European model.

In fact, all along, it appears Tomtom continues to be geared to the European market. If I use Home to look into buying maps, the prices are all in Euros.

I sit corrected, then

(as far as the 720 never being advertised in NA as having speech recognition).

It never was supposed to have SR for NA (and, 'officially', still doesn't).

 

[jrkid]

Got it working thank you to who ever posted this trick, now that I have it could not use it without. Now lets see if someone can figure out the handsfree through fm transmitter car speakers!!