Welcome to TTGO 1000

[canderson]

While the 740 is the "Top of the line" in the USA, it's a 2008 model release globally. All the IQroutes-enabled ONE/EASE/XL/XXL models are 2009 releases or later.

If you have Google POI, you learn to never bother with the built in POI on a 740

You mean if I choose to pay the $120 a year, I won't need their best POI set for their (currently) most fully featured model? That's left to the owners of previous 9XX series units? No sale on that marketing strategy.

 

[canderson]

Other than the mention of a 5" version, nothing posted seems to be new news. Other than the magnetic mount, all the features were already present on a GO950.

What's a GO950?

 

[mvl]

What's a GO950?

It's a GO 940 minus FM, MP3, traffic antenna, and buddies. Love those upgrades...

 

[canderson]

It's a GO 940 minus FM, MP3, traffic antenna, and buddies. Love those upgrades...

Right. Knew that. Hard to include clear sarcasm in smilies sometimes. The "smirk face" that followed the question was my commentary on 950 availability in the U.S. - the same issue as the 940.

 

[mvl]

"Upgrades" was my sarcasm

 

[offthegrid]

These aren't something that can be loaded to Google Maps and read by the 1000 if it has georss capability?

Actually, it's a complete and total dealbreaker for me. I upload a unique set of 4 geocaching POIs each week. These POIs must be constructed from a database. Caches unfound, caches found, caches found but archived, and the caches I've placed. While Garmin has taken some interest in making some of their newer models more caching friendly, TomTom just took a huge step in the other direction. The 1000 will have little value to me on my dashboard since this is one of my primary uses for such a device.

As a preemptive move, I recently picked up a GO740 as a "backup" to my old 720. Both still have features that I use, although the 740 audio out issue has been far too entertaining.

If this is where TomTom's new products are headed, my 720 and 740 and I are going to have a long relationship, or I'll be jumping ship.

 

[mikealder]

if it has georss capability?

Thats one rather large assumption that the device might have this capability provided for it from a server at TomTom that might work 24/7 for 365 days a year with no service outage.

Or is this something more along the lines of a statement based upon inside knowledge as to what this contraption is really capable of? - Mike

 

[offthegrid]

For those that owned Dash pnd's they know what I mean.

You'd create a search on Google maps or a custom poi and you just access that on the unit and its there as if its on the unit.

It worked for Dash but their maps (which were TelAtlas but they were not the same as what TT has) were terrible and the routing stunk.

However ask anyone that had one or still has one the georss feature was awesome. TomTom would not be reinventing the wheel here and I'll bet some Dash people made their way to TT after RIM bought out Dash and killed it.

You had a page on the Dash website to manage your feeds and custom searches. The feeds would be the custom poi's and the saved searches meant looking for the nearest Home Depot or whatever was two keys to tap rather than spelling it out.

The big drawback over a saved POI is no coverage no saved searches or georss feeds but the good part is the saved searches update themselves.

If you aren't seeing that in the beta testing maybe they aren't going that way. I sure hope they do. There were a couple of Dash enthusiasts who were really coming up with some unique features like integrating Craigslist and real estate listings etc.

Hmm, POI files created "in the Cloud" sounds like marketing speak to me (Snake Oil), great idea in principle but only time will tell if it works or results in useless data.

Look back at the wonderfull "MapShare" again a great idea in theory but due to poor implementation has resulted in something more akin to MapDownGrade Scheme. Even when set to "verified by TomTom" we have seen major roads in/ out of London and Newbury closed resulting in very strange behaviour from the Nav units. Local to me I get bizzare routes due to some idiot adding a roundabout (rotary) that resulted in a blocked main road. this fault is only on the UK&ROI map though, the Western_Europe map is still fine! Another example of so called verfiied map changes is the road between Elgin and RAF Lossiemouth in North Scotland, this stupid error results in a 16 mile trip rather than the 3 or 4 miles it should take. Whilst I fully accept that I have the ability to unblock roads on the map I still question how these errors are allowed through the system to end up on thousands of end users devices - Poor quality control is the answer, I see nothing new on this front so why should I have any trust in "Cloud created POI" files.

Next lets look at the Live services, server outages at peak times of demand. When do you really need a working HD Traffic system in the UK, its on a Friday afternoon, last time I tried it didn't work, the connection simply timed out, to re-start the connection required resetting the device which isn't easy pressing a button for 20 seconds, its also questionable as to whether such an operation is safe while driving.

One thing I can assure you of is that I welcome change when its for the good of the end user, the changes I listed earlier in this thread are all points where the device/ experiance offered are degraded when compared to earlier devices - I certainly don't consider this step as progress in any way shape or form.

As for my three steps of advice mentioned by dhn, there is also the fourth step offered by Andy, whilst rather radical, its something I can fully appreciate - Mike

 

[offthegrid]

No I but if there is ANY sdk it will have to include that capability because its the only way to go if they cut off writing to the unit itself. That was the Dash model and this press release below sounds a lot like it.

Hopefully we'll see soon.
-----------------------------------------------------

The software and service delivery platform have been optimized for rapid integration of third party applications and easy localization to match the needs of specific markets or applications. The back end server systems have been completely redesigned, allowing effortless delivery of rich content and downloadable applications, via cable or over the air. All this also makes the TomTom GO LIVE 1000 future proof. It will be much easier than ever before to receive the latest content and relevant information instantly.

Thats one rather large assumption that the device might have this capability provided for it from a server at TomTom that might work 24/7 for 365 days a year with no service outage.

Or is this something more along the lines of a statement based upon inside knowledge as to what this contraption is really capable of? - Mike

 

[gatorguy]

So if you elected not to continue a paid subscription, those "in the cloud" features would disappear too. Without the data stored locally, you'd be at TomTom's mercy. And they don't appear to have allowed extra memory on the 1000 to download apps directly to it. Same as the other recent TT models, 2GB I believe.

Hard to see where the wondrous benefits to the buyer are hiding. Everything seems to be lining up to suck money from you month after month with no obvious pay-off for you the customer. I said before, what was once free will be fee. Tripmaster, Off-Road Navigator, POI sets, even TYRE. If TomTom doesn't sell it to you, you won't get it. And stop paying the subscription and it's looking like even what you already paid for may disappear. If it's not stored directly on your 1000, it would be gone, right? At least you can still use your 3rd party apps on the x40's x50's with or without a Live sub.

 

[mikealder]

I have long since given up on this product so I have no knowledge on what direction they are currently moving in, all I know is that the general heading they have switched to recently isn't something I am prepared to put up with.

The one good thing that I have re-discovered is an alternate brand of GPS that I haven't used for some 4 or 5 years, to be honest its not a connected "live" device and I am rather glad of that; I just want something that works when I put it in the car.

I hope the server re-design works for TomTom, somehow I doubt it and this is based upon the hard reality of five years worth of experiance, even the very recent V855 map release has yet another problem with stupid error messages from Home_2, I wonder when the next "Critical Update" will be released to fix this one - Sorry but enough is enough, Home software is a disaster and denying a user access to the software on their device purchased with their hard earned cash simply won't work with the current status of the Home software.

Look for advice on the internet about what to do with a new TomTom and the number one answer is always to back up the device using Windows Explorer, ever considered why? Well its quite simple the Home produced Back ups don't work, even TomTom Customer Support advise a Windows Explorer back up is the better option when compared to Home. Now a new device with no direct connection to the PC other than via a software package with a proven track record of failure, call it Home_4 or even Home_2010 and it still won't make a difference.

Enjoy your cloud created POI files and connected device - Mike

 

[gatorguy]

Interestingly, Garmin seems to be rolling out their own Appstore, available with their latest 1695 Live/connected pnd. Both Garmin and TomTom look to be following the same roadmap in many ways.

 

[offthegrid]

They want recurring revenue since the product is otherwise fast becoming a commodity.

Pockey-Lint has a blurb about TT looking at hooking up with a social network - that does not interest me.

 

[gatorguy]

Yeah, Garmin's been there, done that with a social network on the connected 1690's a year ago. Didn't get much traction with it.

 

[canderson]

These aren't something that can be loaded to Google Maps and read by the 1000 if it has georss capability?

Absolutely not. If you're curious as to the nature of the database, its ownership, and the limitations of the TOU, you can find this information at Geocaching > Getting Started with Geocaching > Geocaching.com Site Terms of Use Agreement

As a little background to a typical use model:

The information is pulled from the database by premium users as one or more "Pocket Queries". The information retrieved is filtered as requested by the user (and hence, unique to that user) and is specific to a geographic center point defined by the user. That information may not be stored or shared on any other site... including GM or GE (per the TOU, above).

Further, this data, once pulled and downloaded from the geocaching.com database, is often massaged by the user using GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) or a similar application before exporting to the format of the target device (*.ov2 for TomTom, *.gpx for Garmin and others). Many have been able to nearly automate the whole process. The "massaging" allows for preferences in the appearance and availability of specific data fields from the database on the GPS device.

I request a minimum of 5 geographically filtered selections from the database weekly, merge them, and run those through GSAK to create 4 different output files based upon the characteristics of the merged 5. That's all automated at present.

I then export the resulting 4 files as *.ov2s for my automotive nav unit (gross navigation) and one copy of the full database as a *.gpx for my handheld (close in navigation).

There have been a number of users here (and at the gc.com website as well) who have asked how they might get their gc.com data onto their TomTom units. Given the relatively small percentage of the total TomTom population that logs on here, much less posts a question of any sort, I suspect there are quite a number out there making similar use of their TomTom units. The 1000 is going to bugger that up properly for them, and the Garmin units, headed in the opposite direction in terms of a somewhat open architecture, will be the logical choice. Tools like GSAK are built around a core application called GPSBabel which is capable of creating output for just about every known nav device built from just about any known geolocation input data format. The 1000, for obvious reasons, will not appear on that list. One heck of a tool. See compatibility chart here: GPSBabel: file format capabilities

 

[gatorguy]

An update on availability: TomTom intends to have these on the shelves by the end of next week in Europe. I still expect the North American version may appear by the first part of November. Since most potential purchasers don't visit a gps-centric forum before purchasing, TomTom may sell a fair number of these higher-priced 1000/1005 models. But we'll see those buyers soon enough

 

[canderson]

An update on availability: TomTom intends to have these on the shelves by the end of next week in Europe. I still expect the North American version may appear by the first part of November. Since most potential purchasers don't visit a gps-centric forum before purchasing, TomTom may sell a fair number of these higher-priced 1000/1005 models. But we'll see those buyers soon enough

My hope is that not too many of them are prior owners of a TomTom with unrealistic expectations of their "upgrade". Moreover, if these new units are as locked down as has been reported, there's not going to be a whole heck of a lot we can do for them except commiserate if they've got problems.

I'm wondering what the owner of this site will say the first time the moderators are faced with posts about "jailbreaking" their 1000? In the past, we've always drawn a firm line at what I'll call "map theft" but left everything else fairly much open to discussion. You know the first jailbreak is gonna happen ... it always does. Guess we'll cross/burn that bridge when we come to it!

 

[mvl]

I think we're all getting ahead of ourselves here. Tomtom has only stated that an API will be offerred for 3rd party development. No more / no less.

- The Wall Street journal was the one who made the leap from "3rd party API" to "App store".
- And PGPSW said no access to the filesystem

We don't know what Tomtom will ultimately release for the 3rd party ecosystem. It could be anything from:
- A driver that can read the Tomtom's Linux filesystem
- A HOME-like computer app that allows free community sharing and installation of 3rd party POIs and apps.
- A closed Apple-like app store, with HOME controlling the loading
- No customization at all, and the API would be for people like Sony who want to integrate Tomtom's into other hardware

Without any direct sources, I'd say we're all just speculating.

 

[gatorguy]

With the 1000 on store shelves as early as the end of next week, there's not going to be any time for significant changes. The infrastructure is already in place, the units are built, software has been finalized and being loaded as we speak. Home3 has finished EU testing and the servers are ready. IMHO, much of the info that's been posted in the past couple of days is probably dead-on. But 10 days from now isn't a long time to wait for confirmation on how the whole picture will look.

So MVL, you're correct in pointing out that we should wait before posting certain things as fact. It wouldn't be the first time that TT has popped a surprise.

 

[doctormstein1]

Enhanced Positioning

I haven't heard anything about EP on these new units. Hope the have it.