NEW YORK –
TomTom will license out its
cellular-delivered HD (High Density) Traffic
service to other consumer-product companies
for use in OEM and aftermarket navigation
systems, smartphones, competing-brand
portable navigation devices (PNDs), and
other CE devices, company co-founder/CEO
Harold Goddjin announced.
The Netherlands-based company said it’s
on a long-term “Mission to Reduce Traffic For
All.”
The service is already available in 18 other
countries, mostly in Europe, and has reduced
travel times there by up to 15 percent, Goddjin
said.
Also to boost U.S. takeup of HD Traffic,
TomTom:
• extended the service, previously available
only on the new $349-suggested GO 2535
M LIVE, to two other previously available
cellular-equipped PNDs. Those models, the
GO 740 LIVE and XL 340 LIVE, previously
received a less robust traffic service.
• and reduced the price of cellular-delivered
GO LIVE service, which includes traffic data,
to an annual $59.95, a 50 percent reduction.
Like before, a free 12-month subscription is
included with the purchase of a compatible
TomTom PND.
LIVE services include Google Local Search,
fuel price updates, and five-day weather forecasts.
As part of the LIVE service, TomTom’s HD
Traffic delivers traffic updates more frequently
than such competing traffic services as Clear
Channel’s FM-RDS (RDS-TMC) TMC and
FM-HD Radio-delivered traffic services, and
it covers far more markets and delivers traffic
information about more roadways within those
markets than the rival services, TomTom said.
HD Traffic monitors traffic on 6 million miles
of primary and secondary roads, including
roads in rural areas, and it delivers the information
to consumers anywhere AT&T’s GPRS
cellular-data coverage extends, said senior
product manager Mike Villarreal. In contrast,
the RDS-TMC and HD Radio services, as well
as rival cellular-based services, use a traffic
database limited to no more than 500,000
miles of roadways, and they do not cover
nearly as many secondary roads, he said.
In addition, radio-based traffic services are
available only in about 100 markets, based on
the number of FM stations broadcasting traffic
data.
Another HD Traffic feature is the delivery of
traffic updates every two minutes, the company
said. As a result, drivers don’t receive
information about “ghost jams” that have already
cleared up, TomTom said.
For its part, Clear Channel said its RDSand
HD Radio-delivered traffic services send
out updates every two minutes as well, although
the bandwidth-constricted RDS services
sends out fewer event updates every
two minutes.
