Some mistake surely...
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 9:41AM 
Yeah!
The Tom Tom car Kit for iPhone 3GS appeared on the UK Apple store today. £99
Seems a bit pricey but does include GPS enhancements, a better speaker, a better microphone for hand free and an audio out. Plus a charger.
However, the product page states:
Eh! It includes the application as well (£60 on it's own) - A bargain!!!
Hang on!
I bought the app when it first came out? I've already spent £60. You mean I should have waited? Where's the option to buy the car mount on its own?
This can't be right?
My thoughts are that the product page is incorrect.
Why have the header "Did you notice"?
I think the section should read:
Did you notice?
You need to get both the Tom Tom navigation app for your iPhone 3GS or 3G and the docking kit to hold your iPhone securely.....
We shall see!
If the app is included with the Car Kit, then either Apple or Tom Tom need to make a reduced price version available without the app for us early adopters. If they don't, there will be hell to pay!
I've placed a call with Apple customer support who are checking it out for me. Will keep you updated.
Don McAllister
Just had a response back from Apple customer services who have quoted the Tom Tom FAQ:
This would indicate I was right and the App store entry is in error?
I've written back to the Apple rep that they need to clarify this and get the Apple store page changed if this is the case.
Don McAllister
Direct quote from Apple:
The Apple Store Publishing Team is currently working on it to correct the error.
Can I say told you so yet!
Don McAllister
Looks like the Car Kit page has been taken down from the UK store page, along with the Staff pick entry from the front page.
I thought they'd just update it in flight?
Don McAllister
Tom Tom themselves have now announced that the Apple store entry was wrong and the cart kit does not, in fact. include the app itself.
Reader Comments (24)
No one is going to pay £100 for that car kit without the app. It would cheaper to buy a "real" gps. I thought £50 for the kit and £60 for the app was reasonable. I am certainly pleased I haven't bought it yet!
For the price, I expect you're right.
Honestly though, I'm not a fan of the iPhone TomTom app. Obviously, I've not tried the dock setup - but the concept that should someone ring you (which happens quite a lot on the road) when you're looking for instruction from TomTom isn't great.
Also, as is often the case in our family - the person driving gets the sat nav directions, while the passengers play on their iphone.
Our transport solution is a little more complex than just a single device (and yes, I reliase that some folks just want the portability of one device): we have a very basic TomTom (no hands free or complex features), a Parrot 6200 and our iphones. The Parrot has excellent voice recognition, comes with a harness which is compatable with iPhone 3G (thus charging the phone while you drive) and is compatable with iphone streaming through bluetooth or using docking cable. The Parrot is also capable of providing the 5v power you need to the TomTom. Meaning everything is powered from the car. And you don't have to use up an unsightly 5V power adaptor in the cigerette lighter socket either.
I love the iphone. And I'm a mac fangirl. But the TomTom feature doesn't cut it. Now, a TomTom light, for use on foot, around town... Wait. That's google Maps... Now why can't someone add voice direction to That?
As there's currently no way to 'redeem' App Store purchases (beyond generic iTunes Gift Cards) it'll be interesting to see if this means Apple are rolling out promo codes beyond the US, as this is the only way that TomTom would be able to bundle the application with the kit.
As someone who's working on an iPhone app, I'd *love* for it to be the case that Promo Codes are going international. Let's hope that's the case!
I have a feeling you might be right Don.... but...... if the add is correct and you get the cradle bundled with the app for £99, I don't think you have too much reason for complaint. I say this because of the fact that you don't need the cradle for the app to work. In other words you have already got the reduced price option of just the app on its own!
If on the other hand if the app and cradle came out at the same time for £99 and then a few months later TomTom announced that the app would work on its own for £60... then an argument might be on the cards. Other than that my friend you are left in the same boat as many early adaptors of product lines are, in as such as we now have an improvement for only a small amount of money more.
IMHO
Will it work with the original iPhone seeing that the car kit has built in GPS, & if not will it work as a hands free device for it?
I bought the TomTom UK app as soon as it came out and I was going to order the mount today until I realised it came with the app.
I would hope a cut down £49 version comes out for just the dock, watching this space very closely!
After quite a lengthy online chat with a representative on the Apple Store, I got them to confirm that the car kit does include a free download of the app. BUT - only if you own a 3G or 3GS - not if you have a touch! Seems odd. It should either be inclusive in the price or not regardless.
She really didn't seem sure though and kept asking me to 'check on iTunes' - but that's the final answer I got!
Julian, Invariably, the online staff only seem to have the same information that we do i.e. whatever is published on the store page. At least the lady I spoke to said she was going to check with a product specialist and/or Tm Tom to confirm and get back to me.
Time will tell!
As a thought though, if it is a mistake and the store page is wrong and I didn't have the app, I'd order the Car Kit ASAP!!
Presumably, they'll need to honour any orders taken while the page states the app is included?
Part of the actual conversation (took screen grabs!):
her: If you have the iPhone 3G or 3Gs you will have a code.
her: For the iPod touch you need to purchase.
me: So, if I buy the kit, I will get a code to download the app from iTunes for free?
me: (I have a 3Gs)
her: For the iPhone only.
Pat, I don't know, I have an uneasy feeling about this.
They've already set the bar by selling the software for £60. It would not surprise me in the slightest that the complete package was priced at £160 (the kit and the app)
I have to say that £99 for the app and the kit seems to be about right, but on the basis of how they priced the software, I still think they'd shoot for £160 for the package.
This is all sounding very strange. Did anyone notice the bit at the bottom ?
What's in the box?
TomTom Car Kit
Adhesive disk
Documentation
I take your point Don, but I'm also unsure. We will have to see what pans out.
BTW just to add another half pint of fuel on your flames.... the cradle & app bundle is showing up as €99.95 on the Irish site. Which of course is £7.80 cheaper. :-) ......Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Ahh but Pat, there has to be SOME benefit to living over there ;)
Is it not showing on the US store or am I being unusually blind this morning ?
Hm, look at the FAQ on the US page:
http://iphone.tomtom.com/en-us/faq.html#q26
"When available, the TomTom car kit will be sold without the TomTom app. The TomTom app can only be purchased via the Apple App stores."
Nevertheless, I just purchased mine in the Norwegian Store. Hoping that code will be usable on other apps, and if not, I guess I can sell it on eBay or similar.. If new info comes out, I can optionally cancel my order at the Apple Store, before it is due to ship in 2-3 weeks.
Hi,
At first I thought that £99 was a bit pricy, but definitely makes sense if it's is bundled with the app. This is especially true for us that live in mainland Europe and have to pay even more for the kit and the app (especially if the app is bought separately).
While I definitely sympathise with Don, to some extent, I have to say thought that that is when you get when you adapt something early and perhaps before all the "parts" become available. To me personally, it was pretty self-evident that at the price of £60 for the app, I would wait until the kit came out to see what would happen.
While I do hope you get a discount for the kit if you choose to buy it, I doubt the price will come down to £99 (in total). You might better expect something like £129.
This is precisely why I am not buying 1Password 2 right now, but instead am holding out until 3 comes out. You just never know what's going to happen.
Marek, your comment arrived at exactly the same time as an email from Apple customer support stating the very same thing!
I think they'd better get that page on the Apple store updated ASAP!
They just lost a customer. I am so glad I didn't buy the app already. £100 is way to steep.
£159 is a rip off for this, they've lost me as a potential customer
Like I said in a previous post, they set the bar high with pricing the app alone. The high price point for both really does not surprise me!
Wonder how they'll handle customers who have ordered the car kit on the basis of the incorrect page description, before it gets updated ;-)
Maybe they will offer an iTunes gift card for the people that ordered the car kit on the basis that it includes the app?
I have placed an order, taken a couple of screen shots, and am awaiting any updates in the Norwegian Store. The order is open to cancel at any time, before shipment.
By the way, I do not need the app itself, as I have purchased Sygic. However, I was waiting for the cradle, and was expecting it to come in this pricerange, or maybe a bit less..
I personally had £40 in mind for the cradle. What price did others have in mind?
Who is getting it wrong, TomTom or Apple? Or, did we early adopters all just get screwed?
I went for the Navigon app DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). It did cost me 49,95 Euro.
I owned a TomTom One several years ago. Currently, I own a Navigon 2110max, but I wanted to have a "cheap" app to make my iPhone a navigation device, too, when I am in a different car or something like that. There was no way that I could justify to myself buying the expensive TomTom app, although I intended to do exactly that before I was aware about the ridiculous pricing of the TomTom app.
Ha! £99 doesn't cover the software! http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/09/24/tomtom_clarifies_99_99_hardware_application_sold_separately.html