El GPS grande: TomTom One XL officially announced

TomTom One XL

(Credit: TomTom)

We had an inkling that the TomTom One XL would make an appearance sooner or later after the FCC revealed its existence, but today the in-car GPS device got its official debut. The One XL expands on its older and simpler sibling, the TomTom One, by increasing the screen size from 3.5 inches to 4.3 inches and adding support for real-time traffic services. The unit also comes preloaded maps of North America, millions of points of interest, 2D and 3D maps, text- and voice-guided directions, and integrated Bluetooth 2.0 to access TomTom's PLUS services via your Bluetooth-enabled phone. The TomTom One XL will start shipping in June for a very reasonable $399.95.

[verdyp]

what is the interest of a 22% increase of size?

What is the interest of a 22% increase of diagonal size?
Does it offer really a better resolution?
Will drivers really need that resolution?
Couldn't instead offer better vocal guiding.

What we really need is not a bluetooth connection but immediate access to online databases of services, and immediate updates of maps, as we travel (so that maps are instantly updated in the background, and updated with live situation).

The increased display is no help for drivers, they prefer having better vocal direction and signaling. Drivers should not have to look constantly at the screen, so the display should be extremely simple, and we don't need small details that we'll take too much time to decipher on screen instead of looking at the road.

Such device is only useful if it acts as a true replacement in absence of someone beside you to guide you to the correct direction, and giving hints in due time to help you driving.

Large displays on such device is just distractive, and will finally be dangerous.

And the worst is not on the screen, but the lack of updates for maps, and lack of interactivity to correct them, annotate them.

The perfect tool is still not there. We need a GPS with a card or USB stick that we can plug and work on with our PCs or agendas, and with lists of adresses and contacts, plus possible photos. And we need interaction on the contained data with other users of the system, like when we interact with a passenger on your right seat...

None of the maps we can buy are correctly updated: they only include good information about streets in cities or major roads. But the true time when we need such decice is when circulating within suburban areas where the signalisation is very rare, and the roads are constantly changing with new constructions.

Or when there are new activities and commerces (information about commerces is extremely poor): why isn't the system linked to online yellow page services and major search engines like Google, or professional business databases?

We need more than just maps of cities and major roads.

One thing to add to such device:
recognizing the handwriting for immediate annotations when driving, just by drawing with the finger on the screen!
It does not matter if the data is not immediately corrected, drivers want to take immediate fast notes, and review later what they have noted.

We should be able to hear something on radio, or need to note a phone number after someone calls us, just by noting that on the screen (independantly of the map currently displayed). When we have time, we'll reorder this data.

The system should also be able record our route, and give it back on screen on demand: this will be useful when searching for some place, instead of turning around and around... This will be useful to make sure we have explored an area (and suseful for many mobile commerce exploring a city for possible new businesses, or during holidays when looking for smart places to visit, and find our way back to our chosen point of interest).

Also large screens means that the device becomes less mobile: what will happen when we get down the car and want to find the street where we had to go (we may be far from the intended place, due to parking limitations!)

Small is beautiful. Such device should be as portable as a mobile phone, or should work with an easy integration with mobile phone featuring an agenda (the difference being that it hosts a large screen only for use in car, but not easy to use in the street).

So make smart mobile phone with vocal guiding, a small map the complete agenda, and portable GPS for use when walking but use it in the car with the large screen and the same set of data.

Really TomTom should seek alliance with a mobile phone maker to create a combined to-parts product with complete integration of each other when they are connected together. For now the tow devices have too limited interactions: when you get out of the car, you can bring your phone in the pocket, but not this device.