TomTom Go Live 2505 M, Connected GPS with HD Traffic

TomTom has updated its line of product last November with the TomTom Go 2405 integrating a new user interface, and today, the GPS manufacturer is launching the GPRS connected version in the US: the TomTom Go Live 2505 M. Featuring the same design and the same user interface, the 2505 M offers the Live services with the long awaited HD Traffic feature that has been available in Europe for the past 3 years.

Live Services with HD Traffic

Tom Murray, SVP Marketing, TomTom USA, told us that HD Traffic’s real-time traffic information is 4 times more accurate  than the competitive TMC services. According to him, HD Traffic covers 6 million miles of major and secondary roads while the competition only offers 500k miles of major roads from the 100 largest urban areas, additionally, the update speed is faster: the TomTom HD service refresh every 2 minutes while the competitors do it every 15 minutes. Tom Murray did not mention the competitors names, in the US, TMC service providers include Total Traffic Network, powered by Clear Channel Communications and Tele Atlas, and XM NavTraffic, powered by XM radio and NAVTEQ Traffic, learn more on the TMC Forum website and on Wikipedia. In Europe, HD Traffic relies on a user-base of one million connected TomTom devices and on 80 millions of Vodaphone mobile phones to provide anonymous real-time traffic data, this is how TomTom gets its competitive advantage to provide a larger real-time traffic coverage.

TomTom is not disclosing details of its GPS data providers in the US, so we will not know which operator is in the deal. Accroding to the company, in the US, TomTom HD Traffic builds on TomTom IQ Routes data and leverages real-time traffic data from multiple sources: real-time fleet data from multiple providers, real-time incident data, LIVE TomTom devices, and the TomTom App for iPhone.

For devices without the HD traffic feature, TomTom uses regular TMC services to power its Lifetime Traffic Updates in the US, the service is called TomTom Traffic in Europe and gets the data from different providers depending on the country.

To know more about various real-time traffic information providers and technologies, you can read the TomTom white paper and the Laptop Magazine article.

Live services, enabled by the GPRS connectivity powered by AT&T, also offers Local Search with Google, fuel prices and weather forecasts.

Other features
The other cool features are IQ Routes and Map Share, they are also available in the TomTom Go regular version.
The IQ Route algorithm uses historical data that TomTom users have been adding to over the years and calculates routesbased on the real average speeds measured on roads every day, allowing the TomTom

Features include (from press release):

LIVE Services (HD Traffic, Google Local Search, Fuel Prices, Weather Forecasts) free for the first year
LIVE connectivity powered by AT&T.

Premium maps of US, Canada & Mexico
Lifetime Map Updates***
IQ Routes
Map Share On-Demand Updates
New User Interface
Advanced Lane Guidance
Announces Street Names
Slim Glass 5.0″ Multi-touch Screen
Pinch-to-zoom and Swipe
Secure Click and Lock Mount
Voice Recognition with voice command for address entry
Bluetooth Hands-free Calling (compatible mobile phone required)

Eliane Fiolet
Categories: Transportation
Tags: CES, CES 2011, GPS, tomtom