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TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

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Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#151

Post by andiareso »

chrisseaton wrote: post #119
babypuncher wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> go deeper into cooperation with car manufacturers to provide builtin navigation in cars. I feel like this is a dying market as well. Why would I pay $200/year to update the maps in my car's mediocre navigation system when I can just turn on Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and get the same excellent navigation system I enjoy on my smartphone?

My car's built-in navigation can do things Apple CarPlay can't, like HUD, dashboard mapping, dead-reckoning navigation in tunnels, fuel management, etc.

...until feature parity. Soon Apple/Google will be able to integrate with those features too. Aside from "dead-zones", I'm sure they will eventually have more integrations with car interfaces.

Even so, both Google and Apple seem to predict your location when signal drops. Somehow I still get decent navigation when I am in the middle of nowhere Iowa and have no cell service. Obviously the maps are cached, but somehow it knows I'm still moving. Must be accelerometer and gyroscope? IDK

I'd really like dash HUD integration with CarPlay.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#152

Post by r-w »

scarface74 wrote: post #113
grvdrm wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that true? Not saying you are wrong but is it just an anecdote? I anecdotally know lots of people that just use their car GPS and don’t bother with CarPlay/AA

80% of new cars support CarPlay https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/29/apple-carplay-massive-succes... As far as I know, most cars that support CarPlay also support Android auto. I can’t imagine car manufacturers wanting to pay licensing fees to TomTom unnecessarily.

Which makes you wonder if there must be some good reason why they’re still doing it.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#153

Post by mrtranscendence »

chrisseaton wrote: post #115
scotty79 wrote: post #85

I used to work for TomTom maybe 10 years ago. I was there when Google started offering turn by turn navigation for free. Other issue was live traffic information. As you might imagine all this caused some concern among employees because that was, I think, the main source of revenue for the company. They were already doing some other stuff like fitness wearables but they didn't seem to be leaning into it. Main idea fo…

> how companies become corporations Aren't all companies corporations?

No, a corporation is a specific type of business arrangement. For example, you can have a limited liability company (LLC) that is wholly owned by an individual.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#154

Post by rootusrootus »

asdff wrote: post #137
VBprogrammer wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting that going deeper integrated into cars was their game plan. I've never used our in-car GPS (other than playing with it once). If it was any good it has a ton of advantages over using Google, including display on the "speedometer" screen. Sadly, it's pants. It comically announces caution stationary traffic on the M25, generally after we've been stationary for 5 minutes. The navigation directions aren't as…

I have no experience with tom tom but I was a garmin user, and I got the sense that tom toms were pretty much identical. IMO an integrated tom tom into the car, if it performs as well as the external unit, would be amazingly better than your cell phone. The biggest advantage imo is satellite coverage is much better than quality data network coverage. I'm not even talking about in the boonies. Plenty of times in the m…

CarPlay, at least (and I kinda assume Android Auto) uses the car's built-in GPS receiver when available. Doesn't necessarily solve the non-cached maps when LTE is unavailable problem, though.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#155

Post by enkid »

cjblomqvist wrote: post #133
scotty79 wrote: post #85

I used to work for TomTom maybe 10 years ago. I was there when Google started offering turn by turn navigation for free. Other issue was live traffic information. As you might imagine all this caused some concern among employees because that was, I think, the main source of revenue for the company. They were already doing some other stuff like fitness wearables but they didn't seem to be leaning into it. Main idea fo…

There is an alternative to "wasting" money to give a second gold vein. You can just do the cash cow thing and then die. That's a totally reasonable. If TomTom don't think they can use the money better than other investment alternatives (that their investors have), then they shouldn't. Of course, politics and personal interests. But sometimes it's just better to allocate resources to something where they're better uti…

Has a CEO ever been hired to do this? I just don't see a business ever saying don't invest in us because there are better alternatives.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#156

Post by airstrike »

prepend wrote: post #142
scarface74 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And most consumers would much rather have either CarPlay or Android Auto than the crappy software that is made my the manufacturers.

I like BMW’s nav idrive better than the CarPlay integration and use it instead of google/apple/wake. First because it uses the whole screen and heads up display and CarPlay doesn’t. But this is probably something that could be done with better integration. Second because CarPlay takes over the phone and I want nav to keep running while I use the phone for other things. I know that I shouldn’t, but at stop lights I’ll…

You read HN at stop lights? How long are those stops???

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#158

Post by [deleted] »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #90
scotty79 wrote: post #85

I used to work for TomTom maybe 10 years ago. I was there when Google started offering turn by turn navigation for free. Other issue was live traffic information. As you might imagine all this caused some concern among employees because that was, I think, the main source of revenue for the company. They were already doing some other stuff like fitness wearables but they didn't seem to be leaning into it. Main idea fo…

Interesting that going deeper integrated into cars was their game plan. I've never used our in-car GPS (other than playing with it once). If it was any good it has a ton of advantages over using Google, including display on the "speedometer" screen. Sadly, it's pants. It comically announces caution stationary traffic on the M25, generally after we've been stationary for 5 minutes. The navigation directions aren't as…

[deleted]

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#159

Post by __alexs »

enkid wrote: post #155
cjblomqvist wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an alternative to "wasting" money to give a second gold vein. You can just do the cash cow thing and then die. That's a totally reasonable. If TomTom don't think they can use the money better than other investment alternatives (that their investors have), then they shouldn't. Of course, politics and personal interests. But sometimes it's just better to allocate resources to something where they're better uti…

Has a CEO ever been hired to do this? I just don't see a business ever saying don't invest in us because there are better alternatives.

They are called liquidators.

Re: TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation

#160

Post by scarface74 »

prepend wrote: post #142
scarface74 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And most consumers would much rather have either CarPlay or Android Auto than the crappy software that is made my the manufacturers.

I like BMW’s nav idrive better than the CarPlay integration and use it instead of google/apple/wake. First because it uses the whole screen and heads up display and CarPlay doesn’t. But this is probably something that could be done with better integration. Second because CarPlay takes over the phone and I want nav to keep running while I use the phone for other things. I know that I shouldn’t, but at stop lights I’ll…

“I don’t want to use CarPlay because if I do, I can’t be a distracted driver and do things that are illegal in many jurisdictions”
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