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TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

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Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#411

Post by SoftTalker »

gambiting wrote: post #47
kleiba wrote: post #3

For the youngens here on HN: TomTom was once one of the leading manufacturers of GPS navigation systems for cars - purchased as an accessory that was stuck to the wind screen. This was in a time before every car had a screen built in, and before everyone had a smart phone with Google Maps in their pocket. I guess that product is a prime example for becoming irrelevant by society progressing. I actually still use an o…

I have a modern car with a built-in satnav as well as Android Auto support, and yet I still use my TomTom 5000 - it's just better. Definitely better than crappy Google Maps, definitely better than volvo's built-in maps, and it's without any kind of comparison how much better it is than Apple Maps. You get in the car, it auto-selects the destination based on the patterns it learnt(so if you get in at 7am on a workday,…

> if you get in at 7am on a workday, it automatically selects "work" as your destination. Then around 4pm, it will select "Home".

OK, but you need GPS navigation and maps to get between "work" and "home"?

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#412

Post by mvexel »

nojvek wrote: post #406

> These super sources include open-source data (such as OpenStreetMap), probe data, sensor derived observations (SDO) and data from a pool of important partners, which include some of the biggest names in the tech industry. Great, so they'll suck open street map data, but won't contribute back. IMO if someone wants to compete against Google Maps, then the Chromium open source strategy ought to work well against them.…

> Great, so they'll suck open street map data, but won't contribute back.

They already are.

> Same as apple, they'll build their own map in a private walled garden and suck bits off OSM but won't contribute back.

They already are and have for years.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#413

Post by SoftTalker »

fy20 wrote: post #313
club_tropical wrote: post #302

Curious, does anybody navigate without GPS? Why do you do it? I occasionally challenge myself, and I am always surprised how much more active my mind is, compared to GPS where my mind is passively glancing at the screen every few seconds to see if I'm on course and next turn.

I have a pretty good navigational memory, so if I've driven the journey once I can usually remember the way again. The advantage of apps like Google Maps and Waze is they provide real time traffic data, so can reroute you if there is congestion. It's not perfect, but I use it for driving to and from work now and it has helped me avoid a lot of congestion.

I've found that the re-routing is good if you happen to be lucky enough to be one of the first cars to get rerouted. But pretty quickly the alternate route gets congested too because everyone is getting rerouted.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#414

Post by sanguy »

TomTom like Here and Garmin are fighting to try to stay relevant in a market that has been seized by Android Auto and CarPlay.

The issue is the car vendors do not want to surrender their navigation and entertainment to Google and Apple as navigation system options at >$1500 and ongoing updates are precious margin and recurring revenue that they all desire.

With Android Auto or CarPlay they give that all up.

They are both dead men walking but like to do a full court press like this every few years to remind us all they still have the lights on.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#415

Post by ddulaney »

ThamesJ wrote: post #394
gambiting wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience - it's just frequently wrong, to a point where I don't feel confident using it. Telling you to turn where you can't, going wrong way up one-way streets, showing you that streets connect on the map where they actually don't.......I could keep going. I keep reporting errors and they never get fixed. Like I mentioned in another comment there's a road near my work which has a no-left-turn sign but Google…

It’s interesting how anecdotal people’s perspectives on Google maps navigation ends up being. Personally GMaps has never failed me (UK based) in the best part of a decade, if anything it has been consistently worryingly accurate, and everyone I know has had a similar experience. As I’ve seen others say in this thread “it just works” without fail. Due to that it’s unbelievable (to me) that others have had such an expe…

I've experienced both sides. My rough sense of it is:

If you're in a city or suburb with a Google office, it's spotless, including transit options that are often customized to the city itself.

If you're in a city or suburb without a Google office, it's reliable on roads but probably doesn't cover transit particularly well. I'm not sure if the Google vs. non-Google office is just a bias towards the kind of cities Google would put an office in as opposed to the presence of an office making a difference, but Pittsburgh is much better than Columbus or Jacksonville despite being a smaller city.

If you're in a rural area, it's much rougher. Private roads marked as public roads are the biggest thing I've noticed (presumably because aerial maps can't help much there), but also things like ATV tracks and driveways marked as roads and missing one-way indicators (i.e. routing the wrong way up a one-way street).

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#416

Post by DonHopkins »

yencabulator wrote: post #367
acdha wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Traffic and accidents might push you into different routes, especially if you have major decision points like which route you take around some geographic feature. When I drive in Los Angeles decades back even people who’d been driving there for ages wanted traffic reports to pick between roughly equivalent freeways because almost inevitably one of them would have much worse congestion due to an accident and you could…

Distances in LA aren't measured in miles, they're measured in time -- and the distance between two points changes based on time of day, direction, and events like sportsball or presidential visits. Knowing where to switch between freeways and surface streets, and what route to take in what conditions, can cut half off the driving time. Some examples of varying conditions from my personal history, even with optimal ro…

Get out of here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCer2e0t8r8

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#417

Post by theiz »

sanguy wrote: post #414

TomTom like Here and Garmin are fighting to try to stay relevant in a market that has been seized by Android Auto and CarPlay. The issue is the car vendors do not want to surrender their navigation and entertainment to Google and Apple as navigation system options at >$1500 and ongoing updates are precious margin and recurring revenue that they all desire. With Android Auto or CarPlay they give that all up. They are…

I don’t think you have read the article. TomTom is changing from navigation device maker, to map maker. They already did that, Apple Maps uses TomTom data for example. There is however a new market that will grow: autonomous driving vehicles. These need more data, and more or less real time if available.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#418

Post by gknoy »

98codes wrote: post #390
jstummbillig wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's just better. Definitely better than crappy Google Maps I struggling to see how anything could be "definitely" better than "crappy" Google Maps. To me, GMaps has made navigation about as exciting as using a door knob. It works without fail, and is so incredibly mundane, that the thought of forming a strong opinion about it makes me drowsy.

It (and all other GPS apps I've tried) work well enough, until you try to go somewhere you know well and have to turn it off to stop it from trying to reroute you over & over again. If any app would allow me to have some sort of ability to let me set a level of "pain" (traffic, stoplights, smaller roads, extra turns) that's acceptable vs. a level of time savings, I'd use that app and never look back. The number of ti…

I'd love a setting that would silence directions when I am within $distance of home, and have home set as my destination. I don't really need to be told to turn on my own street, or the streets I always use to get to my street.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#419

Post by scottLobster »

gambiting wrote: post #384
jstummbillig wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's just better. Definitely better than crappy Google Maps I struggling to see how anything could be "definitely" better than "crappy" Google Maps. To me, GMaps has made navigation about as exciting as using a door knob. It works without fail, and is so incredibly mundane, that the thought of forming a strong opinion about it makes me drowsy.

In my experience - it's just frequently wrong, to a point where I don't feel confident using it. Telling you to turn where you can't, going wrong way up one-way streets, showing you that streets connect on the map where they actually don't.......I could keep going. I keep reporting errors and they never get fixed. Like I mentioned in another comment there's a road near my work which has a no-left-turn sign but Google…

It's not just the UK. I'm in the Philadelphia Area US and Google Maps has only failed me once out in the suburbs where it didn't know a road was blocked (and that was probably just timing/lack of reporting).

I use it daily to make sure my commute doesn't have any wrecks I'll have to work around, and any time I'm going somewhere unfamiliar. It really got stress tested on our way back from Tenessee during the eclipse exodus a few years ago, routed us (and lots of cars around us lol) through all sorts of Appalachia back-roads when the main highways were clogged and got us home just fine.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#420

Post by [deleted] »

groovybits wrote: post #353
hbn wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I try to not use Google services where I can help it, but not using Google Maps to me just feels like risking screwing up my day. The fact that it's what everyone uses makes it the safe bet. They have so many users being tracked in real-time to reroute me around detours and traffic jams as soon as they happen, I don't really want to try anything else. If I use an alternative and get stuck in traffic, I'm not gonna be…

I've been using Apple Maps as my regular navigator since iOS 15.0 general release, and I've been impressed. The audio directions are much clearer - e.g. "Go through this light, and at the next one turn right". The integration with Siri and CarPlay is very handy - e.g. "Hey Siri, get directions to Bob's house". And the traffic data is noticeably better in the last year. Disclaimer: I live in suburban U.S. - I've heard…

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