TomTom's swipe at community mapping may come as a surprise to many. Whilst services such as OpenStreetMap are a valuable resource, there can be little doubt that they are a long way off becoming serious competition for the likes of Navteq and TomTom. A navigable map requires a huge depth of data including road priorities, widths, bridge heights, weight limits, street names, house numbers and more. And it is this data that gives value to the commercial map providers products.

The two products occupy very different market segments and whilst some opportunistic developers are offering cheap, or even free, apps that use OpenStreetMap data, they are not a viable alternative to the traditional solutions for many users.

Where companies such as TomTom should be concerned is with the user experience. Few customers understand the difference and so if they have a bad experience of an app that uses free community maps, they may think that is applicable to all satnavs.

Darren Griffin

TomTom takes aim at OpenStreetMap

It would appear that TomTom are more than a little troubled by the growing success of OpenStreetMap, the open source community mapping project.

TomTom have posted an article on their website pointing out the drawbacks of open source maps. The article makes some bold claims about their accuracy and the problems of relying on community reports.

Read more here.

Garmin tease with multi-sensor controller concept

Following hot on the heels of the debate over driver distraction comes this great concept from Garmin for a new in-vehicle controller.

Their multi-controller is designed to control the essential functions of your in-car entertainment system including audio, communications, apps and last but not least, navigation.

Similar controllers are of course already available. Mercedes, BMW and Renault are just some of the manufacturers who offer solutions such as this but Garmin's concept goes a good deal further.

Read more here.

Daimler truck saves fuel by using GPS

An interesting use of GPS comes courtesy of Daimler who have debuted a system that can 'see ahead' using topographic map data, anticipating hills to ensure the optimal gear is selected.

Available as an option, Predictive Power Control ensures the truck makes best use of its 12-speed automatic gearbox and throttle settings. Fuel savings from the use of this technology are a claimed 3 per cent which is a sizeable saving given the cost of fuel and the quantities burned by HGV operators.

Read more here.

Car Connectivity Consortium passes 50 member mark

The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) aims to bring together handset manufacturers and auto manufacturers to develop a global standard for MirrorLink™, a technology designed to integrate smartphones and in-vehicle systems.

We've covered a similar system from VNC, see here which works well but, as with all such solutions, wider adoption is vita to its success.

Read more here.

Speed Camera Data Updated - v10.055 (30/05/12)
& This Week's Lifetime Subscriber Award Winners

This week we have 79 static and mobile speed cameras added, removed or modified in the live database.

Of the 36 unique submitters that would have qualified for a Lifetime Subscription this week, 31 were from existing Lifetime Members and one member missed out by having never subscribed. And so it is our pleasure to welcome the following four new members to the Lifetime Subscriber club:

lostluigi, MannyAdolph, Mike_UK, trintrax.

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