Parts and accessories : TomTom auto-updates

In response to complaints of outdated mapping, from 28th June 2012 TomTom is enabling all of its 60 million satnavs to receive and make inter-active updates.

Map Share allows drivers to personalise the TomTom map on their own system and also inter-actively share and receive map changes with the Map Share community around the world. (Map Share was previously only available on a limited number of TomTom devices.)

Map Share technology enables drivers to keep the TomTom map on their device up to date with immediate changes in their area. Dynamic road changes, such as changed speed limits, new street names, blocked roads and new traffic directions can be updated directly on the satnav. Drivers then have the choice to share those road changes with TomTom and the broader Map Share community. All TomTom customers can now download daily Map Share changes for free.

“Roads change all the time. Overnight, roads can close or traffic can be diverted, having a big impact on people¹s journey times.” says Corinne Vigreux, TomTom’s Managing Director. “With Map Share, drivers can update their own mapping themselves straightaway. Plus, TomTom has an active community of drivers who share around 250,000 road changes with TomTom and each other every month. With this new initiative, Map Share will increase enormously, hugely reducing confusion and anger about misdirection.

Map Share enables people to quickly and easily report and share the most frequent road changes. More structural, long-term changes such as the addition of roads or roundabouts are validated and updated within TomTom’s maps and made available on a quarterly basis. TomTom’s approach to mapping includes the combination of authoritative sources, such as field collection, government data or satellite imagery, with community input to ensure its maps accurately reflect reality.

Map Share is already available for many TomTom customers. From 28 June, all TomTom Start, Via and GO customers will be able to receive free daily map changes from the TomTom Map Share Community via a simple, free software update.

Daily map changes include: Changed speed limits, New street names, Blocked roads, New traffic directions,  Altered turn restrictions.

Drivers retain control over which daily map changes they load onto their device. They can choose to accept changes submitted by some or many other Map Share users, or only those verified by TomTom.

A video providing an overview of TomTom’s Map Share can be found here:

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6O23csHkMk[/tube]

Keith Adams

4 Comments

  1. Bloody satnavs! a curse and a blessing,even google maps get it wrong,i travelled to stranraer to collect my springer spaniel pup on saturday (500 mile round trip)and just relied on my nose for the last 3 mile as the satnav would not recognise the post code,but then again a boon any other time.Has anyone ever been behind someone that just solely watches thier satnav when driving? the one’s that dont see anything behind them and stop dead when they overshoot thier bloody junction?along with thier smartphone stuck to the screen and accessory fan as well? i wonder what the statistics are for accidents?maybe satnav should be compulsary on cars as ABS was from 2004-built into the infotainment with a simple HUD arrow and distance prompts.

  2. TomToms have a better reputation than Garmins amongst professional drivers. I have a Garmin, and it has caused me no end of frustration- such as if you try to program in a postcode and it is out of satellite reception, it will claim that it can’t find that postcode (fair enough), but if you then regain reception, it will still fail to find that address- even if you re-boot it.

    And would it be beyond the wit of man to design in things like weight and height limits- having to turn a 12′ high van around because you’ve just encountered a low bridge, and you’ve got dozens of vehicles behind you is very trying. Yes you can buy dedicated HGV sat-navs, but they are very expensive.

  3. @ Chris Baglin, Hoorah, I am glad I am not the only one who feels like you. As an hgv Driver it is so frustrating too not have any heights and weights on a satnav, however It is great to be able to find the nearest McDonalds drive thru even though lorries are banned from them (but thats another story). It really grates that we should have to pay in excess of £600 just to have a low bridge warning.

  4. The thing is,with satnav reliance you lose your roadcraft-map reading etc i only use them as a last resort,they talk far too much for my liking are nowhere near accurate as they would have you believe and generally piss me off another gadget to distact from the job in hand-safe driving,i have even seen a ipad used for satnav while behind a clio,why not go the full hog and have a 50 inch plasma larded onto the dash.They should be integral in the car,they should not be a £6-700 onwards option.Im not a fan,but they do help some of the time.A contradiction eh?

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