The TomTom Car Kit for iPhone has officially gone on sale, but there seem to be a few changes from what we have originally reported.  The original roomers have been that the car kit will have a software included with it and that it should be compatible with a new version of iPod with 3.0 software.  Well it looks like none of this is going to happen.  The official words from the Apple store and from TomTom website are as follows:

“The TomTom app for iPhone is not included with this TomTom Car Kit. The Car Kit dock is compatible with all iPhone models, but the Car Kit app only works with iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.  ”

This is a little disappointing since you still have to shell out another $99 for TomTom navigation software.  You can make an argument by saying well, you get a mount, a speaker, a charger and hands free calling and all of this for just $119.95, but is it enough?  i guess its all in the eye of the buyer.  If you can justify paying $119.95 for an iPhone mount with some extra features then this toy is for you.

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The TomTom iPhone Car Kit has just gone up for pre-order on the Apple UK store.  It is just a meter of time before it will be up on the US site.  

The price listed for the unit is £99.95 and should ship in 2-3 weeks.  The content of the box will have the phone dock and adhesive disk.   in addition to the hardware that you get, for the price that you pay, you will also receive a £60 navigation app included. 

There is one little note that The Car Kit dock is compatible with all iPhone models, but the app will only works with iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.  We are not sure where does this leave of the iPod touch, although the compatibility was claimed on the TomTom site.

We will update you once there is more info fort he US crowd.

Update:  Looks like the link has been taken down from the UK site (maybe temporarily).

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Garmin has announced a new series of GPS Dakota 10 and 20.  These models supposed to have a 20 hour battery charge life, a 2.6-inch LCD, and store up to 200 tracks.  The higher-end Dakota 20 has a MicroSD slot, an electronic compass, a barometric altimeter, and wireless data transfer between compatible units.  These units are expected to be sold in the 3rd quarter and will run you $299.99 and $349.99 respectively. 

Official Press Release:

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Dakota 10 and Dakota 20 handheld GPS navigators, packing a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, worldwide basemap and color touchscreen display into a compact, waterproof device with up to 20 hours of battery life.

“As families and friends explore the outdoors – from an exotic locale to the local park – Dakota helps keep their adventures affordable and enjoyable,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales.

“While kids have fun with Dakota’s small size and simple interface, parents can take comfort in never losing their way thanks to high-sensitivity GPS and extended battery life.”

Lightweight, rugged and waterproof, Garmin’s new Dakota devices quickly acquire and maintain satellite reception – even in heavy tree cover or deep canyons – thanks to a high-sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix TM , which automatically calculates and stores critical satellite information and can use that information to quickly calculate a position. Everyone from geocachers and youth scouts to surveyors and hunters can take advantage of Dakota’s 850 MB of internal memory, which can store up to 1,000 waypoints, 50 routes, 2,000 geocaches and an active tracklog of up to 10,000 points and 200 saved tracks.

Based on the innovative interface of Garmin’s award-winning Oregon series, Dakota’s glove-friendly, color 2.6-inch touchscreen display is easy to read and use in all conditions, responsive to the touch of your finger, yet resistant to the forces of nature. Weighing only 6.75 ounces, Dakota lasts up to 20 hours on two AA batteries and can connect to your PC or Mac via USB connection.

Dakota 20 adds even more features, including a 3-axis compass, barometric altimeter, a microSD card slot for increased mapping and memory storage, and wireless unit-to-unit connectivity for sharing your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with compatible Dakota, Oregon, Colorado and Foretrex devices. Dakota 20’s 3-axis, tilt-compensated electronic compass shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without needing to hold it level.

It’s fun and easy to get into paperless geocaching with Dakota. You can download up to 2,000 caches, with information such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description — no more paper print outs and manually entered coordinates. Visit Garmin.com/geocache for more information.

Dakota comes preloaded with a worldwide basemap and is compatible with Garmin City Navigator NT for turn-by-turn directions on city streets, Blue Chart g2 for marine charting, and TOPO U.S. 24K and 100K map software for incredible terrain detail (each sold separately).

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We are all used to having cell phones with Cameras built in, but how about GPS with built in camera?

Garmin has announced the Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t touch screen handheld GPS devices with built in 3.2 megapixel digital camera. 

It creates geotagged images, and a 3-axis compass.  If that’s not enough, it is also waterproof.  Oregon 550’s have easy-to-use interface and many built in features for on the go people.  Some of the other cool features are 850MB of internal memory, as well as a microSD card slot for future expansion.

Source: Garmin

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