Free TomTom Traffic Updates, sort of.
How about not paying a yearly subscription for TomTom traffic and instead being able to use the over the air RDS-TMC traffic info instead? Any lucky 'GO' users out there can make the one off payment for the RDS-TMC Traffic receiver and make use of the free service to replot and avoid traffic incidents.
So what are the differences in terms of the service? Well, the RDS-TMC is going to require fm radio signal and a source that provides the information, this is obviously going to vary location by location, versus the GPRS on-demand nature of the TomTom Plus traffic system. The RDS-TMC wont work on every TomTom device, so 'ONE' users like myself will not have this option. Also the RDS-TMC has a limited number of messages, so its likely that the more expensive (in the long term) TomTom Plus service is more suitable if you must have the latest, most detailed traffic info.
At around £68 its not bad value, depending on how well it performs in the field. Of course you do have yet another attachment (the RDS-TMC Traffic receiver) to take with you, versus the omni-present mobile phone which connects you to the TomTom Plus service.
You can check it out on the TomTom UK website here or google it to your heart's content.
I would be remiss if I didn't chuck in a quick mention to any TomTom owners, mac or pc, who dont have the rather good TomTom Home software, for managing their beloved device. When I bought my 'ONE' it didn't have any mac software available, now it does. Recently installing it and allowing it to update my TomTom firmware gave 'Jane' a very nice face-lift. All gradients everywhere and some improved/re-vamped icons. Added functionality included the ability to navigate to Latitude and Longditude also the arrive by time function - where you can put in a time which you wish to arrive by when you plan your route. TomTom Home can be downloaded from this page on the UK site.
1 comment:
That's great to know that you can now have this option-- I've heard various TomTom owners gripe about the fact that you have to pay for TMC so I'm sure they will all be happy to hear about this new development! Too bad for me thouhg, because I'm thinking about getting a ONE:( Oh well, I'm sure it's still a great unit!
Post a Comment