Sat-nav vendor TomTom has joined the race to turn the iPhone into the ultimate driving companion.
Available for the iPhone 3G or 3GS running the iPhone 3.0 firmware update, TomTom's US iPhone application sells for US$99.99. Versions are also available for Australia, New Zealand and Western Europe, with prices ranging from $79.99 to $139.99. The 1GB+ application includes all maps for the region, so the sat-nav features are not reliant on mobile data access.
TomTom is also set to release an iPhone car kit to address concerns about the phone's GPS reception, which will also charge the phone and add hands-free calling. The kit is expected to ship before the end of August. As with other iPhone sat-nav apps, TomTom's offering lacks text-to-speech for reading street names aloud - although this feature is scheduled to be added to competitor Sygic with its next software update.
TomTom's release comes two months after Sygic unveiled the first iPhone sat-nav app (which is currently on special for US$39.99), which was later joined by Navigon's US$69.99 app and iGoMyWay'a $79.99 offering.
