Sure, it’s not just a suction cup with an iPhone jack in it – this thing has its own GPS receiver, a built-in loudspeaker and microphone, and an auxilliary out for playing music through your car stereo.

But the truth is that you can pick up an (admittedly entry-level) dedicated satnav for that price. Plus, the cradle doesn’t actually come with the TomTom software, or even a code to download it. Which kind of makes this a rather expensive option.

[TomTom]

TomTom owns Tele Atlas, who drives the roads of the world in order to make maps, and until recently was a major map provider for Google. Nokia owns the only major competitor, Navteq, who has also provided maps for Google. Look at Google Maps now, though, and you’ll see that the entire US bears just one single copyright: Google’s.

Street View wasn’t just a neat way to get imagery to accompany the data already found in Google Maps. As it happens, it was a way to drive the same roads that were already in Google Maps, tracing them with Google’s own road teams, and—through efficiency and brute force—do away with those costly map licenses. Google has mapped the US, and will surely map the rest of the world soon enough.

Garmin might have a long-standing relationship with Navteq, but they don’t own any maps. How can they compete when they still have to pay? TomTom owns the maps, but they make money licensing maps to car makers, competing GPS makers and web services — like Google. Before, Google was a fat revenue source for TomTom; now Google is a sprightly competitor.

If a unique supply of data was the only thing keeping TomTom and others on the Google chuck wagon, who will be next to fall off?

I was always afraid of spiders growing up, not because of the eight legs or the umpteen eyes, but because of the way they kill their prey. They get them in a nice convenient position, then they use their venom to hollow out their victim’s insides, until they’re just dead-eyed shells. To be killed in such a manner is my worst nightmare; perhaps I should ask TomTom how it feels.

I am a fan of Google products, and a daily user of them. This is not an attack of Google’s business practices, but an explanation of the sort of destructive innovation that has made them so huge so fast. (It’s also a warning to consider carefully any entities that gets this strong, especially if you plan on going into business with one.) Though predecessors like Microsoft experienced similar explosive growth, and grew a similar sudden global dependence, we’ve never seen the likes of Google. The GPS business isn’t the only one that will be consumed by its mighty maw before its had its run.

We’ve already seen the devaluation of the office apps that make Microsoft rich; we’ve already seen how Google’s experiences with Apple and others helped it create telecommunications platforms (both mobile with Android and completely virtual with Google Voice) that threaten its former partners’ existence; we’ve already seen how Google converts photos, videos, news wire stories and other former commodities into freebies by smashing the false notion of scarcity that “service” providers had literally banked on.

So who is next? What other hallowed brands will go the way of Garmin and TomTom? Reuters and AP? Corbis and Getty? Warner and Disney?

This is a tale already told, bound to be told again, but the fundamentals are worth studying (even if we use Google Docs spreadsheets to do it). I have never spoken with a spider, but I am certain they’re not evil, despite what fantasy lore tells us. They’re just doing what comes naturally, and doing a hell of a job.

[TomTom]

Other than the big screen, it’s a pretty typical satnav from TomTom, with TomTom Home support, iQ routes, MapShare and all those other things that are probably really useful if you’re driving around unfamiliar territory.

The XXL540 will launch at the end of this month, with RRP still to be announced.

[TomTom]

Both the Go 750 and the Go 950 feature the voice control, which can be used for planning a route, making a handsfree call or changing preferences. They both feature TomTom’s iQ Route software and have a new menu system that includes a frequent destinations menu.

The difference between the two is in the mapping, with the 750 only having Australian mapping, and the 950 including maps for Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and 45 European countries. They’ll be available later this year at a yet-to-be-determined price…

[TomTom]

According to Traffic Services Commander of the NSW Police, Assistant Commissioner John Hartley:

Under Rule 300 of the Australian Road Rules, which prohibits the use of a hand held device while driving, if the unit is a mobile phone then any function connected to the phone would be classified as use and this includes GPS.

Rule 299, of the Australian Road Rules permits a GPS but not one connected to a mobile phone. A smart phone is still a mobile phone regardless of what else it may be capable of.

That means that even if you buy TomTom’s iPhone bracket and stick your iPhone in it to use the device as a satnav, because the iPhone’s still a phone, using it is against the law. The same rule goes for any Nokia device offering turn-by-turn navigation, any Telstra phone with WhereIs… If your satnav has a SIM card or mobile phone capability, then you run the risk of being fined.

Chatting with a police officer friend of mine about this, she said that in reality, if your iPhone is window mounted and you use it that way, most police officers “aren’t really going to be able to tell whether it is a mobile phone, or a Navman, or iPod or whatever and most would not bother pulling you over for that”.

Still, if you do get pulled over, in NSW you’re looking at a $253 fine and three demerit points, unless you get caught in a school zone during school zone operating hours, at which point it’s $338 and four demerit points. The penalty in other states might be different, but the law is the same across the country.

This whole situation raises a whole heap of questions about both the availability of these apps on iTunes, as well as companies like Nokia marketing their Navigator lineup of handsets. After all – how can a company sell a phone designed to be used illegally, regardless of how archaic the law is?

Stay tuned for more on this…

Good news: According to Yann Lafargue, PR guy at TomTom, the incoming TomTom GPS Car Kit will work with the iPod touch, enabling full GPS capabilities in Apple’s smart multimedia player.

Oui, je confirme et il fonctionnera avec un iPod Touch ou d’autres logiciels de navigations concurrents. Pour la disponibilité, je ne peux pas répondre.

It will work with the iPod touch and other competing GPS (iPhone OS) software. I can’t comment on availability.

In other words, the car kit contains a full GPS, which apparently will not only work with the iPod Touch, but also replace the iPhone’s GPS with a faster, more accurate unit. [Mac4ever via Macenstein]

The app includes:

Best routing and maps
· Navigation software including fast route planning and clear voice instructions
· Automatic re-routing if a turn is missed
· Route demo or map of route when trip planning
· Choice of the latest maps for Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada or Western Europe.

Easy to use and personalize
· User interface fully optimised with iPhone.
· Multiple display options including landscape and portrait navigation view
· Night and day color mode for optimised screen visibility in varying light conditions
· User interface available in 18 languages2
· Change view settings (2D or 3D map display)
· Easy to download from iTunes App Store

Complete phone and map integration
· Multi-touch gestures such as tap, swipe, pinch and zoom to operate the application and zoom in and out of the map
· Navigation to contacts in address book
· Points-of-interest search and call capabilities from iPhone

The press release states that the TomTom iPhone carkit that we saw a little while ago will be available later this year, as will a version specifically for the iPod Touch.