TomTom has enhanced its application to provide real-time traffic and local search, which it claims helps consumers avoid traffic delays and find the fastest routes.
 
The new features include a local search tool powered by Google and an enhanced integration with the iPhone interface. The application is available for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch.

?TomTom is a software company with a long history in the portable navigation device, in-dash automotive and mobile GPS navigation categories,? said Kevin Carter, spokesman for TomTom, Boston.

?While PNDs still comprise the lion?s share of our business, our TomTom application for iPhone offering is strategically important,? he said.

?As the GPS navigation industry evolves, TomTom is uniquely well positioned to succeed, because we offer GPS navigation products across the major categories, including the mobile space.?

TomTom is a location and navigation services provider.

Here is a screen grab of the application:

Mobile traffic
The company claims that it updates its traffic automatically every three minutes, providing real-time traffic speed and incident reports directly to the handset.

When a delay is found on a route, users are notified and can be automatically re-routed to an alternative faster route.

Traffic delays can be heard audibly on the phone or displayed on the screen.

Consumers can use the local search feature to look up the latest local Google listings to locate and route to any location, pinch and zoom for a more detailed view of the navigation map and the application features music fading where the music volume decrease during turn-by-turn instructions and then increases when instructions are complete.

Additionally, the company claims that the new application includes 1 million more miles of U.S. roads than its competition.

With the application, users can find an entry in their iPhone contacts list and find the way there

Using the text-to-speech feature, consumers can keep their eyes on the road. The spoken instructions include city and street names.
 
Although the application is available for iPhone and iPod touch users, the company has no plans to expand it to other smartphone platforms.

?While TomTom is always working to deliver new innovations to our customers, we have not announced any plans to expand beyond our application for the iPhone and iPod Touch at this time,? Mr. Carter said.

Here is another screen grab of the application:

Location solution
There is an automatic day and night mode which calculates local sunrise and sunset times to automatically adjust the screen brightness while driving.

The application is free to existing TomTom iPhone customers. New users can buy the application for $59.99, which includes maps of the United States or for $69.99, which features maps of the U.S. and Canada.

?TomTom is continuously working to deliver news innovations, features and enhancements for our application,? Mr. Carter said. 

Here is another screen grab of the application: