Rob Clymo: Columnist - Tech & Gadgets
The Clymo Brief: Personalised sat-nav
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Are British males more considerate than other drivers? Research from satellite navigation company TomTom says they are. Its recent study found UK chaps were the best in Europe for distributing information and helping other drivers via TomTom’s online Map Share service. Based on research in the UK, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, 67% of men are also more likely to do this over just 45% of women.

The idea behind TomTom’s Map Share is to enable people to make corrections to their own in-car maps, based on everyday observations on the highways and byways, and then swap the data with other users.

The Map Share community, which currently has over two million registered members, is the largest of its type. Every day, 16,000 new members join with users submitting over 10,000 map improvements every 24 hours.
Community feel
Social networking websites have shown that people want to use the online experience to interact with others. Rather cannily, the imaginative Dutch company has seized on this line of thinking to make the Map Share concept really come alive. Visit the TomTom website and you’ll find that, far from being just another dull corporate affair, it is a place with real community feel.

For example, alongside the ability to update maps and share that data with fellow users, there are areas dedicated to uploading and downloading custom created voices. There are also gallery areas where users can share graphics and pictures of their favourite cars or bikes. The whole project feels like a fun experience, but at the same time, bristles with information.

A raft of TomTom products has been unveiled recently, with all designed to work in harmony with the Map Share system. These include the top-of-the-range GO, a widescreen XL model, the ONE and a revised biker-targeted RIDER model.
More compact
The GO is a user-friendly dream – simply speak the name of your destination and the little unit does the rest. It also offers hands-free mobile phone calling via Bluetooth with a safety-conscious auto-answer function.

But for me, the standout units are the TomTom ONE and XL. Both models are a little cheaper than those in the GO range, although that does largely depend on which map and feature package you go for. A European map spec can add around £50 to the asking price.

The new units feel much more compact than earlier TomTom models, but the XL actually offers a larger 4.3 inch anti-glare touch screen, while the ONE has a slightly smaller 3.5 inch viewable area.
Another revelation comes in the shape of a brand new mounting device for your windscreen or dashboard. It’s called the EasyPort, and once detached it ingeniously folds flat allowing you to stash your sat-nav conveniently in a pocket or bag until you’re ready to hit the road again. Useful if you’re parked in a less than salubrious neighbourhood. The internal speaker system on all these devices has also been beefed up to provide a crisp and clean audio performance.

Best route
Once you’ve plumbed your chosen model into the car and powered up, you’ll find a whole pile of surprises. To address ever-rising petrol prices and make journey calculations more realistic, TomTom has introduced IQ Routes. This calculates a route based on real average road speeds and traffic conditions as opposed to maximum speed limits, which can distort trip calculations. It then chooses the best route to take depending on the day of the week. This means you get far more accurate journey timings along with better fuel economy.
Once you’re on your way, there’s a natty lane guidance system that advises which lane to use when approaching complicated or difficult junctions. There are speed limit warnings for the lead-footed drivers among us, plus a safety camera database that alerts you to those roadside pests. A Help Me! menu carries a complete listing of emergency and breakdown service numbers.

Points of interest
My favourite aspect is the points of interest feature, which highlights anything and everything from a theme park or stately home through to a swanky restaurant or greasy spoon roadside café. This makes a great distraction for bored occupants. But it’s the ability to create your own voice commands by sampling any member of your family that is perhaps the main thing to keep the kids amused as you navigate skilfully round an approaching contraflow.

Sitting behind the wheel of a car can often be a frustrating experience unless you’re on the road in the wee small hours when everyone else is in bed. But you know what? Innovative and fun technology like this really does help bring the sparkle back into motoring. Even when you’re going nowhere fast on the M25.


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Rob Clymo is a journalist employed on a freelance basis by Microsoft. The views in this article are those of the author and not of MSN or Microsoft.