TomTom to use cellphone data to determine traffic conditions
I thought they must be doing something along these lines. TomTom have a with Vodafone (disclaimer, Vodafone are a client), to anonymously process the location and speed of Vodafone cellphones on roads (worked out from cell towers)...and relay this as traffic condition data to new TomTom devices with an embedded Vodafone SIM.
Putting aside the real-world computational issues (it's a bloody interesting design problem), this is another really interesting move to embedded connectivity in a range of devices (Kindle with its embedded EVDO connection and the really cool 'Dash' SatNav in the States spring to mind).
Lots of devices are starting to spring up with embedded wifi connectivity in the home, but there's a wonderful convergence of externally used devices with embedded, single purpose connectivity in mind.
The question is, buy one of these, or a phone with GPS?
