TomTom's user data goldmine
I just posted this as a comment to a O'Reilly Radar post on Tom Tom's new Google Maps integration, which is 'post device' (via syncing). (I'm recycling the effort I make writing comments/emails elsewhere).
Actually, TomTom's can 'do internet' on their devices in a non-integrated way - I have a two year old TomTom 'One' (the cheapest device they offer) and for a €50 annual fee, it uses bluetooth, paired with my 3G phone, to create a data connection to their web server, which pulls down realtime traffic data (and performs route re-planning).
So they have an established internet infrastructure, in all recent devices; they're just not choosing to use it beyond narrow applications, imho.
I've craved a way to get better quality 'Points of Interest' into my TomTom - they seem to have restricted their restaurant data, for example, to paid listings - I'd much rather pay for a TimeOut or Fodors guide to be uploaded...
I often perform 'in car' lookups on local PoI's. I have a European map, and so if I'm in Italy, a quick 'best restaurant as recommended by Fodors, within 20km' PoI lookup would be incredibly useful...I wouldn't be able to anticipate and plan those kind of requirements in advance (but I could anticipate the types of info I would like to upload in advance.
Another feature I miss would be retrospective updating of PoI's - I travel to a bunch of places - if I could add them to the TomTom, and when back on my PC, I could edit a set of data around that trip (heck, it could even be tied into TripAdvisor type user profiles).
Open up this data TomTom - you (and I) are sitting on a goldmine of useful stuff!
