BIOS: Technology Means Business

Only one big week before CeBIT and TomTom has already unveiled a few details about its upcoming hardware. The company is set to launch two new in-car sat-nav models, the TomTom GO 510 and TomTom GO 910. A third, mid-range model, the TomTom GO 710 in-car navigation unit, will also be available to European customers.

The new TomTom GO range offers a new design, high resolution, widescreen 4-inch LCD touchscreen, and improved GPS performance. TomTom also says it has added hundreds of features and software improvements, and map coverage has also been enhanced map coverage.

The company claims the TomTom GO 910 is the first ever portable navigation device featuring multi-continental map coverage including the US, Canada and the whole of Europe at no additional charge.

The new TomTom HOME dock and TomTom HOME software allow you to manage, download and store additional content from your computer, and a fully integrated MP3 player has been added for playing music, audiobooks, and podcasts. There’s also text-to-speech functionality for spoken text messages. The TomTom GO 510, 710 and 910 will all feature improved handsfree functionality and will ship with TomTom’s newest safety camera database already installed.

Also hard to ignore is the fact that the TomTom GO 510, TomTom GO 710 and TomTom GO 910 all still feature the well-known round GO shape. No doubt the round shape of the GO is preserved because this is a necessity for the implementation of a high quality speaker. As you probably know, this speaker is needed to be able to produce the well-known powerful and warm GO sound.

The TomTom GO 510 is the new entry level model. And, while the complete specs aren’t known just yet, it’s likely to have a 380MHz CPU and 64MB of RAM. The device will also ship with a docking station, can be used as a handsfree car kit by means of Bluetooth and will feature a regional map with the Major Roads of Europe integrated.

The TomTom GO 710 succeeds the TomTom GO 700 but doesn’t use an internal hard disk drive anymore. Instead, it uses SD cards as its data carrier. It ships with a map of the entire continent of Europe, and will be powered by a 380MHz CPU and 64MB of RAM. You also get a docking station and possibly a remote control.

The top-of-the-line TomTom GO 910 is likely to include a 400MHz CPU, 128MB RAM and a 20GB hard disk drive, although specifications could very well change closer to launch. It’s also the first portable navigation device on the market featuring multi-continental map coverage including the whole of Europe, the US and Canada. Of course it also ships with the docking station, and features handfree calling.

[Best GPS Pricing UK]
[Best GPS Pricing US]

Got this product? Got a camcorder/mic? Let us post YOUR video/podcast review!