Good news if you’re an Android user who wants more variety in their available navigation apps, as TomTom has just announced that a new app that includes navigation, map, and traffic data will hit Android OS in October. Pricing and the exact launch date will be revealed at a later time.
TomTom says that they will preview the new app at IFA 2012 today
“We aim to make TomTom content and services available to as many devices and platforms as we can,” says Corinne Vigreux, Managing Director at TomTom. “Bringing TomTom navigation to Android smartphones is, therefore, a significant milestone for us.”
The full-fledged Android app will features on-board maps, IQ routes, HD traffic, advanced lane guidance, 2D/3D driving views, and even speed cameras (for a small in-app fee) – technology that TomTom users should be very familiar with.
Android users have been able to downloaded the TomTom Places app, which allows them to search for places of interest like hotels, stores, and restaurants, for awhile now. But this is the first time that a fully-realized TomTom navigation app will hit Android.
Earlier this month, Google maps gave live traffic updates to many more cities across the globe, including 130 smaller cities within the United States. Of course, a TomTom Android app would be in direct competition with Google’s own map service.
In other navigation app news, we heard a report yesterday that Facebook may be interested in Waze. Whether or not its for a collaboration or an acquisition is unknown at this point.