December 17, 2008

TomTom MapShare Hits 5Mil Users

TomTom announced that their MapShare program has grown to 5 million users which is a huge growth in a short amount of time. The system allows users to update their maps on their units and share those changes out to others in the system, networking to fix mapping mistakes. Once checked by experts back at the TomTom headquarters, the changes are pumped out so that they FIX mistakes and not propagate others!

Full Press Release Below......

TomTom, the world's leading navigation solutions provider, today announces that members of the TomTom Map Share community have made a total of five million map improvements worldwide. This milestone results from a surging adoption of TomTom's proprietary technology by the TomTom Map Share community, which has grown 1000 percent from half a million users at the beginning of this year to over five million users today.

TomTom Map Share allows drivers to make improvements to their map instantly on their device. Leveraging submissions from its base of 25 million users to date, TomTom is able to deliver the most up-to-date maps. Once checked by TomTom specialists, these updates are made available to the entire Map Share community, ensuring TomTom customers always have access to the most accurate maps.

"Community involvement via Map Share is an essential aspect of TomTom's 'best maps' offering, allowing end users to take an active role in helping TomTom ensure our maps are most in line with real-life driving conditions," said Jocelyn Vigreux, president of TomTom Inc. "To put this five million milestone in perspective: a one-hour trip made anywhere in North America or Europe will be influenced by twenty to thirty Map Share updates. The significance of the milestone also becomes clear when one compares it to the 15,000 reports that Tele Atlas receives on average per month from end users via its online map reporting system, Map Insight."

Some interesting facts about Map Share changes include:

Hundreds of thousands of street names have been added;

Close to a million roads that were incorrectly blocked (or open) are now included (or excluded) from TomTom routes; and

End users in the U.S., U.K. and Germany make the most improvements worldwide.

"The road is constantly in flux - from changing street names to closed bridges -- so the ability to make map updates directly on my device is invaluable," said Map Share user Roberts Galvis. "TomTom's Map Share is easy to use and it helps me keep my maps up-to-date and accurate."

TomTom's complete map package -- high-quality maps pre-installed on all products, TomTom's latest map guarantee™, the TomTom Map Update Service™ and Map Share -- allows TomTom to provide customers with the most up-to-date and reliable maps in the industry.

Map Share corrections are available to all TomTom customers via the TomTom HOME software, which comes standard with all TomTom devices.