Article by Dave Burrows

TomTom yesterday released version 1.40 update for TomTom Navigator which is a free download from the TomTom website if you have purchased the product.

Most of the changes we've seen are very welcome, and has made the product much more easier to use whilst on the road.  Take a look at the new features below and also a comparison of screenshots.

• Add your own Points of Interest (POI) - You can now create and maintain your own POI databases, using the new "Add as Point of Interest" option available throughout the application (e.g. when you tap & hold a location in the map view).
  

• New "Next Highway" option - When enabled, the Navigator view will always show the name of the first highway or highway exit you will encounter in the top right corner. In some situations, simply knowing you need to "get on the M-23" can be far more useful than any amount of "turn left, turn right" instructions.
  

• New "Show POI" option - A new icon in the Navigator menu allows you to enable or disable the display of Points of Interest with a few taps of your finger. New "Active Guidance" option - Another new icon in the Navigator menu lets you totally disable guidance (not just spoken instructions) with a few taps of your finger
  

• New "Recalculate" option - When you veer off the planned route, Navigator will initially try to get you back on route; only after a while will it assume you really want to take another route. Tapping this new icon will force Navigator to immediately plan a new route.
  

• Improved Navigator menu graphics - The menu graphics have been improved, for example to more clearly emphasize the sound on/off state. Furthermore, the whole bottom bar now works as a "back" button.
  

• Plug-in POI databases - A large set of freely downloadable "plug-in Point-of-Interest databases has been made available for use in TomTom Navigator (most of them made by users of our RoutePlanner and Citymaps products)
  

• POI database tools - Information and tools have been made available for creating, converting, installing and sharing Point-of-Interest databases .

Also the addition of the following:-

• "German street names" - users who installed the complete map of Germany found that the street names for some cities (e.g. Wetzlar) were garbled.
  

• Many other small changes - the compass now more clearly emphasizes North; the map view can now zoom out even further; POI can by found by any part of their name even if they are very far away; the preferences now allow you to hide make the +/- zoom-symbols in the navigator view invisible; the "Favourites" view graphics have been improved; the "switch map" dialog now shows file sizes; etc.)

TomTom Navigator 1.40

  TomTom Navigator 1.20/21

Navigator Screen

Navigator Screen

Navigator Menu

Navigator Menu

Navigator Properties Menu

Navigator Properties Menu

Comments ?

Have any comments about this review ?  Post them here.