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TomTom GO Live 1000 features capacitive touch screen, app store

TomTom's new GO Live 1000 features a revised interface to take advantage of its capacitive touch screen, as well as a new app store.

Antuan Goodwin Reviews Editor / Cars
Antuan Goodwin gained his automotive knowledge the old fashioned way, by turning wrenches in a driveway and picking up speeding tickets. From drivetrain tech and electrification to car audio installs and cabin tech, if it's on wheels, Antuan is knowledgeable.
Expertise Reviewing cars and car technology since 2008 focusing on electrification, driver assistance and infotainment Credentials
  • North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY) Awards Juror
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Antuan Goodwin
2 min read
TomTom

TomTom's new GO Live 1000 features a revised interface to take advantage of the new capabilities of its capacitive touchscreen.
TomTom's new GO Live 1000 features a revised interface to take advantage of the new capabilities of its capacitive touch screen. TomTom

There are a lot of good reasons that GPS manufacturers have given for sticking with resistive touch-screen technology for their devices, despite the fact that most smartphone manufacturers have made the jump to capacitive. The most common reason is the ability to use the unit in a cold car while wearing gloves. Lately, we've been seeing a wave of capacitive-screened portable navigation devices, offering the advantages of multitouch and requiring less pressing force to register an input. The latest is the new European-market TomTom GO Live 1000 series.

The 4.3-inch TomTom GO Live 1000 brings with it a new interface dubbed "Fluid Touch" that should take advantage of the capacitive screen to make the maps and menus easier to navigate. Under the skin, basing the 1000's new OS on WebKit allows TomTom to join the app store craze by making it possible to install functionality enhancing applications and easier to develop such apps.

The moniker GO Live means that the 1000 also features connectivity to TomTom's Live data service (first seen on the TomTom GO Live 740) and the HD Traffic updates, weather forecasts, speed and traffic camera locations, flight information, and Google Local Search that it brings. One year of TomTom Live is included in the purchase price.

A second TomTom GO Live 1005 model will be added to the lineup within the month, bringing with it a larger 5-inch display. Both units will feature a new suction cup mount with a magnetic cradle that enables one-handed placement and removal of the PND upon entering or exiting the vehicle.

The TomTom GO Live 1000 and 1005 have only been officially announced for the European market, but like the TomTom Start/Ease of last year, we're sure that we'll see some sort of North American announcement soon.