Hoo doggy. First we thought that we were definitely getting TomTom for the iPhone, giving us 3D, realtime navigation. Then we heard that the iPhone SDK explicitly prohibits just that sort of application. We weren't worried, though, because TomTom told us we'd get it and we, you know, trusted them.


Turns out TomTom was, like many a GPS manufacturer, "Scared [expletive]-less" by the thought that the new iPhone would have 3G, so when a Reuters reporter asked them about it, they said "sure, we'll make some software for it. It'll be grand." So writes Joel Johnson of BoingBoing Gadgets, adding that an anonymous source within TomTom let them know that there's no internal development yet and no prototypes either.

Bummer? Bummer. Here's our worst fear: that line in the SDK agreement is there specifically so that only one company can create turn-by-turn 3D GPS navigation: TeleNav. TeleNav is nice and all, but it costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 a month and they have agreements with AT&T that lock down the GPS on many handsets (we're looking at you, Verizon BlackBerry!) so they can only access the GPS via TeleNav. We at least know that the GPS works in Google Maps, but will Apple really prohibit other companies from using it to make full GPS apps? Are they jonesing for some kickbacks revenue sharing now that they're not getting that from AT&T anymore?