Windows Phone Thoughts: Better Than DougDoug? TomTom Navigator 6 Reviewed

Setting Up a Route With TTN6


Figure 2: The Main Menu. Click on the graphic for a zoomed view.

TTN6 displays a map with your current position when it’s started. Tap on the map and the Main Menu is displayed. Simple navigation (one destination with no waypoints) is started by tapping on the "Navigate to…" icon.


Figure 3: Many ways to specify your destination. Click on the graphic for a zoomed view.

Several options for choosing your destination are offered. During setup, you specify your Home location, and you can navigate to it with one tap. You can also save favorites for commonly used destinations. A recent destination or Point of Interest (POI) can be selected. A destination can be specified by selecting a contact from your address book. If no easier method of specifying your destination is available, you can enter the address directly.


Figure 4: The fine (and not so fine) points of addresses. Click on the graphic for a zoomed view.

Options for selection by address include a general vicinity (Zip Code, City Center) or a more specific location (the exact address or a nearby intersection).


Figure 5: Specify the city. Click on the graphic for a zoomed view.

The process for entering the address is similar to that offered by most other nav products. First, you select the city.


Figure 6: TomTom is street smart. Click on the graphic for a zoomed view.

Once the city is selected, you begin to enter the street name. Streets that can be selected are limited to those in the chosen city. As you enter the name, the displayed list is progressively filtered by what you’ve entered. Once you’ve selected the street, you then enter the house number. If you’ve selected the Intersection option, you selected the first street and TTN6 displays all streets that intersect with the first street.


Figure 7: Using POIs. Click on the graphic for a zoomed view.

Specifying a POI as your destination brings up the menu above, which provides a number of ways to limit the POIs displayed. POIs near home, your current position, your destination, a specified city or along your route are choices for filtering.


Figure 8: What’s cookin’? Click on the graphic for a zoomed view.

After selecting a category, a list of matches is displayed, ordered from nearest to farthest. You can also use the Find button to search within the displayed list.