SlashGear

The first early reviews of TomTom’s navigation app for the iPhone 3G and 3GS are filtering through, and we can’t help but think the software sounds a little half-baked.  Over at Shift Solutions, reviewer Mathew’s early conclusion tips the disappointed theme for the whole piece – “if this software is as good as Tom Tom gets, I don’t know why anyone would buy a Tom Tom GPS” – before going on to critique the quality of the mapping data and the app’s sometimes bizarre directions.

Video demo after the cut

“[TomTom] also suggested I drive right past my house, down to the nearby roundabout, and come back to get home. All this weirdness left me wondering, until I remember that it seemed to want me to drive around roundabouts anti clockwise; I have a sneaking suspicion the software hasn’t been told we drive on the left side of the road [in Australia]” Mathew, Shift Solutions

Meanwhile Recombu seem a little happier with their UK version of the TomTom app, shooting the video review you can see below.  Since the in-car cradle kit is not yet available, they rigged up a slightly more precarious system with sticky-tape: great for MacGyver points, but not perhaps the safest mount.

They also point out that, should you receive a call while using TomTom, the app ends and then restarts once the call finishes.  ”Not too bad” they say, but you’ll probably want to get people off the phone as soon as possible in order not to miss your next turn.  We’re withholding judgment until we have a chance to try out TomTom for iPhone 3G and 3GS in depth ourselves, but so far Shift Solutions final words aren’t proving all that inspiring: “Assisted GPS Navigation is certainly a great leap foward for the iPhone platform, but the Tom Tom offering feels more like one small step.”