The new TomTom app that turns an iPhone into a turn-by-turn GPS navigation system spells the beginning of the end for standalone GPS. Not everywhere, but at least on dashboards, where a smartphone can now do everything a GPS can do and cost less than purchasing both.

Like most users, I have been unhappy with the GPS applications available for my iPhone. While overpriced at $99.95, the TomTom software is the first to truly bring standalone GPS performance to a smartphone platform. When the company releases its car kit, dashboard mounting and powering the iPhone will become easier.

With iPhones selling for as little as $99, the combination of phone, software, and mounting kit should cost less that $300. While you can purchase a nice GPS for that, it would provide little more than navigation and perhaps hands-free for a Bluetooth phone. The iPhone is a real pocket-sized computer that does everything the GPS does, and a lot more besides.

Still, a standalone GPS can--and this may be the genre's salvation--provide a larger, more readable screen than the iPhone. It can also provide real (not touch screen) buttons for some functions.

Read More