TomTom upgrades HD Traffic to version 3

Europe's biggest provider of GPS-assisted navigation devices, TomTom, has just announced an upgrade to its HD Traffic system.

TomTom XL LIVE Prices unavailable Recommended alternatives Editor's Choice TomTom GO LIVE 825 Full of Functions Navigon 92 Premium Live Feature-Rich and Easy-to-Use Mio Spirit 687

And in good for news for anybody who owns a product from TomTom's GPS LIVE range, they'll automatically receive a free update.

The HD Traffic service combines information about traffic conditions from traditional sources like TMC data, police repots and so on with real-time information about the number of mobile phones currently active in a given location.  Based on data about the average number of phones at any one time, it's possible to work out whether the traffic is flowing smoothly even on the smallest roads, allowing the system to cover five times as many miles as its predecessors.

Version 3.0 is claimed to be able to detect 75% of traffic jams on secondary roads, and improve the accuracy of information by 35%, or 30% on main roads.  However, the details provided for motorways were already impressively accurate.

The quality of the data can only improve, as every new GPS LIVE user adds extra information as they drive around.

Using the LIVE services requires a subscription of £7.99 o month, without which your TomTom device will work as a 'traditional' GPS.  You can, of course, sign up for a month at a time if you have a lot of driving to do.

> Product Survey: GPS