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GIS GPS Technology

TomTom and Microsoft take-over rumours

Silicon.com picks up on market rumours that Microsoft are viewing the Amsterdam based portable SatNav maker as an acquisition target…. If true, it would mean that Microsoft are really jumping into the consumer GI marketplace, are they after the great software platform or are they thinking of a new hardware business line ? Other than the Xbox MSFT don’t have a great track record with hardware…

5 replies on “TomTom and Microsoft take-over rumours”

Hmmmm have we not been here before? Did M$ not buyout Autoroute which ran on Psion handhelds and convert it into a desktop product?

No, it was the other way around. Autoroute was a desktop product for many years before it was ported to the Psion Series 3. ISTR the Psion version was launched just *after* the MS takeover (and badged as a MS product), however development was virtually finished by the time of the takeover.

ex-Nextbase (developers of autoroute) employee and (now) nostalgic for the days of the Psion!

Andrew,

I agree I was a very happy user of a Series 3a for many years… Maybe this is all part of the iPod killer device rumour – the latest tom tom is not bad at playing mp3’s

ed

If true, its certainly not good news, Microsoft are the meanest of all corporates, at the moment tomtom allows developers to create additional applications e.g. the MP3 player by opentom and the many free voices. would microsoft allow this?
Anyway visit my site to download free tomtom voices, splash screens and lots more: http://www.gpsice.co.uk

Mark

No, Oracle is the meanest of all corporations.
As megalomaniac billionaires go, Bill Gates is pretty innocuous.
And I wouldn’t discount Microsoft as a consumer hardware vendor. I have a M$ brand USB optical laptop mouse that is, hands down, the best mouse I’ve ever owned.

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