TomTom has introduced the TomTom Rider, a new portable device developed to meet the navigation needs of motorbike riders. The Rider boasts the ability to feed audio instructions directly to the user’s Bluetooth-enabled earpiece or helmet, allowing riders to fully concentrate on the road ahead.

Just like some modern smartphones such as the Nokia Lumia 720 (review), the 4.3" touchscreen of the TomTom Rider can be used whilst wearing gloves. The device also comes with a new charging dock that allows it to turn on when the bike is started and turn off when the motorcycle’s ignition is turned off.

Using the Rider, bikers will be able to create and upload their personalised routes direct to the device. By downloading the Tyre interactive software, bikers can search, create and edit their own routes on a PC.

Alternatively, a unique ‘Upload Routes and Go’ feature enables motorcyclists to upload routes directly to their device and share them with other bikers via Bluetooth.

TomTom Rider key features

• Winding Roads - TomTom’s Windings Roads feature enables users to select routes with the most bends in them, resulting in a more exciting ride.
• Free Lifetime Maps - TomTom Rider includes free Lifetime Maps. For the life of the product, users can download four or more full updates of the map on the device every year, which includes all updates to the road network, addresses as well as Points of Interest.
• Map Share - Users benefit from free Daily Map Changes from the TomTom Map Share community, which includes dynamic changes the likes of new speed limits and blocked roads. Map Share assists users overcome the more frequent road changes and so avoid unnecessary delays or detours.
• Points of Interest - Via TomTom Rider users can access the Points of Interest feature to find interesting places to stop en-route such as restaurants and fuel stations. Personalised Points of Interest can also be added for future reference.
• IQ Routes - TomTom’s IQ Routes employs real travel times for roads shared by millions of bikers, therefore these provide the optimum route and arrival time.

The device covers 10 countries and more than 2.2 million kilometers in Southern Africa:

• South Africa
• Lesotho
• Swaziland
• Malawi
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
• Namibia
• Angola
• Mozambique
• Botswana

Pricing

Bikers can choose from one of two options available:

• TomTom Rider with an RRP of R4 700
• TomTom Rider Premium with RRP of R5 800: The Rider Premium includes a car mount for the Rider as well as a bike anti-theft solution.

“With TomTom Rider, bikers can not only choose where to go, but more importantly how they want to get there,” said Daan Henderickx, country manager for TomTom South Africa. ”We listened to feedback from motorbike communities in order to create a device that was customised for the way they want to ride.”

“We found that the overwhelming majority of bikers use their motorcycle for recreational purposes and many actively seek out routes that offer fantastic scenic touring experiences. TomTom Rider gives bikers the ability to find and ride the best scenic routes in the world,” Henderickx concluded.

In other motoring related news, Audi recently expanded its A7 Sportback range in South Africa, with the local introduction of a new diesel-powered variant in the form of the 3.0 TDI BiTurbo.