Hasta La Gadget!

Finding a Taxi in New York City isn’t that difficult of an experience if you know where Taxis usually travel and congregate. But for out-of-towners, it could be a confusing and frustrating experience, which makes mobile apps dedicated to hunting down Taxis even more important in major cities.

TomTom introduced a new taxi hailing service last September in Amsterdam that allowed travelers to call for a taxi from specific terminals. The idea was a good one, although finding a terminal while you’re head is spinning from binge drinking might be a challenge. That’s why TomTom is introducing an iPhone app that allows people to use its taxi hailing service right from their phone.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: 5-inch Samsung Full HD AMOLED Panel Begins Mass Production In February?, Samsung Galaxy S4 Arrives This March 15th, Goes On Sale In April (Rumor),

TomTom has been continually upping its navigation game, what with its partnership with Apple in iOS 6 and the HD Traffic 6.0 upgrade and requisite Android app announced this summer. Far be it from the Dutch service to rest on its mapping laurels, though: it’s now poised to take on Uber and other players in the taxi-hailing world. Last week, The Next Web reported that the company acquired the taxi-fetching app maker TXXI in an effort to roll out a TomTom cab-booking service, and today the site reports that the theory is now confirmed. Speaking with TNW, TomTom said it indeed bought TXXI to “help develop tools to support the taxi market,” with initial efforts focusing on Amsterdam. Last month, the company began a trial program in that city to let restaurant and hotel guests order a taxi from a mini-kiosk called the Taxi Butler. On the cab side, there’s the so-called Taxi Assistant, a TomTom-branded device which alerts drivers to incoming requests. No word on whether the company will eventually introduce mobile apps, but we’d say it’s a pretty safe bet.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

TomTom confirms new taxi-ordering service, beginning trial rollout in Amsterdam originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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