You can now customize your TomTom GO with a personal picture that displays on start-up and shutdown! This is easily accomplished using your PC and the included USB cable. To change the TomTom splash screen follow the instructions below:

1. Select the image or photograph you want to have displayed on your TomTom GO
2. Open an image editing program (Paint, Microsoft Office Picture Manager, etc.)and rotate the selected image 90 degrees clockwise
3. Re-size the image to 320 pixels high x 240 pixels wide. (For TomTom Navigator the image needs to be resized to 320 pixels HIGH and 240 pixels WIDE.)
4. Save the image as a 24-bit Bitmap file named “splash.bmp”
5. Plug Your TomTom GO into your computer via the USB cable
6. Open your TomTom GO “hard drive” within My Computer
7. Locate the original splash file which is called “splash.bmp” and rename it to “splash1.bmp” (this naming allows you keep the original TomTom splash screen)
8. Copy your image (splash.bmp) from your computer to the same TomTom GO directory
9. Disconnect and boot up your TomTom GO.  Your personalized picture should be there to greet you when you turn it on or off!

Popularity: 55% [?]

This week we unveiled the company’s first integrated U.S. advertising campaign. Over the coming months we will be targeting our core consumers via television, radio, print, and online ads. We’re reaching out to potential TomTom customers with commercials surrounding network TV and national cable programs on ESPN, Spike TV, Discovery channel and more.

But why wait to check out our new campaign? You can preview our three new television spots right here at Club TomTom. Feel free to take a peek at them and then, using the “Poll feature” in the right-hand column, let us know which is your favorite. We’d also love to hear your feedback and reactions to the ads, so go ahead and submit a comment to this post or email us at asktomtom@clubtomtom.com.

DougDoug commercial (4MB)

SueSue commercial (4MB)

ScottScott commercial (4MB)

Popularity: 25% [?]

When hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast states, citizens and corporations alike looked for ways they could help.  TomTom is proud that, in partnership with our digital map provider Tele Atlas, we were able to assist by contributing more than 300 TomTom GO 700 navigation devices to the search and recovery efforts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.  At the request of the Louisiana Department of Transportation, the devices were sent to the Offices of Emergency Preparedness in each state, with the bulk being deployed in New Orleans.   They were used by a broad array of government agencies, including the DOTD, FEMA, the U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard operations to help navigate the submerged road networks.  The GO 700 was mounted in Black Hawk helicopters and flotillas from the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and other amphibious vehicles to help locate stranded individuals who were calling into the authorities with their locations.   TomTom was on site in Baton Rouge to assist in training and deployment.

Now, one month later, the devices are being leveraged in reconstruction efforts.  At TomTom we continue to keep the people affected by this horrific tragedy in our thoughts.  We remain dedicated, as fellow citizens, to rebuilding the great city of New Orleans – ironically, the site where we first announced the GO 700 to Americans just this past spring at CTIA Wireless convention.  We look forward to a time when we can revisit a prosperous New Orleans.

Photo: Joanne Aliber of the TomTom team shows a local officer how to use the GO 700.

Popularity: 18% [?]