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One of my personal highlights from the World Wide Developers Conference held a few months ago was the announcement of turn-by-turn GPS applications coming to the iPhone. TomTom appeared on stage showcasing their efforts, including a convenient car kit to enhance GPS and audio signals, and promised the app would be with us shortly.

Not a minute too soon, TomTom navigation applications have began to appear in the App Store, and so far include New Zealand ($94.99), US & Canada ($99.99), Australia ($79.99) and Western Europe ($139.99). The U.K. & Ireland app has also appeared in the UK iTunes Store priced at £59.99 ($99.99). None of these prices include the in-car kit from TomTom, which is rumored to cost $194 bundled with the application, although there’s no word from TomTom on the exact pricing and availability just yet.

Your GPS options are by no means limited to TomTom, of course, with Navigon and CoPilot both offering solid alternatives. Navigon is selling their North America application for $69.99, while CoPilot’s version will only set you back $34.99 - considerably cheaper than TomTom.

I had hoped to see single applications from TomTom, Navigon and CoPilot, allowing you to use the in-app purchases feature to select only the maps that you would require. If I decide to visit Europe on vacation, does that mean I would need to purchase a second application costing $139.99? It would be a lot simpler and cheaper to allow users to select which countries they require, therefore only charging them for those particular maps.

We’ll see over time how things pan out for GPS on the iPhone. Many users have complained that the iPhone’s GPS chip isn’t strong enough, causing the signal to often fluctuate in and out, while others are enjoying the all-in-one experience now available to iPhone users.

Have you been waiting for TomTom’s application to appear? Already purchased it? Let us know what you think!

Product [TomTom for iPhone]