It's a question a lot of us have been asking: With so many people stepping into smartphones that have GPS capability, how long will it be until these phones destroy the standalone GPS business altogether? ZDNet had the same questions, and had a sit-down with Tom Murray, senior vice president of market development at TomTom.

According to Murray, the fact that Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) generally have bigger screens, onboard maps, better audio, and sharability in their map systems still make them a better option to own as a standalone device than solely depending on your smartphone for GPS applications. Having to buy separate car mounts for your phone and draining battery life from your phone and not being able to use it for other functions were also discussed.

While TomTom would obviously love you to buy their PNDs, they are not completely turning their backs on the smartphone world. TomTom has released an iPhone app which uses the same navigation tool as their own devices. At a fairly steep (for an app) $49.99, you may as well step into the real thing and leave your iPhone for other tasks.

Check out the complete interview in the source link below.