TomTom of The Netherlands introduced its first GPS enable digital action camera Wednesday in a move aimed squarely at taking on category leader GoPro Inc.

TomTom says its Bandit Action Camera uses a wide angle
lens, high-end 16 MP CCD sensor and a powerful processor.  It
is also completely waterproof, eliminating the need for an additional
bulky case. Smartphone app
available on iOS only at launch.  An Android version of the app
will be available
soon.

TomTom said its new Bandit Action Camera makes editing and sharing videos quick and easy.  Instead of spending hours downloading and sorting through footage, users can now create an exciting edit and share it within moments of the action.  

“Now every hero can share his or her skills,” the company said in a not so veiled reference to category leader GoPro Inc.'s Hero series of cameras.

TomTom claims the Bandit is the first ever camera to come with a built-in media server, eliminating the need to download footage before being able to edit it.  The camera works with a companion app, making it possible to create and share videos in a matter of minutes, simply by shaking a smartphone.

“We know that the biggest frustration people have with action cameras today is the time and effort it takes to edit,” says Corinne Vigreux, co-founder and managing director, TomTom Consumer. “With TomTom Bandit we’ve cut the editing time down from hours to minutes – all it takes is a shake!”

The TomTom Bandit works with a smartphone app, which includes a superfast viewfinder. Footage can be reviewed instantly with the smartphone app thanks to the built-in media server. In editing mode, a simple shake of the smartphone instantly creates an exciting movie. Users can then easily make changes, add music and add overlays of favourite metrics, such as speed, before sharing with friends.

“We took a simple, but radical approach to solving the editing problem,” says Slobodan Stanisic, lead engineer, TomTom. “With all existing action cameras you first need to download gigabytes of footage to a powerful PC, a process that can take a long time. Then you need to find the highlights, put together a story and format it. We know this often takes hours. Not with the TomTom Bandit. We have designed a camera where the footage is processed on the camera itself, making the editing process far easier and much faster.”

TomTom said the Bandit Action Camera will be available at www.tomtom.com  and selected retailers in May for €429 Euros, or  about $468 at Wednesday's exchange rate.  It will be available in APAC and the US later this summer.