If portable navigation pushed aside in-dash systems by being less expensive and able to move from car to car, then iPhone nav apps are using the same advantages to replace portables. And iPhone nav apps are also more convenient since a car owner only has to carry one device instead of two, and many offer features such as Internet-connected POI search and automatic mapping software updates.
But iPhone apps have their disadvantages: The screens are even smaller than those of portables and they take up lots of memory and drain an iPhone's battery much faster.
With Volvo recently announcing HD Radio as a standard feature on all of the company's vehicles and BMW and Mercedes Benz already on board the HD Radio bandwagon, more cars are available with the technology than ever before. Now owners of the latest iPhone or iPod touch and any vehicle with an aux-in, iPod integration or Bluetooth wireless music streaming will be able to listen to HD Radio on the car's stock stereo system, thanks to a new app.
For several years Chrysler has been the only automaker offering satellite TV as an add-on option for its rear-seat entertainment systems, and now it will be the only automaker offering broadcast TV as well. The service will be provided by FLO TV, which was developed by Qualcomm, and offers around 20 channels, including CBS, NBC, Fox News, MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.
Audiovox will supply the hardware for the Chrysler system, which will be available for through the company's Mopar parts division as a dealer-installed option. Audiovox introduced the product at the Consumer Electronics Show last January and recently announced that it will soon launch it nationwide through the Audiovox brand Advent's "expeditor" network, which works with car dealerships -- not just Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers. Possibly at a price that could undercut Chrysler.
Autonet Mobile and General Motors last week announced a deal to bring on-the-road Internet to the rest of the domestic automaker's brands: Chevrolet, Buick and GMC. The pair previously made the service available on Cadillac vehicles last spring.
Positioned as a tool for business people on the go who need to stay connected, the service also makes a great backseat babysitter for the connected-tech generation. If rear-seat entertainment system with a built-in DVD player kept kids quiet a decade ago, as teens they probably now prefer texting friends on their iPhones.
In a move that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, Ford has partnered with electronics retail giant Best Buy to help car owners connect their mobile phones with the automaker's Sync system.
Best Buy will be offering the service through its Best Buy Mobile division, which sells mobile phones and wireless plans, as well as through the retailer's Geek Squad, which also offers car electronics installation -- and sells competing aftermarket products.
Remotely start your car to get it nice and toasty in the winter or chill it in the heat of summer? There's an app for that.
Directed Electronics releases its free Viper SmartStart iPhone app today, which works with stand-alone Viper remote starter systems or can be added to most existing Viper alarm systems with remote start. It works with the iPhone or with an iPod touch via WiFi, allowing owners to crank the engine, lock and unlock the doors, pop the trunk or cause the horn or a siren to sound with the panic button.
Viper claims that unlike keychain remote start systems, the iPhone app has "unlimited range" as long as the SmartStart and iPhone have a signal. The system will be sold exclusively at Best Buy stores.
Any car lover who also cares about music knows that luxury automakers have significantly stepped up their audio offerings in the past few years. The result has been an unprecedented number of high-end automaker/audio-brand hook-ups.
Our inquisitive and competitive natures got us wondering which of these systems is best. So we rounded up six luxury cars with marquee-brand systems and listened to them over the course of several days. The feature High-End Stock Stereo Sound-Off highlights each system's strength and weakness and which ones we liked best.
Our reference for judging these systems? Decades of collective experience evaluating audio system and components for esteemed (and now mostly extinct) enthusiast publications such as Audio, Stereo Review, Car Audio and Electronics, Car Stereo Review, Mobile Entertainment and Sound & Vision. We also set up an in-office system composed of high-end home audio gear to use as a reference and give the Edmunds editorial staff a basis by which to evaluate the sound of stock car stereo systems.
Add to the growing list of car-specific iPhone apps DangerZones, which pinpoints the locations of over 200,000 traffic fatalities across the U.S. The developer of the app claims that it culls five years worth of motor vehicle fatality data to tip drivers off to trouble spots along their routes and commutes and also displays stats and graphics to communicate specific road risks, federal and state laws, the most dangerous days to drive and more.
The app uses Google Map technology and GPS to keep track of your current location and will display up to 1,000 DangerZones. Vehicle fatality data is also automatically updated as it becomes available.
You probably can't find two vehicles that are more alike than the 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Honda Insight -- and not based on looks alone. Some of the most cross-shopped competitors, when you look at the tech amenities of the two hybrid hatchbacks-- and how much they cost fully loaded with all the bells and whistles -- they start to stand apart. Way apart.
First there's the huge discrepancy in price; a fully loaded Prius V costs $32,720 compared to the top-of-the-line Insight EX with Navigation that goes for $23,770. So you would think that tech-wise you'd get much more for your money with the Prius. But that's not always the case, as we found in a recent feature story in which we compared the two cars' tech amenities side by side.
Almost every car company these days offers premium branded stereo systems, or at least upgraded audio options. But how do you know if the promise of better sound is worth the extra dough?
The short answer is simple: Just listen and your ears will tell you. But first you have to know what to listen for and what to listen to. In a recent feature article titled Sound Advice, we detailed how we critically evaluate a stereo system and the criteria and music we use to do it.
But you don't need years of experience or specialized test tracks to decide if a car stereo system meets your own standards when shopping for a car. You just have to know how to listen critically.
Any parent will tell you how challenging a long road trip can be with kids. Fortunately, there's now all manner of electronic backseat babysitters to keep them entertained on an extended family drive: DVD-based rear-seat entertainment (RSE) systems, portable videogame consoles, iPods and even WiFi-connected computers.
But if you want live TV to help keep the kids from pinching or punching one another, there's still very few choices. Over-the-air reception is still spotty, with better service always on the horizon. And while some Chrysler vehicles with RSE systems also offer Sirius Backseat TV and the service can also be added through the aftermarket, it only provides three channels. Other aftermarket satellite TV systems for the car, such as TracVision A7 from KVH Industries, offer more channels but require a huge antenna that only fits large vehicles like SUVs or minivans.
RaySat's satellite TV service for the car, AT&T CruiseCast, hopes to fill the gap between these options by offering a system with an antenna small enough to fit on any vehicle and at a lower price than other sat TV systems.
On a recent extended-weekend road trip with the family, I found that CruiseCast worked well and kept the kids quiet and content on a 10-hour drive. But that calm in the car comes at a price.
The gravelly voiced singer, who has been on a roll of late with a string of albums that many consider among the best in his nearly 50-year career as well as film and book projects, said he "probably shouldn't do it because whichever way I go I always end up at one place: Lonely Street."
But then no one would have guessed that the Jewish singer would record a Christmas album either.
Last week MINI unveiled the future of roadside assistance and what could be the logical future of telematics services: a Roadside Assist app that works with Apple's popular iPhone and select BlackBerry devices.
Developed by Allstate Roadside Services, at the touch of a button the app connects a driver to a roadside assistance operator while pinpointing the vehicle's exact location and also providing all pertinent vehicle information.
So no more describing to a dispatcher where you're stranded or giving the make, model and color of your car. As with most automakers' roadside assistance programs, it's free within the vehicle's warranty period.
And like Ford Sync's 911 Assist feature, MINI's new roadside Assist App signals a further shift towards leveraging a communication/GPS device that most drivers carry anyway -- a mobile phone -- and perhaps away from traditional embedded telematics systems.
TomTom was the first to announce a turn-by-turn navigation app for the new iPhone 3GS, with a company representative even appearing onstage at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference in June, where the latest version of the phone was unveiled. But by the time TomTom released its nav app yesterday, which also works with the original iPhone 3G and includes mapping for the U.S. and Canada, several others had already hit the street.
So why would you want to spend $99.99 on the TomTom app -- so far the most expensive -- as opposed to paying a little more for a portable nav? And how does it compare to other nav apps?
Telematics has been dominated by OnStar since the service first launched over a decade ago. And while other automakers, including BMW and Mercedes, offer their own telematics systems, OnStar has become the Kleenex or Xerox of the field and synonymous with telematics service.
Even if most car buyers have no idea what the term "telematics" means, when they think of features such as automatic crash notification, remote door unlocking and other off-board safety and convenience services, they think of OnStar, thanks to the GM-owned company's massive marketing efforts.
But OnStar is facing increasing competition. Ford launched its 911 Assist service in December 2008 by including it on all new Sync-equipped vehicles, and owners of most '08 and '09 Sync-equipped vehicles can get the service by having a dealer upgrade the system's software for a nominal fee.
Meanwhile, Lexus -- a former customer of OnStar with its Lexus Link telematics service, which will continue in "legacy" mode on models still in service -- recently launched its Enform with Safety Connect system on the new 2010 HS 250h hybrid and, like Ford, plans to eventually include it in all of its cars.
While it isn't feasible for us to test the crash-notification aspects of telematics systems -- at least not with the press cars we drive -- we checked out the latest convenience services offered for Ford's Sync system and Lexus Enform that best compete with OnStar. And we found that while Ford takes a radically different approach, Lexus plays it safe but throws in a few unique features.
Used to be that if you wanted the best possible sound system for your new car -- and the most for your money -- you took it to a car audio store, yanked out the crappy stock stereo and replaced it with higher quality aftermarket components. Even after automakers began offering premium branded stereo systems, the aftermarket still provided better performance and dollar-for-dollar value.
But times, vehicles, and listening habits have changed and a perfect storm of factors have made aftermarket car stereo start to go the way of the CRT computer monitor. Stock systems are highly integrated into the car's electronic architecture, making them difficult to extract. Preference on the part of consumers has shifted more to quantity over quality thanks to the iPod. And we've found that for the same amount of money you can now get a good -- if not better -- audio system from an automaker compared to what the aftermarket offers.
iPod integration and Bluetooth add-ons have sustained car stereo dealers in recent years, but adding safety technology to cars could be the next boom for the aftermarket. And a boon to consumers.
Products like Mobileye's new C2-170 Advanced Warning System (pictured above) offer safety features found mainly on higher-end cars, and at least one well-known car audio company is poised to move into the territory.
The latest and greatest automotive technology should help you do something you may normally do anyway, only more easily and safely. We are talking about having a nav system read directions to you out loud instead of glancing at a paper map or dialing a number by voice instead of punching it into a mobile phone while driving.
And, as we pointed out in a recent feature article, this also includes using a rearview camera to check that there's nothing behind you before backing up, instead of getting out of the car to make sure that the coast is clear or you have enough space.
OnStar has added another stolen vehicle service to its growing arsenal. Called Remote Engine Block, it allows OnStar to remotely send a a signal to a subscriber's vehicle to prevent it from restarting once the ignition is turned off.
The service will be available on select 2009 and 2010 GM vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, and adds another layer of protection to what OnStar calls its Stolen Vehicle Assistance suite of services, which also includes Stolen Vehicle Slowdown that allows law enforcement to request OnStar to remotely reduce a vehicle's speed to idle to avoid high-speed chases.
And it comes at a time when OnStar is being pursued by new competition.
Handing the car keys to an inexperienced teen driver is one of the most stressful moments of child-rearing for any parent or guardian. Watching a teenager drive out of sight for the first time is a rite of passage akin to the ancient practice of sending a kid out into the wilderness to face a whole new world of dangers.
But thanks to technology, parents and caregivers can now ride shotgun with teen drivers. And as we reported in a recent feature article, there's a way to track a teen's behind-the-wheel behavior for almost every budget. Or level of parental paranoia.
On a 1,000-mile drive from Oregon to LA I took over the July 4th weekend, the highway alert signs flashed the same message the entire way: "Report Drunk Drivers, Call 911." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hopes to someday make a preemptive strike by developing alcohol-interlock technology that's smarter and unavoidable for even sober drivers.
A recent news story reports that NHTSA and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers will shell out $10 million over the next five years "to develop high-tech 'passive' alcohol-detection devices that would keep a car from starting if a driver is drunk."
And the new technology would make Breathalyzer-type products seem old fashioned by comparison.
Side-impact crashes are the most deadly type of car accident for children because of the danger of head trauma, according to a study
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
That's why Dorel Juvenile Group, the company behind such well-known brands as Safety 1st and Cosco, along with Kettering University developed what it calls Air Protect technology specifically to cushion the blow for babies and toddlers, and it's included on a new car seat introduced yesterday.
New Jersey was one of the first states to outlaw handheld mobile phone use while driving, and now a state legislator wants to ban using a navigation system while a vehicle is in motion. According to the Daily Record, Democratic Assemblyman Harvey Smith of Jersey City has introduced a bill that would make it a violation for a driver to enter a destination into a navigation system while a car is in motion, other than via voice activation. The fine would be $100 for each infraction.
Of course, it's never a good idea to punch a destination into a nav system while driving, and many stock systems make you pull over to engage this function, while most portable systems issue some type of warning on a welcome screen. But using a handheld cell phone behind the wheel, especially for text messaging, isn't either. And it's taken passing laws in several states to deter some people.
Which is why Smith, who is also undersheriff in Hudson County, wants to do the same thing with GPS nav systems in the Garden State. And it leads one to wonder where it's going to stop.
Live TV in the car has proven as elusive as easy downloading of feature-length films from the Internet. As with movie downloads, satellite TV for the car has been available for several years, but the technology is also cumbersome, expensive and not quite ready for the mainstream. AT&T's CruiseCast mobile satellite TV, which launched June 1 just in time for the summer driving season, is seeking to solve these three thorny issues -- and two out of three ain't bad.
Working with RaySat, CruiseCast has managed to shrink the size of a satellite antenna so that you don't have to own an SUV or minivan to have the surface area required to mount one. And it's gotten the price down some: $1,299 for the equipment and $28 a month for the service, which offers 42 channels of live satellite TV, including Discovery, ESPN Mobile, Disney and Fox News.
But it may prove difficult for CruiseCast to achieve widespread acceptance at a time when most families are scaling back financially -- and less expensive options may be just up the road.
Bluetooth is like any other technology: It's very cool when it works and very frustrating when it doesn't. And the wireless hands-free phone technology can be very frustrating in the way compatibility and functionality vary from vehicle to vehicle.
While we here at Edmunds are in the unique position of driving a different vehicle sometimes on a daily basis, Bluetooth compatibility issues also affect people who drive the same car every day for years -- and even those in the Bluetooth business -- as revealed in a recent Edmunds feature story titled Bluetooth Blues.
The executive director of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the trade association that promotes and oversees the technology, has compatibility issues in his own vehicle, for example. But we also discovered that the Bluetooth SIG is working with automakers to smooth out some of these snags and we point out steps you can take to make sure that your new car and your phone get along.
Rear-seat entertainment and video-graphics applications in the car could go hi-res once HD hits the road. And we're starting to see elements of automotive HD come together.
You know that portable navigation system you recently bought? The one that tells you where you are, where you want to go and finds every Starbucks along the way? Except for the hundreds that are now closed? Chances are the Points of Interest (POI) database in your portable nav system is months old, which is why new connected portable nav systems make even the latest non-connected systems seem as outdated as those clunky old car phones.
Sure, if you're only want to get from Point A to Point B then almost any old nav system will do. But if you want dynamic, up-to-date POI info -- using Google search, for example -- then you'll want to check out our test of four new connected portable navigation systems from Alpine, Insignia/Best Buy, TeleNav and TomTom.
And they do much more than just help you find a caffeine fix.
OnStar announced last week that it will use the 3D aerial imagery provided by Microsoft Virtual Earth to better guide first responders to the scene of accidents in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
Automakers have been aggressively muscling in on the aftermarket's dominance in car electronics for about 10 years now. A watershed moment for me was when Lexus linked up with the high-end home-audio brand Mark Levinson in 2000: It was the first time I thought that the sound quality of an OEM system could be seriously compared to what was available from the aftermarket. But you could still get something better from the aftermarket for the same amount of money.
What a difference a decade makes. Not only have auto-audio brand hookups proliferated, but car companies have taken the lead on several tech fronts, such as with the seamless iPod and Bluetooth integration offered by Ford's Sync system -- for which the aftermarket still hasn't come up with a better or less expensive alternative. Talk about a reversal of roles.
And although the aftermarket will always be the place to go if you want the utmost quality, maximum flexibility and the latest features, we wondered whether automakers or the aftermarket now offer the best value for the average consumer. So we considered four categories in which the two camps compete -- audio, rear-seat entertainment, navigation and Bluetooth -- to determine whether you get more for your money from automakers or the aftermarket.
While not an apples-to-apples comparison, our analysis gives a good indication of what it will cost on average to go each route. And the results we found in a recent feature story are surprising.
It's not just automakers pulling the plug in these dark economic times. Upstart portable nav supplier Navigon announced yesterday that it is exiting the U.S. market.
According to GPS Business News, Navigon quickly climbed to the number four position in the U.S. market in the first quarter of 2008 -- after launching only months before in September 2007.
But with prices for the least expensive portable navigation systems hovering near the $100 mark, cash-starved consumers aren't eager to spend extra on upscale systems like those from Navigon, which offered larger screens and enhanced features such as lane guidance and lifetime traffic info.
If you own a Navigon unit, the German company claims that it will continue to provide support to U.S. customers, such as supplying map updates. And Navigon plans to stay put in the States in order to increase its business in the growing mobile-phone nav market. The company recently inked a deal in its homeland with T-Mobile to provide a nav app on the carrier's smartphones, and it hopes to extend that alliance here.
Infiniti already offers an alphabet soup of innovative accident-prevention technologies: Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Lane Departure Prevention (LDP) and Distance Control Assist (DCA). The luxury car company recently gave Edmunds the opportunity to try out the next two layers of its "Safety Shield" concept -- Side Collision Prevention (SCP) and Back-up Collision Prevention (BCP) -- at the Nissan Technical Center North America in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Better known as NTCNA, of course.
Infiniti unveiled the two new technologies on its Essence concept at this year's Geneva Auto Show, but we got a chance to experience them firsthand in what the company calls its All-Around Collision-Free Prototype, a specially equipped FX50. While not yet scheduled to appear on production vehicles, SCP and BCP will eventually fill in a couple of gaps in Infiniti's Safety Shield and further help drivers avoid hitting other vehicles --- and pedestrians.
Automakers, suppliers, industry analysts and government officials from around the world converged on Detroit's Cobo Hall last week for the First International Summit on the State of the Connected Vehicle. The "ubiquitous connectivity" for cars envisioned by those in attendance is ambitious, complex, expensive and a bit creepy. But it's coming and will change the way we drive.
In a recent feature story, we detailed the latest advances in safety tech -- when they would be available and on which vehicles. But you don't always have to buy a new car to get the cutting-edge safety features found on the latest models, since some of the same suppliers also offer similar technology through the mobile-electronics aftermarket.
Southern California's iconic car audio chain Al & Ed's, for example, announced yesterday that it will offer Mobileye's AWS-4000 and AWS-2000 accident-avoidance systems. Mobileye supplies similar systems to automakers such as BMW, General Motors and Volvo, and the company's technology is behind Volvo's City Safety system in the new XC60.
Like City Safety, the Mobileye AWS-4000 and AWS-2000 are camera-based systems that detect and measure the distance between its host vehicle and vehicles in front as well as lane markers. If the system calculates that you're too close to either, it will issue a warning.
The AWS-4000 (which Al & Ed's sells for $1,299 and is pictured above) comes with a camera and integrated processor, a pair of speakers that provide audible/directional warnings and a display-control unit for visual/directional warnings. The AWS-2000 ($999) includes the camera/processor and a single speaker with a volume control.
As with the night-vision system from FLIR, a company that also supplies technology to both automakers and the aftermarket, the Mobileye systems aren't cheap. But they may be less expensive than an auto accident.
We live in an age in which car gadgets allow us to do more than ever behind the wheel: make hands-free phone calls, receive and send text messages, search for the best gas prices and restaurants, listen to our entire music library and more. But of all the cool car technology available, the most significant advances are the ones that could save your life. Or at least a trip to the hospital or the body shop.
In a recent Edmunds feature, we highlight the latest safety technology from BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo that you'll see in showrooms soon. From cameras and sensors that help a driver see what's around a vehicle to Volvo's City Safety (shown above) that provides automatic braking in stop-and-go traffic, these innovative features represent the cutting-edge of available auto safety technology.
And could someday become as common as seatbelts and airbags.
A writer at the tech blog Gear Live received a survey that indicates that OnStar could add Twitter feeds as a feature of the company's telematics service. The survey included the following:
"While in your vehicle, you can use OnStar to submit and retrieve tweets (messages) via your Twitter account. Using OnStar's Voice-Activated Hands-Free Calling system, and having your voice converted into text, you can provide updates which would appear in the "What are you doing?" section of your Twitter homepage. It is also possible to listen to a tweet that was sent to you by someone else after it has been converted into voice. You can send and receive tweets without having to type or read anything."
Does this mean that Twitter will soon come to the dashboard of GM cars? And is that a good thing? As Gear Live points out, maybe it would be if you're trying to find a pizza joint.
Or if you want to follow Edmunds EIC Karl Brauer's Tweets on Cars while behind the wheel.
Most navigation system suppliers provide map updates for a fee, of course. Now portable nav powerhouse TomTom is offering a Map Update Service for the U.S. market so that owners of the company's devices can affordably access one year of quarterly map updates for as low as $39.80 per year or $9.95 per map release, depending on the TomTom model and the age of the map the device is currently using.
The map updates can be downloaded via TomTom's HOME desktop software, and subscribers are automatically alerted when updates are available. TomTom claims that the service will make new maps available every quarter for the length of a subscription, and that each update will incorporate all changes validated by Tele Atlas, TomTom's mapping-software arm.
Map Update Service adds to TomTom's strong suite of software refreshes, including Map Share Technology that lets users make updates to the maps on their own device as well as obtain corrections made by other users, and the company's 30 Day Latest Map Guarantee that gives users free access to a new map if it becomes available within 30 days of first use of the device.
The USB interface has been quickly adopted by automakers as a way to connect devices such as iPods via systems like Ford's Sync or for directly accessing digital music and even pictures, as with Chrysler's uconnect tunes. Now a high-speed version is on the horizon that will transfer data at much faster rates.
But it also brings to fore the familiar auto-industry conundrum of keeping pace with the fast-moving consumer-electronics industry. And, of course, the costs involved with doing so.
The USB Implementers Forum has introduced SuperSpeed USB, which transfers data at 5 gigabits per second, as opposed to 480 megabits/second for High Speed USBs now widely in use -- or about 10 times faster. The new USB 3.0 standard should be available by the first quarter of 2010.
This comes as automakers have widely implemented USB 2.0 interfaces into cars, which market research firm iSuppli predicts will be available in a third of all 2009 U.S. vehicles, up 16 percent from 2008. According to SAE International Automotive Engineering Online, with the introduction of SuperSpeed USB, automakers will have to decide whether to begin designing the new standard into vehicles now, which is more costly, or stick with version 2.0 and add USB 3.0 as consumers start to create demand for it.
And risk being caught behind the technology curve.
Chrysler has become a symbol of a lot of what's wrong with the domestic auto industry, and the company is the odds-on favorite as the first of the Detroit Three to go belly-up. Chrysler's minivans have never gotten much love either and are often thought of as the butt of a joke.
But the company -- and its minivans -- are on the cutting edge tech-wise. The '09 Dodge Grand Caravan, for example, features some of the latest and greatest in-car technology available, including satellite TV and Rear Cross Path detection. The Caravan's rear-seat entertainment and uconnect Bluetooth hands-free phone systems are among the best in the business, and the vehicle can be equipped with Swivel 'n Go seating with a retractable table that folds out of the floor.
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If portable navigation pushed aside in-dash systems by being less expensive and able to move from car to car, then iPhone nav apps are using the same advantages to replace portables. And iPhone nav apps are also more convenient since a car owner only has to carry one device instead of two, and many offer features such as Internet-connected POI search and automatic mapping software updates. 
