In-car entertainment

Ford-Toyota collaboration on telematics could be a win-win for consumers

It's not just hybrid power trains for SUVs and pickups that Ford and Toyota will join forces on: the two mainstream car makers will also be collaborating on telematics.

In a taped video news release, Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of Global Product Development for Ford, said that by working with Toyota, Ford will be able to make in-vehicle telematics more affordable to consumers, and help bring new features to market. The two companies will be working together on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi standards in vehicles, and will also standardize on chipsets to lower volume pricing. However, Kuzak said that … Read more

Add iPhone playback (and a massive subwoofer) to any car with Sony Digital Link Sound System

Hot on the heels of its freshly updated lines of CD car audio receivers and mechless decks, Sony has just unveiled an iPod/iPhone integration kit for those who want to keep their car's stock head unit in place. More accurately, the Digital Link Sound System is a collection of car audio technology that has been bundled for easy purchase and optimized to work together.

There are actually two Digital Link Sound System packages available. The first is the XDP-MU110, which comes in three parts: the DSP master unit, an iPhone cradle, and a remote controller.

The DSP installs … Read more

BMW to integrate MOG app

BMW announced that it plans to integrate the MOG on-demand streaming music app in its vehicles. When integrated, occupants will be able to control the MOG app on their iPhone using the vehicle's iDrive controls. Stations, playlists, artist and song information, and search tools will be visible and accessible on the vehicle's in-dash display.

The latest app integration will be beta-tested during the upcoming launch of the 6 Series BMW Coupe. BMW already integrates Pandora, TuneIn Web radio, Twitter, and Facebook in the vehicle using its Connected app. Mog is already integrated with Mini vehicles.

The benefit of … Read more

Android and iPhone battle for car tech superiority

Ford Mustang versus Chevrolet Camaro, Subaru Impreza WRX STI versus Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, BMW M3 versus Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG; and now Android versus iPhone joins the ranks of the great automotive rivalries. If there's one thing that all car guys (and gals) share, it's a love of a good competition. We Car Tech editors put these phones on the road to see which platform is better for in-car use.

This is a conflict that's been raging for years on the mobile battlefield. Both phone platforms have their pros and cons, but only one can be the best. … Read more

New Sony CD car stereos compatible with unified SiriusXM Connect tuner

To go along with the consolidation of the Sirius and XM satellite radio services, the new SiriusXM rolled out a unified hardware platform: the SXV100 SiriusXM Connect vehicle tuner. We've already seen the first receiver to offer compatibility with the SiriusXM Connect from Alpine. Now, Sony strikes back with the second, third, fourth, and fifth as most of its new CDX line of CD receivers is now compatible with SiriusXM's module.

Four of the six new CDX receivers feature compatibility with the SXV100 SiriusXM Connect module ($60) and connect to the module's proprietary connection. The SXV100 draws … Read more

Sony DSX-S310BTX brings Pandora to the car for Android, BlackBerry

Pandora Internet Radio app playback and control are old hat for car audio receivers--that tech's been around since CES 2010. However, with the exception of one OEM implementation, it's mostly been an iPhone-only affair, with Android users being left out in the cold. That's about to change with the announcement of the Sony DSX-S310BTX, the first aftermarket car stereo to offer Pandora integration with Android and BlackBerry devices.

The DSX-S310BTX communicates with a paired Android or BlackBerry phone via Bluetooth, taking control of the Pandora app and streaming audio wirelessly. Users get the standard Play, Pause, and … Read more

Latest BMW app reads Twitter, Facebook status out loud

BMW added text-to-speech capability in its latest update of the BMW Connected iPhone app. The new release adds a play button to the iDrive system that will read Twitter and Facebook status updates to you while you're in the car.

When an iPhone equipped with the BMW Connected app is connected to the vehicle's mobile-phone docking station, drivers can use the iDrive controller to play new Twitter and Facebook messages.

I haven't had the chance to test this new feature, and don't know how the text-to-speech capability will treat abbreviations or what it will do with hashtags in Twitter. But if you must stay up to date with your tweets, it's probably better, or at least safer, than reading them on your mobile phone at stoplights.

BMW also added iPhone Calendar integration that will let you view appointments for the day, week, or month and read them out loud. … Read more

Car tech lessons learned on a road trip

Recently, I took a road trip from San Francisco, Calif., to San Diego and back. Yes, I was headed to Comic-Con 2011 and yes, I had a blast while I was there, but ask any real car lover and they'll tell you that the best part of any road trip is the getting there part. And if you're a technophile like I am, the getting there will usually include a few tech toys.

Partially by design and partially by accident, I used a different tech loadout for the two legs of the trip. Getting there, I used a … Read more

Pioneer AppRadio shows promise, needs improvement

Since it was announced mere months ago, Pioneer's AppRadio has been the subject of quite a bit of buzz in the car audio world. AppRadio is the first in-dash car stereo to be completely controlled by a connected iPhone. The result should be app integration like no other receiver that we've ever seen, making this the ultimate car stereo for iPhone fanatics. I finally got my hands on this first of its kind receiver to put it through its paces in the dashboard of our test car and at the end of testing, I'm left with two … Read more

Sirius XM Satellite 2.0 coming to cars in 2013

Sirius XM confirmed that it will be rolling out its satellite radio 2.0 technology starting at the end of the year. Two new SXM 2.0-equipped radios will start the launch, and early next year one auto manufacturer will release a 2013 model year vehicle equipped with the new technology, according to an article in CE Outlook.

Satellite 2.0 is Sirius XM's next-generation product, and its answer to Internet radio products. The company's new Android platform integrates Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Internet technology, will enable OEMs, including auto manufacturers, to update software without requiring hardware upgrades, the … Read more