While speaking to the media at the 2013 New York Auto Show, Ford Motor Co.’s global marketing chief, Jim Farley, announced that the American automaker is launching a contest to find software and app developers to come up with a method for consumers to measure their fuel economy based on actual driving patterns through their mobile devices.
Building up the capabilities of its Blue Link telematics system Hyundai just revealed Assurance Connected Care at the New York International Auto Show, an advanced connectivity system that offers drivers a wide range of convenience and safety features.
Any driver in cold weather will agree, taking off your gloves to pay for your gas is a pain, especially when the temperature dips below freezing. One Canadian gas company is helping drivers stay warm by providing a smartphone app that allows users to pay for gas with their mobile device. Continue Reading…
Now more than ever, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is laden with car companies demonstrating what’s to come for in-car tech. Of the brands at the show, Ford seems to have its head above the crowd.
Among all the new tablets and smartphones at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Vegas are a few cars, and Ford knows that it needs apps to grab the attention of younger, ‘connected’ car-buyers.
Automakers may talk a big game about preventing distracted driving and improving safety, but at the same time they continue to provide distracting infotainment systems.
Swedish automaker Volvo is working with telecommunications company Ericsson, one of the country’s biggest companies.
What if you could have a 17-inch iPad built into your car? It’s almost a reality for one of the more than 250 folks who own a Tesla Model S, save a few key features.
Like an evolution of the Groupon concept, the new ROXIMITY App can alert you of realtime deals nearby and thanks to its addition to Ford’s SYNC AppLink, it can do even more – as you drive.
The latest version of Palmer Performance Engineering’s DashCommand app was just released and promises to improve on previous versions by pairing with Pioneer’s AppRadio 2 device, though the entire setup is very expensive.
Looking to get your automotive fix but can’t find where to go? The new ShowFinder app can help solve your dilemma, providing access to over 25,000 automotive events throughout the United States and Canada.
According to consumer research discussed at the Telematics Detroit 2012 Conference, social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter are among the lowest priorities when it comes to in-car connectivity features consumers want in their vehicles.
Cadillac is doing everything it can to prepare customers for the launch of its upcoming CUE (Cadillac User Experience) infotainment system. That includes throwing in an iPad with every 2013 Cadillac XTS.
Tom Tom is a company known for building aftermarket GPS devices. But now, with the new Tom Tom speed camera app, users in Europe can beat the speed traps and save some money.
Devoted to celebrating the history and the culture of automobiles, car museums allow enthusiasts to admire the rarest and most iconic of cars, but don’t forget the “do not touch” sign.
Now, thanks to the Road, Inc. classic car app, you can touch these cars to your heart’s content… on your iPad. A car museum at your fingertips, the Road Inc. app features an extensive collection of images, videos, sound clips and documentation on 50 carefully selected automobiles, ranging from super cars that broke the status quo to historically significant basic transportation.
While the app was originally sold for about $9.99, developer Pyrolia has now lowered the price to $6.99. A bit more expensive than the average app, Pyrolia also offers a free version, featuring just one out of the fifty vehicles – a Ferrari 250 GTO. If you’re a selective connoisseur and don’t care for all fifty cars, each of the cars can be downloaded for $0.99, or in categorized groups ranging from $1.99 to $3.99.
However you choose to enjoy the app (we recommend just paying $6.99 for the complete collection), we guarantee it will be more enjoyable than any of the table-top magazines you’ll see the next time you find yourself at a waiting room.
[Source: MotorAuthority]
Any car from 1996 and newer can have a real-time gas consumption meter thanks to an Android app, but you might not want to pay for it.
OBD Mileage is now available for Google Android smartphone users who want to watch their car’s mpg change during hill climbs, highway driving and schlepping around town. The developer says the app can display “55 different kinds of information,” hopefully that includes switching between kilometers and miles per gallon. Unfortunately, the program looks sketchy at best and costs a boatload.
The picture you see above is a shot of what OBD Milage looks like while running — you can be the aesthetics judge here. Not only that, but running the app requires a plug-in bluetooth device to bridge communication between your phone and car. The device recommended on the OBD website costs $99.99 and that’s on sale.
The app itself also seems to cost something, though the site doesn’t make it readily obvious how much you’re spending. Instead it says discomforting things like: “We use the Google wallet for the payment,” and “When you purchased the validity period, it is not possible for the refund even if there is any reason.”
The validity period is also more-or-less unexplained but it seems like a temporary license to use the program. Worse yet, uninstalling the app and changing your phone’s date and time both render your purchase void.
So much for customer service, it’s probably better to use the in-dash fuel gauge and avoid all the nonsense.
If you weren’t addicted to your Crackberry before, you will be once you get your hands on the Porsche Design P’9981 Smartphone from Blackberry.
Encased in stainless steel and leather, the Porsche Design P’9981 comes with a host of luxe features that will make sure you’ll never want to put it down. With an enhanced 1.2 GHz processor and 8 GB of onboard memory, you’ll be able to browse the Internet to your heart’s content. In terms of technical features, it also comes with 720p HD video recording, dual band Wi-Fi, a built-in compass and access to a selection of exclusive apps.
The Porsche Design P’9981 Smartphone’s wide QWERTY keyboard means texting is a lot easier, and its Liquid Graphics 2.8” high resolution display touch screen ensures you won’t be squinting to read your messages.
Some special features that come with this cool Blackberry include the Wikitude World Browser app, which lets you find and send relevant information instantly. You’ll also get a limited edition PIN series, Near Field Communication and BlackBerry Tag, as well as access to BlackBerry App World 3.0.
No word on a price for the Porsche Design P’9981 Smartphone from Blackberry, but we’re guessing since it’s being touted as a special edition, it’ll come with a special edition price.
[Source: Uncrate]
Something to allow city-dwellers, sports car owners, or high-school principals to sleep easy at night: a new app for iPhones, Droids, and Blackberries will warn you when some @#%! is messing with your car, allowing you to dispense justice as you see fit.
Budding Charles Bronsons can take comfort in knowing that this is the first specific app designed for cars. Developed by Intel, it connects to your car’s existing security system and begins working when that is triggered. It can stream video (placed in and around the car, presumably) to a cloud server through WiFi, directly to your phone, or record it for World’s Wildest Police Videos.
Intel is also checking to see if the app can share data with carmakers, but that level of privacy intrusion may get messy. There’s no word on when the app will be finished, but for anyone who uses faculty parking, hopefully before the school year starts.
[Source: DVICE]
We actually think this app will do more harm than good, but hey, State Farm is an insurance company so they clearly took calculated risks prior to releasing this. Their Driver Feedback app utilizes the iPhone’s GPS and accelerometer to calculate your driving, from acceleration to braking to cornering. It then calculates your score based on your driving which you can then compare to other trips and share your scores with other drivers.
While most people will want to try to get a high score with this app, we’re pretty sure there will be a portion of people who might go do some hard driving to see just how awful they can score. But hey, if any of you are interested in knowing just how awesome (or how awful) your normal driving skills are…there’s an app for that.
Check out a video of the app after the break.
[Source: Cnet]
Buying cars is not like what it used to be. You no longer need to go into a showroom and sit with a Brylcreamed salesman and look over color palettes.
Nowadays, any self-respecting car company has a modern website with a configurater, so customers can sit at home and virtually see what their next car will look like.
Some car companies are now going a step further and have developed app’s that can be downloaded to your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.
Rolls Royce is certainly moving ahead with the times. It first introduced an app for their Ghost model, and now comes an app for the Phantom line-up. This app lets customers and dreamers configure any Phantom model in any way they would like. So not only can you choose your exterior color, you can trim the interior and all its details to your liking also.
If any one of the 44,000 color choices is not to your liking, you can create your own using a color matching function which will give you infinite possibilities. So if you want the exterior or interior to resemble your handbag or nail polish, you can do that.
So if you are looking to buy a new Rolls Royce, or just dreaming of one, you can go to the Apple App store and download this application to your device.
[Source: Motor Authority]
The radio makes the drive go that much smoother. But what’s that you say? No one listens to the radio anymore? Get ready to see (or hear) a surge in radio’s popularity, thanks to the free iheartradio app.
Listen to favorite local and distant stations and other content while driving with the iheartradio app, available for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices. Part of the Clear Channel family, this app gives you extras such as album art, celebrity deejays and exclusive video content – unfortunately, you still have to listen to annoying commercials.
When you get to the main screen of the app, you can access local stations, search by city or genre, tune into celebrity stations and content by other radio personalities, get premium content from people like Dr. Laura and Sean Hannity and check out daily features such as exclusive videos.
The local stations the iheartradio picks are mostly Clear Channel affiliates. You’ll also get access to entertainment from the Personalities tab, featuring shows like Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx and the White House Brief.
There’s even an All Cities tab, which lets you stream stations from dozens of metro areas and hot spots. The Genres tab covers everything from Alternative to Hawaiian music and comes with video content. At the bottom of the app is a Favorites tab that lets you save stations and songs so you can play them again later, and the Shake It tab spins a roulette-wheel where adjacent cities and genre columns randomly land on a combination of the two. There’s also a Settings tab can be used to clear the app’s autoplay memory and to report issues.
On the iPhone version of the app, you can use iTunes Tagging and stations are streamed in Apple’s AAC format. You can download it for free here.
[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]
Tech addicts, the 2011 Ford Fiesta may be your next car. (Just as long as you don’t own an Apple iPhone, ’cause it’s not supported yet.) SYNC, the in-car technology platform developed by Microsoft in partnership with Ford, will soon allow for third-party cell phone applications to be controlled by voice commands and in-car controls.
Forget the fact that no other automaker is even close to offering such integration, Sync AppLink will be on production vehicles this year. AppLink works — at launch — on Android and BlackBerry phones, with titles such as Pandora Internet radio, Stitcher “smart radio”, and Orangatame’s Twitter client OpenBeak available.
“The growth in smartphone mobile apps has been explosive, and Ford has worked hard to respond at the speed of the consumer electronics market,” said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford’s Connected Services Organization. “SYNC is the only connectivity system available that can extend that functionality into the car. AppLink will allow drivers to control some of the most popular apps through SYNC’s voice commands and steering wheel buttons, helping drivers keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”
Once developers realize they can help distract drivers while on the road, this list is sure to grow exponentially. May we suggest an in-car fart app that can deliver a disgusting noise through a speaker closest to the intended victim?
