CarBuyersNoteBook » In-Car http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com A Car Buyers NoteBook Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:08:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 How About A GPS System For Under Eighty Bucks? http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/how-about-a-gps-system-for-under-eighty-bucks/ http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/how-about-a-gps-system-for-under-eighty-bucks/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:46:30 +0000 Steve Anderson http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/?p=13437 I know, that’s kind of a big pronouncement to make, right?  I don’t remember the last time I saw a GPS system (well, other than maybe used ones) retail for anything less than a hundred bucks.

Well, leave it to the Chinese to pull it off, because over at Chinavasion they’re offering a 4.3 inch portable GPS navigator and media player for seventy two bucks.

It’s got a touchscreen display and holds up to sixteen gigs of your favorite music, movies and e-books, plus it has support for USB devices and SD cards.  And it’s detachable, so you can use it as a portable device as well as a car-mounted device.  The output can even be routed through your stereo.

Even though I haven’t got my hands on one of these yet, I’m actually pretty impressed by the mere idea of this, and definitely wouldn’t mind getting my hands on one.  I wonder if they’d send us some?

Tags: Car, car stereo, Chinavasion, GPS, In-Car, media player, Portable

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]]> http://js-kit.com/rss/www.carbuyersnotebook.com/p=13437 0 You’ll Never Guess What You Can Make In Your Car Now http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/youll-never-guess-what-you-can-make-in-your-car-now/ http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/youll-never-guess-what-you-can-make-in-your-car-now/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:03:45 +0000 Steve Anderson http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/?p=13161 Okay, over the last couple weeks, I’ve shown you a whole LOT of things you can make in your car.  I’ve shown you coffee makers and microwaves and refrigerators, but today, I’m going to take it one horrendous and irrational step forward.

The ESPRESSO maker.

Currently part of the Roadjet concept car from Audio, the in-car espresso maker allows you to, clearly, MAKE ESPRESSO in your car.

I’m freaked out by this, frankly.  While it would definitely take care of the problem of sleepy drivers–having espresso on demand in your car would make drivers so alert they could SEE INTO THE FUTURE–I can’t imagine how bad it would be to spill it.  The stains alone would be a nightmare.

And if they get it to the point where it steams milk, that could just be painful.

Tags: Audio, concept car, in car espresso maker, In-Car, roadjet

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]]> http://js-kit.com/rss/www.carbuyersnotebook.com/p=13161 0 Got An iPhone? Use It For Navigation, Hands Free http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/got-an-iphone-use-it-for-navigation-hands-free/ http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/got-an-iphone-use-it-for-navigation-hands-free/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:13:41 +0000 Steve Anderson http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/?p=12355 Now this is the kind of thing they banned briefly in Victoria not so long ago, so before I start I’ll give the normal credos:  it’s a bad idea to use your cell phone and drive at the same time, I’m not responsible for whatever you do in your car, yadda yadda, in perpetuity throughout the universe.

There.  Now that the lawyers have been sufficiently shot the bird, time to carry on.  Today we’re talking about the TomTom iPhone car kit, that basically allows you to use your iPhone as a kind of GPS by mounting it to your dash.  Now, it doesn’t JUST do that, because then everybody’d be enraged–it also functions as a twelve volt charger and a speakerphone.

None of this is a bad thing, necessarily, but for crying out loud.  A hundred and twenty bucks for what amounts to a car phone cradle?  That’s a bit excessive even with the added bells and whistles.  I don’t look for this one to do any too well.

Tags: GPS, In-Car, iPhone, phone cradle, Speakerphone, TomTom

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]]> http://js-kit.com/rss/www.carbuyersnotebook.com/p=12355 0 Qualcomm MediaFLO Coming Soon To Your Car http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/qualcomm-mediaflo-coming-soon-to-your-car/ http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/qualcomm-mediaflo-coming-soon-to-your-car/#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:44:10 +0000 Steve Anderson http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/?p=11292 Here’s an interesting bit of news for you– if you have a TV in your car ( and apparently that’s a more popular option nowadays than you think) pretty soon you’ll be able to receive the Qualcomm MediaFLO wireless broadcast network.

Seems that these guys took over some of the old analog TV channels– you know, the ones we were required by law to lose when we had to buy those new converter boxes?–and are now using them to transmit their own signals to our in-car equipment.

This won’t be free, of course–you’ll have to pay a subscription fee of about fifteen bucks a month, but you’ll get about a dozen channels.

There isn’t a whole lot of word yet on just what they’ll be broadcasting–the most likely things being music and children’s programming to keep the kids entertained while in the back seat– and I have to admit I’m rather conflicted about the whole thing.  This definitely does sound cool, but I find myself vaguely annoyed that I was required by federal law to hand over my free TV signal so that I could be charged for it in my car.

But still, even I have to admit, this IS pretty cool.

Tags: analog, analog signal, broadcast, In-Car, MediaFLO, Qualcomm, subscriber, wireless

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]]> http://js-kit.com/rss/www.carbuyersnotebook.com/p=11292 0 Ford sells 1 million vehicles equipped with Sync http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/ford-sells-1-million-vehicles-equipped-with-sync/ http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/ford-sells-1-million-vehicles-equipped-with-sync/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:25:43 +0000 Jeff Baker http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/?p=8772

Ford, together with Microsoft, first announced their Sync system a few years ago and the system made its debut on the 2008 Ford Focus. Ever since its debut Sync has been offered in just about every Ford, Mercury and Lincoln model.

Well, Ford and Sync have come a long way as the automaker has recently stated that they have shipped their 1 millionth vehicle that was equipped with Sync. In fact, the millionth vehicle was given to Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, as a gift.

Futhermore, Ford also says that they have updated Sync’s software so that it can now check the weather, breaking news events, traffic reports and turn-by-turn navigation. Ford currently only offers the Sync system in English, Spanish and French but hope to expand it to German, Mandarin, Arabic, Italian, Dutch and Russian in an attempt to expand their market share.

It’s nice to see at least one US automaker is doing good in these tough economic times.

Read (KickingTires)

Tags: communication systems, In-Car, Lincoln, Mercury, Navigation, Software, Sync, system, technology, traffic reports, weather conditions

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]]> http://js-kit.com/rss/www.carbuyersnotebook.com/p=8772 0 Plug-In Car MP4 Player Will Deliver Music and Video to Any Driver http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/plug-in-car-mp4-player-will-deliver-music-and-video-to-any-driver/ http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/plug-in-car-mp4-player-will-deliver-music-and-video-to-any-driver/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:24:42 +0000 Chris http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/?p=2081
When it comes to driving, I definitely agree with the fact that you need to pay attention to the road. Music will keep you awake for sure, but movies won’t. However, if you’re interested for a portable car media player with FM transmitter function, then the Plug-in Car MP4 Player from Chinavasion is what you need to buy.

The device costs just $29.98 and it comes with a 1.5 inch screen, 4GB of memory and an SD card slot for additional upgrades. Plug it in and start transmitting music on an unused FM station. The player will recognize MP3 and WMA files for audio and AMV files for video.

via Chinavision

Tags: In-Car, MP4 Player, video

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