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While we've seen car stereos designed to hold iPhones in the dash, they're usually limited to fit the current generation iPhone only. If you have an Android device or are waiting for the next generation iPhone, you are usually out of luck fitting your current smartphone into products like these. Until now. Introducing the DASH from Devium.

Unlike other smartphone compatible head units, which consist of one face plate and the body of the system, the DASH can be used with a variety of face plates that are hot swappable and can accommodate a variety of popular phones. The Dash is a Kickstarter project. Kickstarter is a company that raises project money from consumer investors, promotes that product invention and gauges market response prior to manufacturing of the actual market product. For Devium's Kickstarter project, they're only building an iPhone/iPod compatible version for now. So, if you invest in the DASH today and 1 year from now Apple releases a new iPhone, with an entirely new form factor, Devium will develop a face plate to accommodate the new shape and size.Read more

We take the open highway for granted, especially when we're operating a 4000-lb automobile. I don't think I need to tell anyone that accidents happen every day, many of which are avoidable if today's drivers paid a bit more attention to the road and not their smartphone or radio. How nice would it be to have a copilot monitoring your driving behavior, and provide you with a heads up to those obstacles and distractions on the road. Introducing the Mobileye 5-Series.

The Mobileye 5-Series is similar to some of the systems found in today's luxury vehicles, though this one can be outfitted in any car as an aftermarket part. It is composed of a camera and heads up display. Inside the camera is a microprocessor that actively watches the road as you drive and warns you of any impending dangers, such as a bicyclist in the road or a stopped car in the middle of a freeway. It's capable of alerting a driver 2.7 second before a crash, which might just be enough time to avoid one. The system can also be programmed to teach you to keep a safe driving distance from vehicles in front, warn you of a dangerous lane change, lower and raise your vehicle's high beams, and read speed limit and traffic signs to help you reduce the likelihood that you'll get into an accident or receive a ticket for speeding.Read more

Are "smart windows" in our future? GM challenged students from the FUTURE LAB at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel to develop a new concept in backseat entertainment technology that…get this…uses the windows themselves!

GM's "Windows of Opportunity" (WOO) project gave researchers and students from FUTURE LAB free reign to design applications that will turn car windows into interactive displays for rear seat passengers. What they came up with is amazing!

The apps include:

• Otto, an animated character projected over passing scenery that responds to real-time car performance, weather and landscape. With Otto, passengers can learn about their environment in fun, playful ways.
• Foofu, an app that allows passengers to create, explore and discover through finger drawing on window steam.
• Spindow, an app that provides its users a peek into other users’ windows around the globe in real time.
• Pond, an app that allows passengers to stream and share music with other cars on the road, downloads favorite tracks, and share messages with other passengers on the road.

Pioneer Electronics is changing the way you listen to music. The company's new MIXTRAX technology works like a virtual DJ, creating a nonstop mix of your music library. MIXTRAX takes the music from your iPhone, iPod or USB/SD device and plays it back with added transitions and effects, similar to a live DJ in a club.

This is how it works: the MIXTRAX music management software analyzes your entire music collection, identifying tempo and beats per minute (BPM). The software then tags each song and creates playlists in different musical styles such as Beat, Chill, and Thump. The software identifies the best transition points of each song in the music library and mixes the tracks together. You can choose between three Mix Styles - Active, Standard and Simple – allowing you to adjust the intensity of the effects and transitions, along with the duration of each track in the mix.

Once created, the custom MIXTRAX playlists can be transferred to a USB/SD memory device and played through Pioneer in-car products, the AVH-P8400BH audio-video receiver and DEH-P7400HD and DEH-P8400BH CD receivers. MIXTRAX is also included in Pioneer's STEEZ products.

MIXTRAX Sound Demo Video:Read more

How does the idea of a self-driving vehicle sound? It may happen…and sooner than you think. Vehicles that partially drive themselves will be available by the middle of the decade with more sophisticated self-driving systems by the end of the decade, General Motors Vice President of Global Research and Development Alan Taub says.

Sensors, radars, portable communication devices, GPS and cameras are the tools that supply critical information to the driver and the automobile's computer system. Combined with digital maps, the same technologies will allow the driver to let the vehicle concentrate on driving while he does something else.

"The technologies we're developing will provide an added convenience by partially or even completely taking over the driving duties," Taub said. "The primary goal, though, is safety. Future generation safety systems will eliminate the crash altogether by interceding on behalf of drivers before they’re even aware of a hazardous situation."

GM is already putting some of these advanced safety systems into its vehicles. For example, a lane departure warning system is available on the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain; a side blind-zone alert is available on the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. A host of vehicles, including the Equinox and Terrain, offer back-up cameras.Read more

JBL's Quick, Easy Fix to Car Audio

Pump up the volume in any car stereo system with JBL's MS-2, a groundbreaking car audio accessory that automatically optimizes your car stereo to improve listening experience. The JBL MS-2 uses digital signal processing to create clearer, more powerful sound from existing speakers in any car, making it the perfect iPod, iPhone or Android smartphone accessory for music fans.

Small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and simple enough for even a novice to set up in seconds, the MS-2 will transform the listening experience in all your vehicles and even at home (with a third-party power supply).

If your music is important enough to carry with you everywhere, you should carry the JBL MS-2 pocket digital processor. The MS-2 optimizes system performance for the acoustic characteristics of your speakers, electronics and vehicle interior, and DSP time correction to ensure that all the sounds reach your ears simultaneously, creating a coherent, richly detailed soundscape.Read more

The past few years have seen a big influx of car gadgets, and many consumers will not consider even the best looking car if it doesn't have the gadgets and technology they need. Simply put, people are hooked on gadgets, gizmos and all sorts of tech for their cars and trucks. From music - to Bluetooth - to GPS - to onboard PCs, the automobile's primary attraction is not so much the big engine anymore, but rather, all of the bright shiny electronics that accompany them.

These are the top 5 car gadgets that people are interested in when purchasing a car:

Keyless Ignition: Cars with remote ignition make it easy to warm your auto during the winter. With this gadget, you can push a button and the car starts heating up for you, while simultaneously locking the doors and securing the car. But if you really want to keep your hands free to battle corruption, you should go keyless. With a keyless ignition system, you keep a key fob in your pocket. A sensor will detect the key fob's presence in the car and start. All the driver has to do is push a button on the dash and press the brake.Read more

The First Car Radio Specially Built for the iPhone Now Available in the US

If you use your iPhone in the car as your music source like I do, but can't stand the sub-par Bluetooth connection or the entangled cables that pipes your music into your car stereo system, you should look at the Oxygen Audio O Car. This thing has been all over gadget news. Essentially, it turns your iPhone itself into your car stereo, and allows you to control all the regular car stereo functions -- like volume and tuning, your iTunes library, internet radio station apps, GPS navigation, Google maps -- and anything else you use your iPhone for. By clicking the iPhone into the dock/charger (for both landscape and portrait use), it becomes a slick part of your car's dashboard.

Star Rating:
Cost: $299.99
Where to Buy: Amazon

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What is bright red, weighs 2,654 pounds, and was created from 380,000 LEGO bricks? Ford's LEGOLAND Florida Explorer, what else?

Rolling off the line at Chicago Assembly Plant today, the full-sized LEGOLAND Florida Explorer will soon be on its way to the new LEGOLAND Florida Theme Park, where it will be featured in front of one of the park's attractions, the Ford Driving School for children. This is just the beginning of a new long-term alliance between Ford and LEGOLAND Florida theme park.

No small task, it took 22 designers more than 2,500 hours to create the LEGOLAND Florida Edition Explorer. See for yourself in the video:

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