App
-
If we were app developers, the next-to-last frontier we'd want to conquer -- right after organ donation -- would be parking. By their very nature, cars are constantly in motion, taking and leaving spaces in parking lots, garages, and on city streets. Maintaining an accurate database of available parking spots seems like a gargantuan, never-ending challenge, and yet, we've seen several app makers try their hands at it. Now, another is giving it a go: Parking In Motion. Last summer, we saw the daddy of 'em all -- Google -- take a stab at the parking problem with Open Spot, which allows users to...
-
Charlie Sheen Shifts To An Even Smaller Screen -- As An App DeveloperLike the streets of his beloved Hollywood Hills, Charlie Sheen's life is full of twists and turns. The actor has a reputation for being a party boy, and his tumultuous life has been well-documented in tabloids and tweets. But Sheen's recent meltdown gave him the opportunity to reinvent himself --...
Richard Read -
More Things Lawmakers Will Hate: Cobra iRadar for Android Debuts April 4
Last week, four U.S. Senators expressed outrage over smartphone apps designed to reveal the location of DUI checkpoints. As they said in letters to Apple, Google, and Blackberry, "Giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of...
Richard Read -
Sprint Pre-Installing Android App To (Mostly) Disable Your Smartphone While Driving
If you're the sort of person who's tempted to take calls while driving -- or worse, answer text messages -- there are dozens of apps to help curb your addition. Now, Sprint is making the process even easier by pre-installing the Drive First app on every Android phone. Drive First works like many...
Richard Read -
In-App-ropriate? DUI Checkpoint Apps Get The Red Light
With more than 10,000 Americans dying every year in DUI-related car accidents, you might think it poor taste that you can download DUI checkpoint warning applications for Apple and Blackberry cell phones. You'd not be alone, either. Four U.S. senators are asking Apple, Google and Research In...
Antony Ingram -
GM, Honda, And Others Launch Car Connectivity Consortium To Set Standards For In-Car Apps
New technology is exciting, but like most exciting things it's also fraught with peril -- and that's doubly true for developers. Think of all the tsoris caused by the great VHS vs. Beta battles of the 1980s, or the far more recent Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war, both of which cost manufacturers billions of...
Richard Read -
Back in the late-mid-80s, South By Southwest was a humble music festival. Then someone -- possibly Al Gore -- invented the internet, Austin became a second Silicon Valley, and today, SXSW (as it's now known) is a jumble of music, film, and interactive technology. For the traveler, SXSW is also a nightmare. Thankfully, interactive developers are bringing a bevy of apps to this year's festival that should make getting around Austin a little easier. We already mentioned Chevrolet's free shuttle service, starring the 2011 Chevy Cruze, but there are at least two other outfits vying for attendees'...
-
Video: Mercedes-Benz mbrace Locates Friends With Text Messages
When we first heard about Mercedes-Benz's new Send2Benz service, we were slightly underwhelmed: sending a destination to your car's navigation system? That seems so 2009. A number of automakers -- including GM -- already offer similar services that facilitate communications between smartphones...
Richard Read -
Watch: 2012 Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid Comes With A Smartphone App
Just yesterday, our colleagues at All Cars Electric gave readers a sneak-peek of the 2012 Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid, an intriguing new wagon that promises to earn up to 745 miles on a fully charged battery and a full tank of diesel. But of course, no high tech ride would be complete without the...
Richard Read -
Chevrolet Launches MyLink Infotainment System on Volt, Equinox
Tonight, Chevrolet unveiled its new Chevy MyLink in-car infotainment package, which lets drivers control integrated online services like Pandora internet radio and Stitcher SmartRadio using either touch-screen menu options or voice commands to control smart phones via Bluetooth connectivity. While...
John Voelcker -
AAA's Free Roadside Assistance App Available For Android
Drivers with Android-compatible smartphones can now download the American Automobile Association's free roadside assistance application allowing you to report a breakdown without even needing to make a phone call. Stranded motorists can now use their Android smartphone's GPS signal to transmit a...
Antony Ingram -
Dodge Debuts Owner Apps On Android, Blackberry, And iPhone
Smartphones have moved one step closer to controlling our lives: Dodge recently announced that it has launched owner's manual apps on the Android, Blackberry, and iPhone platforms. The apps offer a range of features that supplement and enhance the existing hard-copy manuals and DVDs that come with...
Richard Read -
Cloud computing is very much a feature of 'Web 2.0'. Rather than using a location-dependent center of resources such as a server, cloud computing uses shared servers, all of which can be used to provide resources, software and data. For Average Joe, this might mean using web-based word processing software and file hosting rather than having to use those on a personal computer, allowing Joe to access and edit his files wherever he is in the world, from any internet-connected computer. For drivers of the Nissan LEAF, being connected to the cloud potentially offers a much more tailored...
-
Smartphones Are Taking Over Your Car -- And The Planet
Over 3 million of today's smartphone users use telematics apps -- apps ranging from navigational services like Waze to streaming music players like the now-ubiquitous Pandora. That figure is expected to rise dramatically over the next five years; in fact, ABI Research estimates that by 2016, it...
Richard Read -
Beyond Posh: Land Rover Taps More Celebs To Tout The New Evoque
Over the next 12 months, Land Rover will launch an all-out offensive to get its new Range Rover Evoque front and center of the cool kids. Borrowing some marketing techniques from Land Rover's former parent company, Ford, as well as General Motors, the Evoque is being handed over to 30+ "global...
Richard Read -
Mercedes-Benz Syncs Up with Apple, RIM for Pandora, Video
Mercedes-Benz is adding to its tech bona fides with a new Media Interface Plus. Earlier this month, the automaker unveiled an iPad kit for European customers, at the Paris auto show. The kit mounts owners' Apple tablet devices behind the front headrests, and puts the iPad in easy reach of back-seat...
Martin Padgett -
Future Audis Will Have Downloadable Apps
Downloadable apps have revolutionized the way we use mobile phones and soon it will change the way we use our cars too. Audi’s next-generation of cars will have computer-style dashboards with touchscreen pads as well as downloadable apps similar to those on current smartphones like the Apple...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Rolls-Royce Launches Ghost Configurator iPhone App
Rolls-Royce’s new Ghost is about to go on sale and in the lead up to its arrival the bespoke British automaker has announced today that its first app for iPhone and iPod touch is now available on the App Store. The app allows potential customers and enthusiasts to configure their own 2010...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volkswagen is inviting designers, programmers, developers and interested users to help develop applications for the infotainment systems of the future as part of the new contest App My Ride. In the contest users can jointly develop new infotainment applications with Volkswagen. A jury of experts will select the winner. Currently a prototype for Volkswagen’s future infotainment system is being developed in which Flash applications designed by different creators can be accumulated. In order to research the potential of apps for the vehicle Infotainment system, Volkswagen is trying to produce...
-
Mini Launches Roadside Assistance App For iPhone, Blackberry
The app is the first of its kind from a car manufacturer.
Nelson Ireson
