Apps
-
Rolls-Royce is the latest automaker to launch a downloadable app for Apple’s range of mobile devices, offering it for users of the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The app allows clients and Rolls-Royce enthusiasts to create highly bespoke virtual Phantom models, including the ability to apply unique color and interior trim combinations. There’s also a special image gallery showcasing all the unique items that makes a Rolls a ‘Rolls’, such as seat piping, veneer inserts, humidor and picnic sets. Rolls-Royce prides itself on a palette of 44,000 colors for the Phantom luxury...
-
MINI Connected 'Enhances Driving Fun' With Social Networking
Cheeky styling and endless personalization options already mark out the MINI as a fun and sociable vehicle, but now a new App from MINI called MINI Connected will give drivers, in MINI's words, "an even more intense experience of limitless driving fun". Normally for this sort of experience you'd be...
Antony Ingram -
OnStar Is China's First Automotive App
General Motors has made huge inroads in China, and now, those inroads have grown a bit wider: yesterday at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show, GM launched its smartphone app for China's OnStar subscribers. The OnStar app for Chinese drivers is nearly identical to the one that subscribers in North America...
Richard Read -
New 'EVolve' App From BMW Decides Whether You're Ready For An EV
Electric vehicles and other alt-fuel rides are big news these days. Tech fans and green enthusiasts can't wait to get their hands on 'em, while others think that hybrids and their eco-friendly kin are part of a vast communist conspiracy. No matter where you fall on that spectrum, there are many...
Richard Read -
Aston Martin Launches New ‘Experience’ App For iPhone
Following on from the success of its previous ‘Explore’ app released for the Apple iPhone back in December, Aston Martin has now launched a new and updated version dubbed ‘Experience’ that comes with a few new touches. Unlike the Explore app, which was offered for free, the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Infiniti Launches Free Roadside Assistance App
If you own a new or certified pre-owned Infiniti, the automaker now has a new app designed for the Apple iPhone that will help get you out of trouble should you have engine problems, get a flat tire or run out of gas. Infiniti has collaborated with Cross Country Automotive Services (Cross Country)...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Here's a question that we've heard a lot at High Gear Media: what does it take to get people to ditch their cars and take alternate transportation? Soaring gas prices make people travel less but don't really change their travel methods. Having an abundance of mass transit options doesn't have much effect, either. Even with a shaky economy and high unemployment, Americans drove a near-record number of miles in 2010. So what can change the public's mind about taking the bus, subway, bike, and walking? A new study from Latitude Research reveals a four-letter answer: apps. MAJOR TAKEAWAYS...
-
Search For Vintage Rides (And Get Insurance Quotes, Too) On 'Classic Car Guide' App
We've seen a handful of apps for classic car aficionados, and we've seen apps for insurance quotes and claims, but until now, we haven't seen those two services combined in one handy format. Enter the Classic Car Guide for iPhone and iPad. The Classic Car Guide lets fans of vintage rides search for...
Richard Read -
Got A Great Idea To Make Driving Easier/Greener/More Fun? Enter The Connected Vehicle Tech Challenge
There are thousands of tech developers out there, trying to make driving more fun, more efficient, and less frustrating. Apps like DriveSafe.ly, Parking In Motion, and Waze are the fruits of their labor. But there are just as many folks with great ideas for improving the roadways who don't have the...
Richard Read -
Parking In Motion Tries Its Hand At Building A Useful Parking 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...
Richard Read -
Charlie Sheen Shifts To An Even Smaller Screen -- As An App Developer
Like 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 -
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 other anti-distracted-driving apps we've seen, including PhoneGuard, SafeCell, and DriveSafe.ly. When the phone's accelerometer registers a certain speed (usually around 10 mph), it automatically shuts off most features: incoming calls are sent straight to voicemail; text-message alerts are turned off...
-
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 -
Packing For SXSW? Grab These Two Apps For Motoring Around Town
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...
Richard Read -
Video: MINI Goes In-Depth On MINI Connected
At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) we brought you news of MINI Connected's first app: Pandora. Today, MINI expands on what Connected adds to the in-car experience with this detailed video highlighting its key features. Want to link your iPhone to Twitter, Facebook, Google Local Search, or...
Nelson Ireson -
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 -
We've known for many months that the Hyundai Equus would get an iPad (perhaps even an iPad 2 now that the release of that model is looming) in the glove box, pre-loaded with the owner's manual and an app to handle service and other customer interaction. Today, Hyundai released a little detail about the background of the app. Developed by Rage Digital, the Hyundai Equus iPad app is called "The Hyundai Equus Owner Experience," and features demonstration videos, interactive product features, and safety information--things the 1,000-page hard-copy of the manual included with every car simply...
-
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 -
BMW X6 Gets Optional Fifth Seat
One of the biggest drawbacks of the BMW X6--once you’ve learned to live with its awkward styling and steeply reclined roof--is its limited four-seater capacity. Remember, this is a vehicle that nearly matches some seven-seaters in size yet BMW chose to go with a 2+2 seating configuration...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
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