Apps

  • Backseat Driver app from ToyToyota

    At a time when most major manufacturers are scaling back and focusing on core products, Toyota has added a brand -- and along with it, a new toy to keep kids occupied on road trips. The brand in question is ToyToyota, and its first product is an app called Backseat Driver. Backseat Driver is different from other driving games because it uses the handset's GPS and accelerometer to match in-game play with the direction and speed of the real-world car that the player is sitting in. In a nutshell, the player's car follows along behind the "Papa Car" (i.e. the real-world car), picking up goodies...

  • Google Maps with traffic data for Munich and Madrid
    Planning A European Road Trip? Google Maps Has Traffic Info

    For many of us, the thought of motoring through the backroads and byways of Europe sounds like a dream vacation, but such trips come with their share of challenges -- namely, unfamiliar roads, signs in foreign languages, and, like anywhere, rush hour traffic. (Hey, someone's gotta keep punching the...

  • 2012 Ford Mustang equipped with SYNC AppLink
    Pandora Internet Radio Expands Relationship With Ford, Scion

    Pandora Internet radio is rapidly expanding their presence in the automotive segment, where nearly fifty-percent of radio "consumption" happens. Pandora solutions are now available from automakers and the aftermarket alike.

  • Roadside America app screen shots
    Roadside America App Ensures Weirdness At Your Fingertips

    The Roadside America app for iPhone will guide you to the obscure and bizarre along your travels. It's the perfect app for summer road trip season.

  • GMC Showroom Mobile App for iPhone
    GMC Brings Its Showroom To The Smartphone

    According to Nielsen, Americans are finally shifting to smartphones: 38% of mobile users already have one, and the majority of those shopping for new handsets are planning to purchase one in the near future. General Motors is hoping to cash in on that development with its new GMC Showroom App. Like...

  • Mercedes-Benz Apple iPad integration
    Mercedes To Answer BMW With Own Apps Store?

    Mercedes-Benz could be planning a system of apps, and a store to distribute them, much like rival German luxury marque BMW.

  • Al Franken

    Privacy has long been a serious issue on the web. Now, a new bill authored by Senator Al Franken wants to address some of those concerns -- and from where we sit, it's arrived just in the nick of time. In the early days of Web 1.0, long before the rise of social networking, privacy concerns centered mostly around online chats, cyber stalkers, and online predators. The idea that you might be talking to someone who wasn't who s/he claimed to be was frightening -- and still is. The problems ramped up dramatically when the web went social. Facebook alone has over half a billion users, many of...

  • Field sobriety test
    Unloaded: Apple Bans DUI Sobriety Checkpoint Apps

    Drunk drivers who think they can evade the law by looking to certain smartphone apps might suddenly find a roadblock after all. Apple has followed up its big iCloud news earlier this week with some revised guidelines for its App Store—and one of the most noteworthy changes is a crackdown on...

  • Volvo On Call app for iPhone
    Volvo Launches Beefed-Up 'Volvo On Call' App For iPhone, Android In Europe

    Volvo was one of several auto brands cast off from its parent company during the recent recession. The majority of those marques were shuttered (e.g. HUMMER, Pontiac, Saturn), and one -- Saab -- is struggling to keep the doors open. Volvo, however, has managed to stay the course, and a new app...

  • iOnRoad app
    iOnRoad App Brings Collision-Avoidance To Your Smartphone: Video

    If you're in the market for a new vehicle, you might be tempted to go for something with high-tech safety features, like a collision-avoidance system. At the moment, though, most of that technology is tied to luxury rides or comes as pricey add-ons. But if you've got an Android smartphone, a new...

  • Gas Buddy
    Memorial Day: 6 Apps For Your 3-Day Weekend

    If you're one of our U.S. readers, you're probably (well, hopefully) preparing for a three-day weekend. And although gas prices are sky high, chances are good that many of you are planning road trips over the Memorial Day holiday. If you're in that number, we'd like to suggest a few apps that'll...

  • 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class Apple iPad app
    2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS Accessorizes With Apple iPad App

    Automotive apps are all the rage, but it's a special kind of car that gets an app all to itself. The luxury 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class four-door coupe is just such a car, and a free app available through the Apple App Store allows owners and potential owners to access information about the car...

  • 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class Apple iPad app

    Mercedes-Benz is the latest in a growing list of luxury automakers releasing new apps for the Apple iPad, a connected executive’s latest must-have and something that’s increasingly becoming an intriguing accessory for cars, especially in marketing them. This isn’t the first time that Mercedes-Benz has dabbled with the iPad crowd--the automaker has previously shown innovative ways of attaching the handy device in the car--but it’s the first time that it has launched its own iPad app. Dubbed the Mercedes-Benz MY '12 CLS-Class iPad App, the latest software application...

  • BumpChat driver connection app
    Better Driver Chat App Than Ever: BUMP.com Acquires BumpChat

    For those who can't get enough of chatting to strangers in traffic, the experience can now be enjoyed more widely than ever with BUMP.com's acquisition of BumpChat. The 'social network for your car' allows you to contact other drivers and chat to your heart's content, all the while fine-tuning the...

  • Ford SYNC
    Ford Sync Could Soon Monitor Your Blood Pressure, Too

    Ford's popular Sync telematics system offers an array of great features, like entertainment, navigation, and diagnostics. Now, the automaker's tech team are wondering if they might extend diagnostics to evaluate the health of drivers themselves. Developers at Ford have begun working with WellDoc, a...

  • RoadAhead screen grab
    Road Ahead App May Be The Road Tripper's Best Friend

    If you’re like us, you have a passion for road trips and a serious preference for certain brands of food, gasoline and coffee. If you own an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, a new application may be just the thing to turn road trip frustration into road trip bliss. Called RoadAhead, the app will...

  • eBay Motors app infographic
    The eBay Motors App Arrives At Last, But Can It Save The Day?

    We expected the eBay Motors app to arrive in March, but it missed that deadline by a couple of months. Now that it's finally arrived, can the app redeem itself by preserving eBay's standing as a worthwhile shopping destination? There's no denying that eBay has lost luster over the past few years...

  • Pulled over by the police
    Senators Push Apple, Google To Nix DUI Apps -- But Does It Matter?

    In March, we told you that four U.S. Senators had pushed Apple, Google, and Research In Motion (creators of the Blackberry) to remove apps that revealed the location of DUI checkpoints. At the time, RIM was the only provider that agreed to do so, but now Apple and Google have indicated that they...

  • Audi logo

    Just a few weeks ago Infiniti launched a new roadside assistance app for users of the Apple iPhone, and before that we saw MINI launch its own version, while Mercedes-Benz has had its mbrace assistance feature for what seems like forever. Now Audi is joining the fray with its own free roadside assistance app for the Apple iPhone and iPad, as well as BlackBerry and Android smartphone users. The new app, dubbed the Audi Roadside App, works by accessing an Audi vehicle's basic information, which is stored as part of the broader roadside assistance service. It delivers some emergency and...

  • Audi Roadside App
    Audi Goes Mobile With New Roadside Assistance App

    Audi's newest product offering comes to owners of the Apple iPhone, as well as BlackBerry and Android devices, in the form of the Audi Roadside Assistance app. The free app delivers some emergency and concierge services to users' phones--everything from locating dealers to connecting with the...

  • Homer Simpson
    Homer Simpson Squeezes Into TomTom's App For iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

    Given the vast number of free navigation apps available for Apple, Android, Blackberry, and Windows handsets, we've been more than a little skeptical about the future of satnav makers like Garmin and TomTom. After all, why should consumers shell out for a fairly limited piece of hardware when they...

  • Copart's Sell My Car app
    Tired Of eBay, Craigslist? Sell Your Car With Copart App

    Online car sales sites have transformed the way we buy and sell cars. Whether you're selling to the highest bidder on an online auction site or setting your price and waiting for the calls on sites like Autotrader, you can not only add far more photos and details than ever before but reach a...

  • State Farm Driver Feedback app for iPhone
    Uh-Oh: State Farm Is Watching (And Rating) Your Driving, Too

    Remember Progressive's Snapshot program? Sign up, and the agency sends you a device that plugs into your car's onboard diagnostic port and lets Progressive know how safely you're driving. Score well, and your auto insurance rate could plummet. Score poorly, and your rate might go up. Now State Farm...

  • BMW i App
    Planning A Road Trip? Make It 'Appen With These Mobile Apps

    In the good old days all you needed for a road trip was a car, some buddies, and a sense of adventure. Even a map was optional. These days you can have it so much easier with the latest downloadable apps at your fingertips telling you everything from where to sleep to providing your tunes. Here is...

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