smartphones

If you have engine problems, get a flat tire or run out of gas, a new iPhone app from Infiniti can help you with that, as long as you own a new or certified pre-owned Infiniti vehicle. Infiniti, in cooperation with Cross Country Automotive Services, is announcing their free roadside assistance app...

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...

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...

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...

Not long ago we took a look at a remote control car steered not via a traditional controller, but using a touch-screen smartphone. It's already been upstaged, this time using an Apple iPad and an HTML5 web app that uses the tablet's motion sensors in a similar manner to that of the smartphone R/C...

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...

Before the advent of video games and thousands of cars stunningly recreated in high polygon models on hundreds of detailed race tracks, we used to use a little thing known as imagination and a little suspension of disbelief to get virtual racing thrills. Diecast cars were at the bottom of the tree...

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...

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...

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...

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...

As we reported earlier, Saab is working on a new telematics and infotainment system for its future cars called Saab IQon. The new system, previewed this week in Saab’s striking PhoeniX concept, is essentially a new car communications platform based on Google’s Android operating system...

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...

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...

Last month, we told you that GM cars would soon feature built-in charging devices from Powermat and that the Chevy Volt was first in line for the goods. Now, Powermat has announced that it'll soon offer a version of its wireless charger for cell phones and other mobile devices that will fit any...

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...

Over the past few months, we've seen a number of smartphone apps designed to curb distracted driving -- namely, SafeCell, PhoneGuard, and Mashable's mobile app of the year, DriveSafe.ly. Now a nationwide carrier has joined the fray: T-Mobile, with its DriveSmart service. Of the various apps...

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...

Imagine being able to charge multiple portable devices, from MP3 players to USB sticks to smartphones and Bluetooth kits, in your car without having to deal with pesky cables. We all know every brand of portable device loves to you use its own proprietary charging cable but a new solution from...

Smartphone junkies now have another reason to look up the new 2012 Ford Mustang as the car is next in line to receive the latest SYNC AppLink system, which allows voice and button control of smartphones with apps like Pandora and Stitcher. Already announced for the Fiesta, in an interesting move...