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Updates from April, 2012

  • Tablet enjoys back-seat carnage The proliferation of tablets has been a game changer. Most stunning is the fact they have altered the course of business across multiple sectors. Bracketron’s Universal Tablet Headrest Mount helps tablets to alter the course of traditional backseat electronics for the better.

    Where parents used to buy expensive overheard monitors or headrest DVD systems, the Universal Tablet Headrest Mount provides an easy alternative, allowing the mounting of a tablet manufactured by Apple, Blackberry, Samsung, Motorola, Amazon and others in such a manner that the controls are accessible to passengers and the screen is pointed in the right direction to deliver maximum diversion. It’s simple to install and, considering the low price of some tablets, the result is similar in cost to a headrest monitor system, with more utility.

    Related

    Video users would need to adopt the brave new world sans DVD in order to make this switch, but, with each passing day, the technology becomes less intimidating. Bracketron and its peers are providing permanent housing to tablets in the back seat. It’ll be interesting to see how the traditional players adapt. $40; visit bracketron.com.

    AppRadio enjoys early refresh Pioneer Electronics has released a substantially improved version of its critically acclaimed AppRadio, just one year following its introduction. Among the first car stereos to play nice with iPhone apps by way of an interface that could directly control some specifically designed apps, the original AppRadio featured a 6.1-inch touchscreen and support only for iPhone. AppRadio 2 adds Android support, although Android devices need to be attached to the stereo via wired connection, and it boasts a larger seven-inch capacitive touchscreen.

    The unit currently supports a handful of apps for both iPhone and Android, but the beauty of this product is the number of apps available is limited only by the willingness of developers to ensure compatibility on future apps. If Pioneer can sell enough units of AppRadio, developers will feel financially motivated to develop even more compatible apps, providing consumers with a larger app ecosystem for AppRadio, thus stimulating greater sales of the hardware and continuing the contemporary hardware-software complementary sales paradigm that’s been perfected by video game console manufacturers and Apple. $600; visit pioneerelectronics.ca.


    8:00 am on April 8, 2012
     

  • Third eye on the road Ray Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns states that, as technology progresses, it evolves faster and faster. So, while consumers are just starting to warm up to Bluetooth and GPS as safe driving solutions, new technology has already arrived ready to shift the paradigm within the daily commute.

    Related

    The Mobileye 560 is an Advanced Driver Assistance System that combines a smart camera along with a visual display interface, which work together to measure distance to other vehicles, alert drivers to potential collisions, identify jaywalking pedestrians and signal unexpected lane closures. It’s a safety system that keeps an extra eye on the road, continually calculating the location and speed of other occupants and then reporting back via an icon system when danger is anticipated. It also uses Bluetooth to send visual alerts via a smartphone, and it can track driving performance to keep an eye on what teen drivers are doing to the car. If it all seems rather futuristic, that’s because it is. And, given the pace of technology, in about one year’s time, it likely won’t be. $850; visit mobileye.com.

    Garmin’s half-way to a tablet Dedicated GPS devices are in danger of extinction due to the rise of the tablet. But navigation manufacturer Garmin is doing a good job at staying current, introducing all sorts of features in its Nüvi 3590LMT, which mimics the contemporary trappings of the tablet crusaders. This five-inch touchscreen device is thin and introduces a very detailed 3D-rendered building view, with a responsive interface that allows users to pan around the map quickly for that ideal perspective. It has Bluetooth capability, and the built-in microphone serves as an input device to control this puppy via voice control. The 3590LMT is compatible with Garmin’s Smartphone Link for Android devices, which provides an array of services such as traffic information, traffic cameras, weather and fuel prices, all the while utilizing the Android device’s mobile data plan. We hope GPS hardware manufacturers move into the tablet business in the coming year, because they are already half-way there. Garmin should add email and provide a browser to poach Web service from the tethered Android device — then Bob’s your uncle. $399; visit garmin.com.


    9:00 am on January 21, 2012