In- Car Smart Tech
Explore the innovative smart kit you can add to your existing car today
Despite all the rumours, it’s still unclear whether Apple will release its own self-driving smart car, or if it’s simply focussing on intelligent driving software it could license to car manufacturers. In any event, nobody is expecting the famously secretive company to unveil anything for a few years yet. In the meantime, there are still plenty of ways to add some Apple tech to your car – in fact, you can already buy cars that have Apple software built right into them. Apple’s CarPlay technology is a display and controller for your dashboard that enables you to control key apps on your iPhone. If your vehicle supports CarPlay (see apple.co/2j2vFSc) and has a compatible screen installed on its dashboard, you can connect your iPhone to it and see and interact with apps such as Maps, Messages and Music without handling the phone. You can use Siri for hands-free voice commands, telling it to play your favourite playlist, for example, or “call the office” so you can tell someone you’re stuck in traffic.
Get a hands-free car phone
CarPlay made big strides in 2016, and there are now dozens of manufacturers, from Audi to Volkswagen, that include CarPlay as a standard feature in many of their latest models. But you don’t need to go out and buy a brand new car, as there are plenty of car accessories that allow you to use your iPhone while you’re driving.
Safety is all-important, and there are many hands-free kits that use Bluetooth to connect to your iPhone so you can make or take calls while driving, and talk to Siri. Prices start as low as £20 for a basic model such as the Olixar Clip (bit.ly/2jscMpo).
One of our favourite hands-free kits is the Parrot MiniKit Neo HD 2 (bit.ly/2jTx3aw), which is a little more expensive at around £80, but includes additional features such as an app that remembers the location of your car when you park. Also consider Pure’s Highway 600 (£150, bit.ly/2jMubKK), a high-quality DAB radio upgrade for your car, which also provides hands-free calling and Siri support.
Hey Siri, find me a satnav
Satnav systems are probably the smart car tech most people are familiar with, and TomTom makes a number of satnav models that work with Siri, starting at around £200 for the TomTo Go 520 (bit.ly/2knrYVc) and going up to £350 for the top-of-the-range Go 6200 (bit.ly/2js7NFl).
Pioneer makes several entertainment systems that will give your car a really high-tech upgrade. They include the company’s dashboard displays and full
support for CarPlay. They start at around £329 for the entry-level SPH-DA120 (bit.ly/2jse43U). Some of the company’s CarPlay systems enable you to connect a rear-facing camera and view its output on the dashboard screen to help you with parking, although these tend to be more high-end models costing £600 or more.
We’re fans of JBL’s speaker systems, so we’re very much looking forward to its first entry into the automobile market – the Legend CP100 (bit.ly/2js3lXe). Like its Pioneer rivals, it includes a dashboard display with support for CarPlay and an option for connecting a rear-view camera, although it should be more affordably priced at around £320. It’s due to become available in early 2017.
Add a new vantage point
Cameras are increasingly popular in cars. It started with action cams that were stuck onto the dashboard and used to record footage during races, or for TV shows like Top Gear. Action cam specialist GoPro soon saw the potential here and released a series of dashboard mounts and accessories for the company’s popular Hero cameras. There’s a more down to earth use for dashcams too. Apart from anything else, the footage from one may prove you weren’t at fault in the event of an accident. Some insurance companies will offer discounts if you have a dashcam fitted in your car. You can get a basic model such as the Mio MiVue 600 (bit.ly/ 2knK35v) for around £80, but also consider more advanced models such as the RAC03 (£160, bit.ly/2jXgU4g) or Thinkware F750 (£180), which include additional safety features, such as collision warnings if you get too close to the car in front, or if you start to drift across lanes without realising it.
A lot of accidents happen when drivers are reversing, and a new category has recently appeared to help with this: back-up cams. These attach to the back of a vehicle to provide a clearer view than you might get from your normal rear-view mirror. As we’ve mentioned, dashboard systems like JBL’s Legend let you observe a rear-view camera on your dashboard. Several companies make rear-view cameras, such as the low-cost BC30 from Garmin (£135, bit.ly/2jTOS9v).
Thinkware makes several kits that include both front and rear cameras, such as the Dash Cam X550, which is a bit pricey at £300 (bit.ly/2kmKUY7) but includes advanced features such as GPS tracking, and the ability to warn you of nearby speed cameras. It even has a Mac app for viewing recordings, in case you want to create a library of driving videos or use them in video editing projects.
Porsche’s Panamera 4S supports CarPlay – but you don’t have to spend tens of thousands to get smarts in your car