What the future has in store
Samsung in driver’s seat
Launched last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, JVC’s new KW-NSX700 car stereo is an endorsement that Samsung smartphones have finally arrived. In a world where every car stereo now features iPhone compatibility and many include Android connectivity, the fact that the KWNSX700 has introduced integrated control for the Galaxy SIII via Samsung’s new Drive Link smartphone application is a coup.
The receiver features a seveninch motorized widescreen touch display, built-in Bluetooth capable of pairing up to five phones and a three-band parametric equalizer. But these are fairly standard specifications and the more interesting development is the sheer volume of mobile phone standards and apps that are now supported by major car stereo manufacturers.
With Drive Link joining iPhone and Android as well as Pandora capability, and the device supporting MirrorLink technology for Nokia Symbian phones, the KW-NSX700 is aiming to be all things to all people. We are eager to see which phones get dropped first when JVC and other stereo-makers choose not to aim so far and wide.
$700; visit jvc.ca
A mobile device for everyone
Your mobile phone is connected via Bluetooth to the car stereo and you’re transmitting music wirelessly from your phone, but since your phone has limited memory and you simply must have 2,000 songs available on the go, you’ve purchased the Seagate Wireless Plus 1-Terra- byte Wi-Fi-enabled hard drive from which your phone is receiving songs that it is in turn transmitting to the car stereo. In the back seat, both of your children are being blessedly pacified by tablets that are playing two different television shows, each tablet receiving their respective content served wirelessly from the same Seagate Wireless Plus Wi-Fienabled hard drive, as it can serve content to multiple devices simultaneously.
This is the future, with everybody inside one car able to consume different media while on the go, served via wireless connection from a single hard drive capable of staying powered for 10 hours on a single charge and being small enough to fit in the glove compartment. And the cool thing is that it’s available now.