Magellan RoadMate Navigation: iPhone Review

The world of personal navigation devices is rapidly changing, and the big players are adding full-featured software applications for devices that don’t bear their names. Magellan is the latest to offer a serious navigation app for the iPhone. It’s not cheap, but it’ll make you shun those clunky nav units.

What We Like
Rapid auto-fill keypad, Points-of-interests lists are clear and customizable, Uses iPhone contacts, Screen clarity

What We Don’t
Huge file size, Slow-moving between screens, No traffic reports, Long loading time

Price: $79.99 for a limited time

2010 Chevy Equinox iPod Interface Tested

The all-new 2010 Chevy Equinox has a terrific new interior design and, in most models, an all-new stereo with a USB iPod interface. I spent some time testing the new system, and in most ways it shows that GM is at the forefront of utilizing this type of setup. Of course, with others like Hyundai and especially Ford fielding strong competition, GM better be at the top of its game.

Sirius XM for iPhone Review

Last week, we rounded up and reviewed a number of free music applications for the iPhone as an alternative to the just-announced Sirius XM app. Now that we’ve had a few days to test what Sirius has to offer, we’ve definitely made up our minds as to whether it’s worth the $12.95 per month fee for non-subscribers, $2.95 a month for Sirius XM Satellite Radio subscribers and the $0 a month for Sirius XM internet subscribers.

First let’s tackle the two most important aspects of any music app: sound quality, and selection and variety of songs.

Sirius XM Finally Here for iPhone; We Rate the Competition

This morning, Sirius XM launched its much-anticipated application for the iPhone. The app is free to download, with a free seven-day trial to the service’s lineup. After that, you’ll have to pay the full $12.95 internet subscription fee for Sirius to keep it running. Current subscribers to Sirius XM in their cars have to pay an additional $2.95 a month to get internet and iPhone access. Unfortunately, Howard Stern’s stations will not be available on the iPhone app even though they are available to regular internet radio subscribers via a web browser.

We've been testing a slew of free music apps for months in our test cars, at our desks and walking around town, and from that experience we’ve brought together an assortment of alternatives to Sirius XM for iPhone owners looking to expand their in-car entertainment options.

We’ll have a full review of the Sirius XM app on the blog soon, but for now see what else is worth downloading to your iPhone or iPhone 3G S.

TomTom Navigation for iPhone Coming Soon

Alongside today’s announcement of the new iPhone 3G S (the new, faster, more feature-rich iPhone) comes the June 17 release of the iPhone 3.0 software, which allows application developers to create apps that take full advantage of the device’s features.

At the same time, TomTom announced the creation of a navigation app for the iPhone. Company officials said iPhone users will be able to download TomTom’s new full-featured navigation app from the iTunes App Store some time after the new iPhone operating system launches. Also, TomTom will sell a mounting kit that includes a dock connector for power (using a 12-volt outlet) and audio connectivity for the iPhone (using a standard MP3 jack).

How much will it cost? We don’t know yet, but we’ll keep our ears open.

TomTom for iPhone Video (TomTom via YouTube)

Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset Review

Bluetooth headsets aren’t just for the jerk behind you at the ATM anymore. As more and more cities pass laws requiring hands-free cell phone use, these kinds of units aren’t just the best solution, they’re a necessity. Jawbone by Aliph quickly became a top-rated player when it introduced the original Jawbone 2 in May 2008. One year later, it’s hoping to have another hit. The Jawbone Prime has taken the best of the Jawbone 2 and improved it in every way possible.

Telenav GPS Navigator for Android Review

Everyone knows Google, if only as the omnipresent internet search engine. Last year, the company took a huge step into the mobile arena with the release of its open-source mobile platform, Android. Last October, HTC, Google and T-Mobile teamed up to create the G1, the first Android-based mobile phone. Quickly after its release, thousands of applications were available for the G1. We at Cars.com got word of Telenav GPS creating a G1 application for turn-by-turn real-time navigation and right away looked to get our hands on it. We took plenty of time testing the G1 and Telenav GPS Navigator, and came away very impressed with the software but convinced that the G1 and Android have lots of room to grow. Later this summer, more Android-based smart phones from other manufacturers and mobile carriers will hit the market. Telenav’s GPS Navigator will be available for all of them. 

Ease of Use: 14 of 15 pts
In most cases, I’d have to say that ease of use and safety go hand-in-hand. The easier a device is to use, the safer it is to use while driving. Once the Telenav application is launched on the G1, navigating to your destination could not be much easier to do. Large on-screen buttons, easy-to-read text and voice commands make navigating the application a breeze. Entering points of interest and addresses is just as easy thanks to the built-in voice recognition software. I was truly impressed with how easy it was to use the application while driving.

GM's Ugly Yet Simple iPod Solution

While many car companies are quickly adopting USB inputs for iPods and other MP3 players, GM has resisted the change on most of its more affordable models. Yes, you could get a dealer-installed adapter cable, but nothing built-in. Recently, we had a bright yellow Chevy Cobalt XFE in our fleet, and I took it out to run an errand. When Ask.Cars.com editor Joe Bruzek told me it had a USB interface and he liked it, I was skeptical. But I took my 120GB iPod Classic with me and couldn’t believe what I discovered.

The $100 option is ugly.

2009 Infiniti M35 DVD Studio Surround System Reviewed

A few weeks ago, I was tasked with driving my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law to every ballroom in Chicago to see if any would be suitable to host their upcoming wedding.

Of course, I didn’t want to pay for parking at all these stops, so I stayed in the car. Which meant I had to come up with something to do while I waited, flashers blinking. The first thing that came to mind was watching a movie. While I could sit with my iPhone in hand and use a set of headphones for sound, I knew there was a better option. The Infiniti M35x I was driving had the optional Bose Studio Surround sound system. This includes digital 5.1 decoding, a DVD drive, and 14 high-quality Bose speakers. When I think of the best surround-sound experience, I instantly think of the first “Matrix” movie. So, I put the DVD in the center-counsel-mounted DVD drive and we were off.

First Turn-by-Turn Navigation App for iPhone: XROADS G-Map Review

Update: Apple has pulled the XRoads G-Map programs from its app store.

The iPhone has unquestionably dominated the mobile phone industry for the past two years. One of its biggest advantages over other devices is the long list of applications of every variety that can be downloaded to it. There are “apps” for everything from keeping track of your Twitter feed to following your favorite baseball team. Finally, after nearly two years, a developer has released the first real-time, turn-by-turn navigation application for the iPhone. XROADS G-Map ($19) is clearly the best real-time navigation option for an iPhone right now, but we ran it through the same tests we would a stand-alone TomTom, Garmin or Mio system to see how it fared with the big boys of navigation.