Directed Electronics broadened the reach of its Viper SmartStart to Android smartphones so that the remote start app now works with the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones.

“With this app release, our Viper SmartStart solution is available to more than 75% of all smartphone users,” said Kevin Duffy, president of Directed Electronics.
The SmartStart lets you start your car from your smartphone. You can also lock and unlock the doors, arm/disarm a security system, open the trunk and hit the panic alarm from the phone.

The free app requires a $299 module for the car and a $30 annual service fee plus a remote start system. If you don’t already have a remote start system the package price with module is $499.

Source: Directed Electronics

Mobile DTV is gaining steam and it looks like it will be abundant at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

DICE is readying a Mobile DTV tuner for a possible preview this October at the MERA Knowledgefest. Rydeen will show a Mobile DTV tuner at CES for shipping in early 2011. They join Mobile DTV tuners from NAV-TV and Accele, which is selling a Mobile DTV head unit.

Mobile DTV is simply local, broadcast TV that works on a portable device or in a car. It gives consumers the live news, entertainment, sports and weather they get on a home TV.

Since the FCC gave Mobile DTV a second clearance weeks ago, more vendors are revealing plans to launch products. Also, Mobile DTV’s competitor FLO-TV is not selling to plan and developer Qualcomm has put it on the sales block. A simple comparison between the two services is that FLO-TV requires monthly service fees and Mobile DTV does not. (But Mobile DTV requires that TV stations convert to the format). [See note from Audiovox below*]

DICE hopes to provide more details on its device by October with an official unveiling at CES in January.

Rydeen has been testing its RAC-100 tuner connected to a Kenwood AV head unit in Torrance, CA where one station is up and running in Mobile DTV. Rydeen president Phil Maeda said he’s happy with the picture quality although he added, “There were a few areas on the freeway when the signal strength was low, and therefore the picture was pixilated.” He believes that as more receivers come on the market there will be more reason for TV stations to improve their signal.

Accele recently began selling a double DIN head unit with a Mobile DTV tuner. It has a 6.2-inch touch screen and offers built-in navigation and Bluetooth with an option for a rear vision camera. Called the DIN200GPS ATSC, it sells for $999 with the Mobile DTV tuner representing a $300 premium to the consumer.

Rosen is studying the technology. “We are studying and feel the service has some upside but we want to make sure there is enough coverage and content in key markets. Many markets have limited stations broadcasting from what we’ve seen…The advantages of better picture quality and no service fees after the 1x equipment investment are enticing for sure,” said VP sales & marketing Steve Weimar.

NAV-TV announced it will offer a $399 Mobile DTV tuner called the MiTV that works with any aftermarket car video screen or with specific factory car screens. Concept Enterprises also plans to offer a Mobile DTV tuner this year.

The portable TV technology’s key drawback is that less than 50 TV stations are airing in the service, but that number should double by the end of the year.

Programs currently offered via Mobile DTV in a Washington DC test trail of the service include local NBC, Fox, and CBS programming plus MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS programming.

Source: CEoutlook

Photo: MiTV by NAV-TV

*Audiovox: The comparison is that FLO-TV provides premium content for a subscription fee, while DTV will provide local network TV in a mobile environment, with out a subscription. This is the same experience one has watching TV at home. Local channels are free and broadcast terrestrially, while the premium content is distributed by a cable or satellite provider on a subscription basis.

Ultimate Audio in Orlando, Fl has is proud to show off their latest creation: a customized Ferrari California. They lowered the suspension, with the California sitting on 21-inch front and 22-inch rear custom-built wheels that feature one-off floating center caps that are designed to mimic the factory-style upgrade wheels. Smoked lights all around along with tinted windows give it a nice stealthy look. The Escort radar keeps the “po-po” in check and the Kenwood DVD/ NAV keeps the occupants entertained and pointed in the right direction. The interior is unreal with a sea of creamy leather and blue stitching.

Few if any leading brand names offer a remote start system for late model Mercedes Benz vehicles, but Compustar (Firstech) just began shipping a $799 data module that will remote start a Mercedes Benz 2010 C Class using the car’s own key. No key fob is necessary. The device installs in 5 minutes with no wire cutting because it taps into the car’s fibre optic system. (See video below).

If you want to add extended range to the system to remote start from virtually anywhere you can add CompuStar’s DroneMobile app for the iPhone and start the car from your iPhone. You can also buy a Compustar remote starter keyfob to increase range beyond that offered by the factory key.

The new data module for Mercedes Benz C Class is shipping now.

Source: Compustar

Few if any leading brand names offer a remote start system for late model Mercedes Benz vehicles, but Compustar (Firstech) just began shipping a $799 data module that will remote start a Mercedes Benz 2010 C Class using the car’s own key. No key fob is necessary. The device installs in 5 minutes with no wire cutting because it taps into the car’s fibre optic system. (See video below).

If you want to add extended range to the system to remote start from virtually anywhere you can add CompuStar’s DroneMobile app for the iPhone and start the car from your iPhone. You can also buy a Compustar remote starter keyfob to increase range beyond that offered by the factory key.

The new data module for Mercedes Benz C Class is shipping now.

Source: Compustar

Few if any leading brand names offer a remote start system for late model Mercedes Benz vehicles, but Compustar (Firstech) just began shipping a $799 data module that will remote start a Mercedes Benz 2010 C Class using the car’s own key. No key fob is necessary. The device installs in 5 minutes with no wire cutting because it taps into the car’s fibre optic system. (See video below).

If you want to add extended range to the system to remote start from virtually anywhere you can add CompuStar’s DroneMobile app for the iPhone and start the car from your iPhone. You can also buy a Compustar remote starter keyfob to increase range beyond that offered by the factory key.

The new data module for Mercedes Benz C Class is shipping now.

Source: Compustar

You can see the new OnStar app in action in the video below as OnStar shows us how we can find our lost car in a crowded parking lot by tapping on the screen of an iPhone.

The company also announces in the new video that one of the first cars to work with an OnStar app (beside the Chevy Volt due later this year) will be the Chevy Cruze this summer as well as the Buick LaCrosse and several Cadillac models this year.

As we noted last week, the OnStar app should be available for iPhone and select Android smartphones to work with 2011 GM cars as they roll out. The app will let you remote start the car, lock or unlock doors, hit the panic button plus other features including checking tire pressure, oil life, fuel level, etc.

Source: OnStar

FLO TV is struggling and its owner Qualcomm wants to sell the business, reports the AP.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs told analysts yesterday that the company is considering “a number of alternatives” for getting rid of the business. It’s in discussions with other companies and a deal is expected to be put together in the next year.

Audiovox, which sells a $399 FLO TV tuner for the car, said it has no comment at this time. Audiovox had recently stated that Best Buy will begin selling its FLO TV car tuner system this quarter as well as a portable DVD player with FLO TV built in.

FLO TV delivers 20 channels of video in a subscription TV service for portables, mobile phones and car TV products.

Qualcomm actually stated back in June, that the service had not found the audience that the company had expected, according to the Wall Street Journal.

FLO TV is offered by a division of Qualcomm called MediaFLO. It launched a few years ago on its own proprietary network running over spectrum owned by Qualcomm. Although the service was offered in some mobile phones, it was never embedded in the most popular models like the iPhone or Blackberry.

Jacobs said a FLO TV deal “will get done in the next year but I don’t think I can be much more specific than that…A lot of interesting discussions. It’s early days.”

Source: AP via MSN and the Wall Street Journal

Photo: Audiovox FLO TV