Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs is filled with a lot of personal anecdotes about what the charismatic Apple co-founder and ex-CEO was like in his personal life… and most of them were not very good at making Jobs look likable or human.
That’s why I was grateful to see this thread pop up on Quora, in which Tim Smith, the principal at the Applied Design Group talks about the time that Steve Jobs, his son and Laurene Powell Jobs tried to fix his car back in the 1990s… along with a mysterious man in a tuxedo who looked eerily like James Bond.
The Jabra Freeway ($100) is Jabra’s flagship bluetooth car speakerphone. The Freeway has loads of top-rung features like hands-free voice commands, caller announcements and FM music-streaming, wrapped around three loud, powerful speakers accompanied by noise-cancelling dual microphones — making it a very attractive option for drivers who want to add a hands-free speakerphone to their cars.
If it weren’t for Apple, this car would probably look awful to you.
Steve Jobs never got the chance to build the car of his dreams, but he has still had a huge affect on the car industry. Why? Because he made white cool. Before Apple began making white computers and accessories, white was a color only associated with boring products like refrigerators — and nobody dreamed of owning a white car. Now it’s the most popular car color in America.
Apple demonstrates Siri integration in vehicles at WWDC.
Earlier this week during its WWDC keynote, Apple announced that nine automakers have committed to introducing a special Siri button into their upcoming vehicles, allowing you to activate your voice-controlled assistant without removing your hands from the steering wheel. However, it seems the Cupertino company forgot to tell some of those manufacturers about its plan.
Decent in-dash stereo systems aren’t just expensive, they make you a target for a break-in… and why even bother with one when your iPhone can do everything a stereo dash can do, and a lot more besides?
Exactly, say the makers of Devium Dash, a new project up on Kickstarter. Instead of some expensive in-dash system that doesn’t do as much as your iDevice, why don’t you just slap your iPhone into the dash when you start driving instead?
All I wanted for Christmas was an iPhone. That’s it. But my parents went off and bought me a stupid Kindle Fire…those dumb bastards. Actually I’d be pretty happy with receiving a new Kindle Fire, and I already have an iPhone 4S with the fancy camera and everything so I don’t need a new one of those, but apparently a lot of people were disappointed on Christmas morning when they didn’t unwrap a shiny new iPhone. Taking the audacity of privileged consumerism to new heights of hilarity, comedy writer Jon Hendren compiled the stream of dejected tweets into a music video to express the world’s ingratidude.
“WTF?! I Wanted An iPhone” is a catchy (but NSFW) tune that captures little treasures of bitterness that bloomed on Christmas morning. The enormous display of ingratitude is a bit shocking. Hey @SamStandsFoSwag we’re sorry mom and dad got you the black iPod Touch instead of the white one, but maybe when you graduate high school and get a job you’ll realize, “Oh dang, spending $200 on a silly music player is not the funnest thing to do in world.”
LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — Pioneer launched its SmartCradle for the iPhone at its CES presser today, further proving that the aftermarket auto industry seems to be embracing the iPhone with rapidly increasing gusto.
They really pulled out the stops on this one, hardware-wise: a dedicated GPS receiver with an external antenna, which they said will give even newer iPod Touch models GPS capability; an accelerometer and gyro sensor for better location awareness; hands-free calling an integrated amplified speaker with the ability to vary volume based on ambient noise; and audio/video output. Of course, it’ll also charge the iPhone; Ted Cardenas, Pioneer’s director of marketing, made of point of this — but since the iPhone won’t last long with location services going, any dock even remotely similar already includes charging ability. Nary a whiff on price or availability yet.
LAS VEGAS — Griffin revealed something really cool today: a sensor that hooks up to your car’s diagnostic computer and feeds all kinds of info to your iPhone. Griffin calls it the CarTrip, and it attaches to your car’s OBD-II sensor (the thing car mechanics uses to diagnose problems), collects and stores the data, then sends it to your iPhone (we’re not sure how, because the press release doesn’t say), which then displays the data in realtime with the help its free partner app, CleanDrive.
The app/hardware package will reveal all kinds of information, like fuel consumption rates, acceleration, and it’ll interpret diagnostic codes. It’ll also display a “Carbon Score,” so you can figure out how much you’re befouling the planet by driving around.
CarTrip should be available in early 2011 for $90.
Update: CarTrip is equipped with Bluetooth for relaying the data to an iPhone. Thanks Levi!
Hyundai has gone high-tech for their luxury Equus sedan, releasing the 2011 owner’s manual as a free interactive iPad app. Now you can view a multimedia reference guide, locate Hyundai dealers, schedule service appointments, read (and ignore) safety warnings, and – according to the App Store description – “experience Equus rear-passenger massage and relaxation therapy.”
Wow. That’s some owner’s manual.
Even better, an iPad comes with the car! Nice perk. Vehicle cost: $58,900. iPhone and iPod touch versions of the app are scheduled for release shortly.
![Jabra Freeway Bluetooth Speakerphone: Excellent for Chatting, Not So Much for Music [Review]](http://www.cultofandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/jabra-freeway-5.jpg)
![Pioneer Embraces The iPhone With A GPS Car Dock [CES 2011]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/pioneer1.jpg "pioneer")
![Griffin Launches Car-Monitoring Sensor For iPhone [CES 2011]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/cartrip1.jpg "cartrip")
