iPhone Comes Closer to Driving Your Car
 | (NewsUSA) - In the olden days, people used maps for directions and yellow pages to find restaurants, and they didn't often use their phones as lightsabers.
But then came the next best thing since sliced bread -- the iPhone and its numerous apps. Users count calories, listen to music, track workouts via GPS, browse Amazon, watch videos, check e-mail, find low gas prices, pour animated beer and knock on virtual wood. Pretty soon, the iPhone will be cooking our dinners and driving our cars. One new iPhone app, the Viper SmartStart from Directed Electronics, allows users to start their cars, unlock their doors and change the temperature in the cabin -- and all without a key fob. Unlike some other apps -- like the one that measures how long you can press a button -- the Viper SmartStart app proves useful, especially for people living in cold climates. Those who have downloaded the app -- and installed Viper SmartStart in their vehicles -- can defrost their car and warm up the cabin before they step inside. But its potential does not stop there. "Viper SmartStart has many other capabilities beyond remote start," says Mike Simmons, executive vice president of Directed Electronics. "Depending on the installation, users can also lock and unlock the doors, pop the trunk, find their car in a parking lot or arm their security system. Users can even control multiple cars from one iPhone." Other remote start systems use a remote control attached to the key fob, which can only offer a limited range. But the Viper SmartStart app will work from any distance, so long as the iPhone receives a signal. Experts have recognized the innovation at work. The Viper SmartStart will be awarded Best of Innovations Honors at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. For more information, please visit www.viper.com/smartstart. |