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Top 10 Car Gadgets & Accessories

As cars get more advanced, the technologies inside the cars have to keep pace. The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is place where the top gadget and accessories makers get together to show off their latest wares. The CES has increasingly become a place where we can lay our eyes on some of the most exotic upcoming in-car gadgets.

Here is a list of top ten car gadgets and accessories that were showcased at the 2010 CES. These technologies would surely make for every car owners' gadget lust list.

10. Smartphone Applications

During the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, car makers went on an application frenzy. While Ford showcased innovative apps for its Sync system that will allow you to access Twitter feeds and other content in the car, OnStar launched an upcoming Chevy Volt application that lets owners check the status of the battery charge. But the most eye-catching was the future concept application from Continental and Hughes Telematics. This application would allow you to do everything, right from remotely checking tire pressure to analyzing emissions.

9. Pandora

The same auto event also saw the launch of that internet-radio service Pandora from the Ford's Sync system and head units from Alpine and Pioneer. This system uses Pandora's smartphone app to access the service and then pipe it into the car so it can be safely controlled by the head unit or, in the case of Sync, via voice controls. Interestingly, radio was the first in-car entertainment technology. The best thing about Pandora is it offers the features or both satellite radio and HD Radio.

8. Easier Portable Device Integration

It is very important that automakers and aftermarket manufacturers integrate the portable media and communications devices well into the vehicle. Ford Sync system continues to lead by adding features to bring content into its cars. Kia has also brought its new Uvo system that is based on a Microsoft software similar to that of Ford's Sync. At the same time, companies like Alpine, Pioneer and Kenwood are rolling out unique applications and features that simplify the safe usage of portables inside the car.

7. Better Voice Controls

Sync always maintains high standards when it comes to voice control for accessing content on portable media players and using mobile phone while driving. And now, the system has got an upgrade in the form of a "flatter" command sequencing, which means that the driver can give meaning less structured and rigid inputs to the system. Kia's Uvo system uses a similar Microsoft-developed voice engine, which makes it a lot easier to say what you want the system to do.

6. More Accurate Traffic

We have the navigation systems for some time now but real-time traffic still seems to be the missing part of the picture. While the current systems tells is as how to navigate our way to reach at a particular place, and the time required, but they fall short when it comes to providing a detailed picture of the traffic along the way.

But we can certainly hope to see something coming up from Inrix, a major supplier of traffic info. The company will be extending services that will provide traffic information for the navigation portion of the new MyFord Touch system.

5. More Detailed Maps

These days, navigation system mapping has definitely become more 'granular' and the two most important map-data suppliers would be Navteq that has come up with a new LIDAR-based data-gathering system, and Tele Atlas announced new mapping software which can provide minute details including road curvature and grade percentage. The Navteq system provides detailed 3-D and 360-degree renderings of surrounding areas.

4. Aftermarket Camera Systems

International brands like Alpine and Kenwood have come up with new camera systems. While Alpine has showcased a prototype of a multicamera system that provides a 360-degree view similar to Infiniti's Around View Monitor, Kenwood unveiled a small camera that can be placed on a car's A/V head units to provide various wide-angled views in the rear or front of the cars.

3. Disc-Less Head Units

Although Alpine pioneered the Disc-Less head units trend, and virtually owned the trend in the past few years, things are changing now. During the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, Pioneer and Kenwood launched "mech-less" head units without a disc drive that can control an iPod and other portable media players.

2. Eco Routing

Fuel prices are going higher day by day and people are becoming increasingly becoming more fuel-conscious. Garmin showcased an upgrade to its existing its ecoRoute software called ecoRoute hd. This system allows the company's existing Nuvi portable navigation system to show diagnostic and performance data sourced wirelessly from the vehicle's OBD II port. Pioneer enhanced portfolio by including a new feature called Eco Graph. This lets the driver view and measure in real-time the effects his driving has on the environment.

1. The Connected Car

Yes, we are talking about cars that can connect to the internet. At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, suppliers showed a number of technologies through which vehicle owners, through a smartphone, can monitor their vehicles from anywhere in the whole world, receive RSS feeds and also have them read through the text-to-speech technology. Not only these, the owners can also enjoy detailed restaurant reviews and discounts; and personalize their routes using smart navigation routing. Primary Keywords - Car Gadgets, Car Accessories, Consumer Electronics Show 2010

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