This is tech I like.
French Bluetooth kit manufacturer Parrot has designed an in-car head unit. The Asteroid runs Google Android (a rehashed phone implementation by the looks of it) to offer a real integrated next-generation experience. Or at least that is the theory. With GPS and Google Maps and Parrot's own turn-by-turn navigation this doesn't offer much we've not seen before. Where things do get interesting is with 3G connectivity which comes via an optional dongle.
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| Android in the dash - consumer style |
Now the world of digital radio, internet radio and other streaming media such as Spotify is offered to the dashboard in a convenient package without having to build yourself a carputer. I would hope the Asteroid offers support for iPlayer for BBC radio. What I want is to be able to load my music to the cloud and listen to it anywhere on any device: My PC, my phone, my car stereo, my friend’s PC, the TV in the room in the hotel I'm checked into... I'm sure the Asteroid isn't a perfect solution (its a v1.0 product after all) but device independent music streaming just took a step closer. Now what about the data bundles, restrictions and costs associated with the 3G on this thing?
If it's running Android, why didn't they leave the standard google maps navigation in?
ReplyDeleteYou can do that music to the cloud stuff with Grooveshark on Android, works lovely.
I shall check Grooveshark out, thanks for the tip!
ReplyDelete