High-tech Hits The Road
Sun Herald
Sunday July 9, 2000
There's now almost nothing you can't do in your car, as Victoria Young discovers.
CARS will soon resemble portable living rooms, capable of carrying all the entertainment and information technology you expect at home.
And voice activated technology is also on the way so you can keep your eyes on the road without fumbling for the dial.
Want to change radio stations? Just name the station. How about listening to that new CD? Simply say the word.
Family holiday car journeys of the future will mean DVD movies and computer games for the kids in the back; computer, e-mail and Internet access for mum and dad doing business deals in the front.
Satellite navigation which directs you to your destination will make maps obsolete. VDO released the first car navigation system in Australia in February ($3,485 rrp). Its Multi-Media System ($995 rrp) will feature screens for DVD and TV in the front and back seats.
Alpine's Mobile Media Entertainment range will allow passengers of different ages and interests to watch a monitor attached to the head rest of each passenger seat with their choice of DVD game or movie.
Next month, Pioneer will launch the world's first DVD six-CD changer ($2,999 rrp) for cars.
In April, Pioneer released a voice-activated, 12-disc CD changer for $1,014 rrp.
``You basically talk to it," said Pioneer car electronics marketing manager Tim Salisbury. ``So if you say `Triple J' and it's playing a CD it will change to that station, or if you say `Pearl Jam' it will go to that CD. You can make the volume go up and down by saying `louder' or `quieter' you choose the words you want as a command.
``I don't think it will be too far down the track until you have a centre screen that operates your entire car electrical system. So not only will it be a TV and DVD player, it will also tell you the temperature in the car, how fast you are going, how many kilometres you've got until you are empty and e-mail. It will be a multi-media site via a built-in modem with satellite navigation."
MP3 has crept into cars with the release of Australia's first MP3 car player late last year. With the advantage of listening to your prized CD collection but being able to leave it at home, the MPZOO MP Shuttle ($968 rrp) has the capacity to play 5,000 tracks on one disc.
``Gone are the days of having a 12 CD stacker in the car. This is literally like having a 500 CD stacker," said Rohan Levy, managing director of MPZOO (www.mpzoo.com.au).
MP3 is a compressed audio file format when you create a letter on Microsoft Word you save it as a word document; for audio, you can save it as MP3. It has the ability to record a huge number of CDs while taking up little space on your hard drive.
This is how the MP Shuttle works: using your computer, you can record CDs on a removable hard drive disc and then slide that disc into the MP Shuttle. Put it under the passenger seat or in the boot and hook it up to your car stereo.
Now in development is the MPZOO In-dash MP3 CD Player. Using a blank CD, you can record up to 180 tracks on your computer.
``A blank CD will only hold about 650 megabytes and the hard disc (in the MP Shuttle) will hold up to 37 gigabytes," said Mr Levy. But major brand names have yet to embrace MP3.
Car companies are also on the case. Ford will launch an in-car entertainment package later this year for back-seat passengers. Initially just for the Falcon range, it will have DVD and VHS access.
``You're looking at around $2,000 to $2,500," said Craig Smith, Ford's brand communication manager.
Jaguar's audio system in the S-Type features automatic volume control to take into account road noise and number of passengers.
TOP TEN
KIDS' SITES
1. The Wiggles
http://www.thewiggles.com.au/
2. Nickelodeon Online Treehouse http://www.nickelodeon.com.au/
3. Cartoon Network
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com.au/
4. Yowie Power
http://www.yowiepower.com/
5. Disney Australia
http://www.disney.com.au/
6. Kidz.Net http://www.kidz.net.au/
7. Wicked 4 Kids
http://www.wicked4kids.com.au/
8. Kids Clubhouse
http://clubhouse.hypermax.net.au/
9. Moove http://www.moove.com.au/
10. Kidsmart
http://www.kidsmart.com.au/
Source: LookSmart
© 2000 Sun Herald