With a new year comes new product announcements, and the first that I’ve received is from JVC announcing their new App Link Mode. This is an update of its previous Advanced External mode. Not only is the App Link mode a nicer sounding name, it also appears to offer more and creates better conncetivity to give improved performance.So far, this new mode is being included in four newly announced models including the $429.95 (RRP so expect to be able to find for cheaper soon) JVC KW-AV60.
So far there are several apps that will work with the App Link mode, and I’m hoping they will be adding more in the future. Here’s a look at some of the apps currently supported:
MotionX GPS-Drive
This nifty app turns your iphone into, wait for it…a GPS. Well what did you expect? A coffee machine? Okay, so most of us have either used or at least seen a GPS in action, but what does this app actually offer? First up is live traffic maps which will help to avoid gridlocks caused by road construction, traffic accidents, events and concerts, and provide details of those traffic obstructions. Next up is the turn-by-turn voice guidance we’re all familiar with, but they also cache results to improve performance and you can program multiple stops on the route.
You have HD synthesized and natural voice options, facebook places and wikipedia integration.
MOG
MOG is a music streaming app that boasts over 14 million songs streaming at 320 kbps, and boasts 100% artist only stations and the ability to create your own playlists that can be shared with other MOG users. You can also use other peoples playlists and even playlists created by the artists themselves.
There is also the ability to download an unlimted number of songs to your iPhone, iPod or Android device so you can listen to your favorite music without having to be connected all the time.
Web Reader
This is an interesting little app that will convert text to speech in either a male or female voice. As the title implies, it can read web pages to you. It also has the ability to read google reader rss feeds, pdf files, text, RTF and Microsoft Word documents. It can be controlled by bluetooth devices and now has native support from JVC’s app link mode. I doubt this will replace audio books, but it has me curious enough that I’m going to try this out.
INRIX Traffic
This is another GPS app that provides real time info on traffic, giving information on incidents (such as accidents, police and construction), traffic forecasting (giving you the optimal time to leave considering the predicted road conditions) and comparative traffic (comparing normal and current traffic conditions).
Cobra iRadar™
Simply put, Cobra iRadar provides us with information on radar, laser and camera locations. One downside of this is that it relies on user input to tell you where these things are, so if you’re the first to come across one, you won’t know until you hit it. Just remember to put the information into iRadar after the cops have given you the ticket ;-P.
Tune In Radio
Tune in radio is a great little app that lets you listen to radio stations from anywhere in the world, or at least the ones they stream. I use this to listen to the radio station from my home town so I can (sort of) keep up to date with what’s going on there. It also helps that they play better music than what they play here.
SonicMax Pro
This app reportedly improves the sound quality of music from your idevice. I haven’t used it, so can’t say whether it works, or how well it works, but assuming it does exactly as it says it would certainly be good thing for all of us that value good music. It would be interesting to see how it effects the music streamed to a car radio too.
DriveMate Rec
This is the sort of app that I’ve been interested in for a while, if only for the coolness factor. It records video while you drive, which I guess could come in handy in cases of accidents to prove it was the bonehead who caused the accident and not your own driving skills. This app also tracks the route taken and can be combined with DriveMate SafetyCam (not included with app) to monitor other vehicles (you know, like cars, trucks, bikes etc.) in front of you to determine if there are any hazards, and in a brilliant move (sarcasm 101) will alert you of them.
Pandora Internet Radio
If you haven’t heard of this app you’ve probably been living in a cave and don’t have a car, so why are you here? Okay, so the two of you out there who haven’t heard of Pandora, it lets you listen to “stations” of similar music. To do this you’d say search for an artist you like, and then the app will play music from them and other artists that play the same kind of music. It works really well and I’ve only had a couple of times when the music that plays brings on a WTH moment and if you haven’t got it yet you really should. It works with all kinds of music too, not just popular music, my 3 year old even has his own wiggles station.
Smart Remote
This nifty little app gives you a remote control for compatible JVC receivers. It displays such things as the source information of the head unit and gives you control using gestures, meaning you don’t need to even look at the screen. It allows you to control things such as source, EQ, track up and down, and shows info such as song data and source disply on the screen.
Conclusion
Well that’s what’s being planned by JVC for their new stereos for this year (2012), it will be interesting to see how this works out and how useful all these apps will be in the real world.