Three Technologies You'll Want in Your Next Car

I drive high tech cars for a living but I'm the first to admit some of the tech toys in cars today are just that: toys. Nonsense like 3D terrain rendering on GPS maps or oddly distracting night vision cameras are fun to play with but I wouldn't pay for them on my car.

So if you're one of the 29,000 people in the U.S. who will buy a new car today, let me point you to three car technologies I would pay for. These are solid, valuable every day and will keep that new car feeling new long after you've curb rashed the wheels and stopped washing it every week.

Live Traffic. If you get a factory installed GPS system today it really should have live display of traffic jams and be smart enough to automatically route you around them when you're under guidance. This is no longer a high end option: Even Kia is rolling it out this summer (so, no, I have no idea why some Hondas with GPS still don't offer it).

(CBS)

Live traffic display on the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

Find out where the car gets its traffic data: Cars that use XM require you subscribe to XM satellite radio, its traffic service or both. Some other carmakers use Total Traffic Network which is priced out differently depending on make & model of car.

Bluetooth. Available in most cars now, Bluetooth has become synonymous with hands-free calling and all but the most bare bones cars at least offer it. It could pay for itself if it saves you from even one ticket for driving while holding a phone. Look for a Bluetooth system that can also import contacts from your phone so you won't have to fumble with it to pull up a number -- I mean, who remembers anyone's number anymore?

(CBS)

Something new to listen to: Stereo Bluetooth streaming on a Mazda6

Bonus points if the Bluetooth system in your new car also supports stereo streaming, or A2DP. This typically lets your smartphone play music over your car stereo in high fidelity without some snarly cord connecting it. Your phone needs to support Bluetooth streaming as well but most of the recent ones do.

USB. Yep, the same USB you have on your computer is showing up in many cars. It can be used to connect your iPod or other brands of MP3 player as well as those ubiquitous USB thumb drives. And since USB is so flexible and common it gives your car a measure of future proofing for whatever comes next. It's this sort of universal technology we need to see more of in cars.

(CBS)

USB port on a Kia Borrego handles more than just iPods

Can you live without any of these? Of course, but next time you're bewildered by traffic, snagging a cable on your coffee cup or wishing you could connect something to your car that you can't, you may realize you don't want to.

[rvlistings]

Yes, I really would like that kind of good thing with my car. Thanks for sharing this good idea.
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