Yamaha fits this device in their “Audio4iPod and DTA (Desktop Audio)” product line. Yamaha’s website invites us to “enjoy the music from all your favorite sources for this attractive “all in one audio system”, in any room in the house.”

Let’s check whether it’s worthwhile to accept this invitation…

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Brussels, Robin Bollen // Dec 25, 2009

Santa brought me some really cool stuff this year, an aftershave from Polo and the NAVIGON Car Kit. I must have been a nice boy this year, ahum… Especially the latter I was looking forward to since quite some time. Before, I always placed the iPhone in the Radio display console of my car, when I was navigating with the iPhone. Although this worked quite cool and I had some fair GPS satellite reception, it was about time for some improvement.

I requested the Car Kit from Navigon but they had better things to do then to reply to our email apparently. TomTom Iberia was so nice to send us a Car Kit for testing purposes like you have read in Dani’s review before for sure. That’s why I asked Santa to bring me the NAVIGON Design Car Kit this year.

[Update: NAVIGON Iberia has contacted us, with the promise to supply us with future review models.]

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Brussels, Robin Bollen // Dec 22, 2009

GPS Manufacturer Magellan has emailed its newsletter subscribers that from today on you can re-order their iPhone Car Kit. Something noteworthy is the compatibility with the iPod Touch 2nd generation because the “iTouch” doesn’t have a GPS receiver chip.

The Kit supports the Magellan Road Mate 2010 GPS application and also the other GPS apps. We reviewed the first edition of Road Mate 2010 here, but note that in the mean time version 1.1 is available since yesterday, with a lot of improvements and some new features.

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A few days ago, we have published the un-boxing and presentation of the TomTom car kit. We also tested the compatibility of the car kit with the first generation iPhone models; iPhone (1G/2G/EDGE) and the GPS navigation application TomTom Western Europe 1.1. Now, it’s time to publish the road test results with a combination of 2G, 3G and 3GS iPhones.

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The awakening… for many people this is one of the cruelest moments of the day. You are sleeping tight and suddenly, an awful sound startles you and you awake. Fortunately, for the past few years, apart from the typical alarm clock, we can enjoy real smart devices. 

Sony Corporation has a wide range of radio alarm clocks and, within that range, a few models with docking and charging systems for the iPhone. Today, we are looking at one of the simplest models, the Sony ICF-C7IP. 

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With the shopping season being in full bloom, maybe you can use some help with buying advise for an original iPhone gift. I handpicked some of the best iPhone gifts, from very affordable and original to expensive.

We have published a lot of iPhone accessories over time, but by writing this article I found a few new ones myself. The first one I bought recently and it’s of very nice quality, well packed and quickly shipped.

Enjoy the shopping! If I missed another great iPhone gift, just leave me a comment.

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Brussels, Robin Bollen // Oct 29, 2009

UPDATE: Please, follow this link to read our latest article about the car kit.

Navigon AG has just released their specially designed Car Kit for the iPhone. The product was announced September 7 2009 on Facebook.

Navigon is competing with their product directly with TomTom, which has released earlier this month their Car Kit for the iPhone. The difference is that TomTom’s Car Kit has a GPS chip integrated in their solution. The price difference is quite big as well.

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Brussels, Robin Bollen // Sept 29, 2009.

With the iPhone 3.0 OS and the new Bluetooth support, a lot of new apps are to be expected that interface with current bluetooth hardware, or even better, special hardware developed with this iPhone feature in mind. Like shown in the keynote before, the medical world is already developing in this direction.

Pioneer, hence it’s name, is pioneering with the iPhone bluetooth functionality in combination with their GPS devices.

The free application NavGate lets you select a destination on the iPhone and transfer it via Bluetooth, to the Pioneer Turn-by-Turn Voice Guided GPS navigation systems: AVIC-F310BT and AVIC-F10BT.

Simply select an address, a restaurant, a POI or any other place on Google Maps iPhone application. The destination is saved in the contact list and, after syncing the two devices via Bluetooth, is sent to the Pioneer navigation system. The destinations created by NavGate FEEDS iPhone are identified with the letter “M” on the browser screen. After selecting these destinations, the GPS leads us to there.

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NY // Charlie Mallow // Aug, 24 2009 :: With the advent of turn by turn GPS there is a real need to connect your iPhone to your car audio system. The speaker on your iPhone is really not loud enough to be heard in a moving vehicle. Running that GPS application can also put a drain on your battery.

There are a few different ways to connect your iPhone to your car’s audio system. FM transmitters are a bit costly at around $60 and the possible interference leaves a lot to be desired. Tape adapters are pretty good for older radios when you don’t have a choice. In my opinion, the best solution by far, if your car is equipped, is an auxiliary input connection or AUX for short. Monster is known for their high quality cables and they have a solution for your iPhone connectivity. I reviewed their iCarCharger AUX 1000, to see how it stacked up.

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Charlie Mallow reviewed ProClip Adjustable Holder with Tilt Swivel and Pass-Through Connector by ProClip

The idea that an iPhone can be used as a GPS device creates a problem. How do you mount an iPhone in your car properly? There are some choices on the market; most of them are flimsy, cheap looking plastic contraptions that are not up to the task.

I looked at many alternatives till I came down to just one that was worth our time to review, the ProClip.

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