Hasta La Gadget!

Want OnStar? Sure, why not, the company fields over three million calls a month from six million mostly from satisfied customers. But, until now, that blue button has only been able to be pressed by those who own General Motors cars. Now it’s spreading out to just about anyone, 99 percent of cars will be able to be supported by the new OnStar mirror, which the company is simply calling its “retail product.” For $299 (plus installation) you get a replacement mirror that will wirelessly connect you to the OnStar service. It also has Bluetooth, so it can connect to your smartphone, but we’re guessing many cars won’t be able to have their doors unlocked remotely, what is surely OnStar’s killer app. Quite naturally you’ll need to pay up to use it, service fees currently going at $18.95 a month, or $199 annually. Best Buy will be the exclusive partner here, which is perhaps bad news if you’ve read the horror stories about what sometimes happens in those blue and yellow stereo install bays.

OnStar showed off its ability by having mirrors installed in a variety of vehicles, ranging from a Camry to a Grand Marquis — hot cars they’re not but a pretty effective demonstration of the range of applicability here. GM also took this opportunity to show off the latest revision of its two-wheeled EN-V, which we’ll be taking for a spin a little later this week. All that fun is captured in the galleries below.

Continue reading OnStar announces a blue button for any car, Best Buy handling the installs

OnStar announces a blue button for any car, Best Buy handling the installs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Maybe you’ve been eating too much fried chicken, or you’re just a neurotic health nut. Whatever the case may be, if blood pressure is important to you, there’s some iPhone dongleware for that.

Withings’ blood-pressure monitor is a traditional strap with a dock connector at the end to plug into an iPhone or iPad. Launch the Withings app, tap the Start button and you’ll feel the accessory tighten around your bicep and slowly loosen up until the app gives you a reading of your blood pressure.

During my demo here at the Consumer Electronics Show, I scored a blood pressure of 160/90 — pretty high, but expected because this convention’s pretty stressful. After it took my pressure it gave me the option to look at my blood-pressure history in a 2D chart — nifty for monitoring progress.

“In the near feature, 30 percent of Americans will have to follow their blood pressure, so we think we have a big audience,” said Eric Carreel, chairman of Withings, a French company specializing in health accessories.

Withings is among a wave of new gadgets taking advantage of features inside mobile devices to monitor health anywhere and anytime. A similar device we saw last year was an insulin meter that connected to an iPhone for diabetes patients to plan out their meals and insulin injections using live data.

The Withings accessory ships this month for $130; the iOS app will be a free download in the App Store.

See Also:

• Wired.com Readers' Best iPhone Dongleware Inventions
• Special-Purpose iPhone Accessories: Where Are They?
• iPhone 3.0 Wish List: Accessory-Powered Apps We Want

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Continue reading RCA debuts new line of portable ATSC / Mobile DTV hybrid televisions

RCA debuts new line of portable ATSC / Mobile DTV hybrid televisions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio has departed from its TV-centric outlook this CES by announcing its first-ever Android smartphone. Hidden hardware makes it an automatic remote control.

Originally posted at CES 2011

Seagate announces its new program to allow third-party companies to incorporate slots on their products to support removable GoFlex external hard drives.

Originally posted at CES 2011