Hasta La Gadget!

Alpine has been making car stereos for the aftermarket for a number of years. The company has now announced that it will be bringing a new console unit to market later this fall that will allow you to add Apple CarPlay to your car. CarPlay will be offered as a factory option in some cars from major makers like Ford, GM, Honda, and others, so it’s good news that there will be an aftermarket option as well.

CarPlay lets iPhone users plug their smartphone into the car and then see content and controls on the car’s own screen. The idea is that it will be easier to see things like nav apps on the larger screen and drivers won’t need to take their eyes off the road, along with car-specific experiences for navigation, phone calls, messages, and music. The system also offers full Siri voice integration for voice control.

There is no word on what tech the Alpine CarPlay console will have. Presumably, it will feature more than just CarPlay integration with a normal radio and CD player, but that is unconfirmed. The Alpine unit is expected to cost $500 to $700 without installation.

[via MacRumors]

Voxeet is an impressive audio conference application that provides 3DHD sound. Launched at DEMOFall 2012, Voxeet is available for free for Windows, Android and iOS, and a week ago, the company launched the Mac version alongside its 2.0 update. With Voxeet 2.0 you can get dial-in numbers that let you dial in to a conference for free from over 40 countries worldwide, or switch your call from a bad internet connection to a local phone line in one click.

The briefing was done with Voxeet and we were 4 participants total. During that call the 3DHD sound was crystal clear and I was able to try the audio conferencing app’s main features.

First of all, Voxeet’s most unique offering compared to main competitor Skype is the 3DHD sound that allows users to hear each participant voice from different directions, making the experience feels as if you were in a real room talking with people next to you, and it is impressive.  In my experience using Skype as my primary conference call service, after 30 to 40 minutes of audio-only conversation, calls systematically drop and it is impossible to call back, or become highly unstable.  This did not happen with Voxeet.

(more…)

Voxeet 2.0 with Dial-in Support and Voxeet for Mac – Review original content from Ubergizmo.

Aftermarket car stereo and electronics manufacturer Alpine is tipped to be getting a new Apple CarPlay console ready to debut later this fall. The Alpine unit is expected to be … Continue reading

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Apple’s iTunes Radio is definitely not the first of its kind. In fact the music service has competitors in the form of Pandora. That being said, would it make sense for Apple to allow a rival company to advertise on its iAd platform? Wouldn’t that basically be Apple letting the competition steal its customers away?

Well apparently Apple thinks so as well, and according to a music-streaming service based in the UK called Bloom.fm, they have apparently received an email from Apple informing them that they have banned the company from advertising on its iAd platform due to Bloom.fm being a director competitor to iTunes Radio.

According to a Bloom.fm’s spokesman, “We’re a small company from west London made up of just 27 people. It’s amusing and flattering to have been noticed by a monstrous company like Apple. They told us we are a competitive service to iTunes radio, despite the fact we are UK-only and iRadio has not launched here.”

Interestingly enough despite not being allowed to advertise on Apple’s iAd platform, Bloom.fm is available on iOS so if you’d like to check it out and see if the service is truly a competitor to iTunes Radio, head on over to the iTunes App Store for the download. In the meantime we are hearing rumors that Apple could be looking overhaul its iTunes Music Store and that they could be bringing high-definition audio.

Apple Reportedly Blocking Music Rivals From Purchasing iAds , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, Audio, itunes radio,