Six tech features should be standard in new car

Six tech features should be standard in new car

Bluetooth connectivity

Let's start with the most obvious one: Bluetooth. The best way to keep phone-toting drivers from plowing into things is to make it easy for them to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, by use of the ubiquitous Bluetooth connection that nearly every phone has. Unfortunately, early Bluetooth connectivity was pretty clunky and had traditionally been bundled as part of expensive technology packages. Drivers and lawmakers complained loudly and, by and large, automakers have started to make Bluetooth standard in their 2012 and 2013 model year vehicles. 

USB/iPod connectivity

Just like the mighty 8-track and cassette tapes that came before it, the CD player is on its way out of the dashboard. Chevrolet has already ditched the disc in the Spark subcompact, and I doubt that it'll be the last to do so.
Any automaker that doesn't offer USB connectivity for digital media as a standard feature across its line is already behind the tech curve. Why? Because no one buys physical media anymore. The success of digital music stores.

Rearview camera

This is another obvious choice, because the U.S. government has been saying that it is going to make rearview cameras a required safety featuure since about 2008. However, the deadline keeps getting pushed back and currently sits sometime beyond 2014. The simple acts of checking mirrors and turning your head shouldn't be downplayed, but automakers have continued to build cars with ever-decreasing rear visibility, thanks to high beltlines and thick rear pillars. Nearly everyone can benefit from the increased visibility afforded by a rear camera.

Blind-spot monitoring
Blind-spot monitoring makes the list largely for the same reason that rearview cameras do: automakers are building cars with fairly poor visibility, making it difficult for even a good driver to do a simple over-the-shoulder check when changing lanes. And those not-so-good drivers who don't even bother with the over-the-shoulder check could definitely use a flashing light or audible alert to let them know that they're about to merge into me on the freeway. Either way, all of us could benefit from an extra set of electronic eyes watching our tails.

---

Car-centric app integration

A large number of drivers are already using apps in the car, sometimes illegally, for simple functions such as listening to music, podcasts, and audiobooks, navigating to their destination, getting around traffic, and letting loved ones know where they are. Third-party technologies, such the Car Connectivity Consortium's MirrorLink and Livio Connect, are already making strides to make interacting with these apps as easy as tuning a radio station. Automakers are also making similar strides with their own technologies -- Toyota's Entune and Ford Sync AppLink, for example.
Since we can't put the smartphone apps genie back into the mobile technology bottle, let's instead focus on trying to make the current situation safer.
We see again here that these features are already making their way into cars, but as components of expensive tech bundles that include overpriced navigation systems and premium audio rigs that could discourage many drivers from bothering.

---