It’s one of the first predicaments you’ll find when stepping into a mates car for a long journey – how do I avoid listening to their 6 CD disc changer?
For us at JOE, a long journey should always be permeated by the wonderful sounds of our extensive music collection, though admittedly not that of the owner of the vehicle we’ve just got into. Yet every car has its own way of setting up your iPhone to provide audio accompanyment. Some involve plugging the device into a tape, some involve BlueTooth technology, yet nearly all are a giant pain in the arse, at least on the first occasion you set them up.
Praise the technological gods then, for Oxygen Audio, who have developed the O Car, the only full-integrated head unit specifically designed and made for iPhone. A big hit at CES 2011 (the biggest consumer electronics tradeshow in the world), the O Car may at first appear to resemble a regular car radio but dig a bit deeper – it has no buttons or CD loader. In their place is instead an iPhone or iPod dock that snaps right in.
So we have a car radio with a removeable face – what else? All users have to do is download the O Car app, snap their touchscreen into the radio. Instantly, you now have a touch screen AM/FM radio tuner, which contains preset buttons for favorite radio stations and allows any other music-streaming app or music stored in your library to play through your handset.
In addition to that, your handset actually charges once it’s hookd into the O Car and provides hands-free calling functionality. The unit is also compatible with iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4. It can be yours for the equivalent of €265, which isn’t too shabby.
The O Car is certainly an interesting bit of kit, though perhaps it’s a shame that for now, it will remain the preserve of Apple owners for the forseeable future. Speaking of the future, expect to see many, many car radio suppliers following Oxygen Audio’s template in the months to come.
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