Future Cars to Come with Bluetooth, iPod Connectivity as Standard

iPod connectivity may come as a standard feature starting 2009

Starting 2009, the newly-released cars will include standard features such as Bluetooth support and iPod connectivity, according to figures provided by iSuppli analysts. The car industry met an impressive demand of such technologies for the 2008 models, more and more customers looking for these features not only on luxury or more-expensive cars but also on low-cost vehicles.

“Bluetooth, iPod connections, embedded hard drives and real-time location-based traffic monitoring will all be increasingly popular features in cars next year, an analyst has predicted,” Register Hardware mentioned in an article quoting the iSuppli report.

In addition, the specialists predicted that customers will also become more interested in storage devices designed to be used inside cars, mostly thanks to the evolution of in-car entertainment systems and navigations devices. For instance, storing maps for your GPS or downloading movies for your center console-mounted LCD screen requires a larger capacity than the one provided by an SD or MMC memory card.

“Hard drives are also set to appear as optional extras in around 88 models of car next year, iSuppli said. This is because an increasing number of motorists now opt for in-car infotainment systems and require storage space for music and movies,” the same source added.

Bluetooth is another feature to record increasing popularity because car manufacturers will rely on compatible products which could connect to the in-car devices without the need for wires. “It said Bluetooth in your car is no longer just a feature only available in the poshest cars, but now a wireless data transfer technology that can be used with a whole host of devices, including stereos and handsets, and in a number of ways from hands-free calling to streaming audio transfer.”