Use Your iPhone To Start Your Car

By Chris Scott Barr

Keys are one of those objects that seems almost archaic when you think about them. We have so many technologies at our disposal, you have to wonder why we rely on these so heavily. If you don’t have a car with a fancy keyless setup, you can now add a Viper StartSmart system that will let you controlyour car from your iPhone.

The new StartSmart System won’t have you driving your car from an iPhone, but you can do a host of other functions:

• Lock/arm
• Unlock/disarm
• Remote car starter
• Trunk release
• Panic or car finder

You can do all of the above functions anywhere using your iPhone or iPod Touch, so long as you have either a data connection or WiFi available. The App is free, but you’ll need the Viper StartSmart hardware inyour car. The StartSmart kit will set you back $499, and you’ll need to pony up $29.99 a year for service ( the first year is free).

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FM Radio Comes to the iPod

Runners and exercise buffs: if you’ve been asking for an iPod with a built-in radio, you’re finally in luck. After eight long years, Apple has finally delivered.

Last week, Apple introduced its latest version of the iPod Nano, a multimedia player that’s smaller than a business card and weighs 1.28 ounces. It’s small enough to slip into some running shorts and skirt pockets.

While the radio is a welcome addition, the new Nano has some other features geared toward the active set. There’s a pedometer and, like previous Nanos, it is also compatible with the Nike Plus system that tracks your distance and other running or walking stats.
run well

Just like on a home or car radio, you can set your favorite stations into the Nano’s memory. After tagging your favorite talk radio or other stations, you can navigate them with the forward and rewind buttons (rather than using the wheel to scroll through the spectrum). The Nano also adopts a feature from TiVo’s playbook: if you need to take a break, hit the center button to pause live radio. You can store up to 15 minutes.

If you’re listening to a song and want to remember the name for later, you can “tag” it (but only if the station supports iTunes tagging). When you connect the iPod to your computer, iTunes will show you a list of the songs you tagged and then gives you the option to purchase the song from iTunes.

At first, I fumbled with the tagging and live pause on the iPod’s dial – inadvertently pausing the radio when I wanted to pull up the tuner to change stations. It takes some getting used to, but it’s worth the effort.

When I tested the pedometer, it seemed mostly in step with my steps. But as many of you know, none of these devices that measure steps or distance or routes are 100 percent accurate. You can set it to be “always on” or set a daily step goal.

The Nano also has a video camera, a stopwatch and a voice-over feature that tells you the name of a song from your playlist. Of course, you can still listen to podcasts and your own music. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have Bluetooth, so if you want to use wireless headphones, you’ll need an adapter.

The Nano is available in two capacities, the 8-gigabyte version costs $149, the 16-gigabyte is $179.



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Getting flight data to you by iPhone, iPod devices

If Air Canada has its way, it soon will see fewer travellers lined up at the airport, clutching printouts of their boarding passes, in addition to suitcases and carry-on luggage. Air Canada is using DIY method to shorten airport lineups; BlackBerry platform also being developed.

The country's largest airline yesterday introduced an application for the Apple Inc. iPhone and iPod Touch devices that lets travellers retrieve electronic boarding passes, track flight data and receive notifications about delayed and cancelled flights.

An application designed for BlackBerry devices is also in the works, said Patrice Ouellette, director of customer service platforms.

Ouellette said web check-in is increasingly popular but only a fraction of passengers check in with mobile devices to have an electronic boarding pass emailed to them.

The problem now is those emailed barcodes can get lost in a mountain of other correspondence; the iPhone and iPod application, by contrast, consolidates all of Air Canada's flight data in one place.

Also, the airline is expanding programs that allow passengers to print baggage tags from airport kiosks. Research suggests that could shave 15 to 30 minutes off the time air passengers spend in lineups.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure if it would be picked up or not by the customer," Ouellette said of self-tagging. But the practice is catching on – about 90,000 people tagged their own bags last week – a number he expects will rise once the service expands from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to major airports across the country.

Such do-it-yourself approaches promise eventually to reduce relatively high costs for the money-losing airline, but for now, Ouellette said the focus is on increasing customer convenience.


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