Dashboard Devices ENV – vehicle entertainment and navigation

January 3, 7:50 PMGadgets ExaminerDan Appleman

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It's a "carputer"

Pull out that old fashioned car stereo. What your car really needs is a computer – one that has GPS navigation, radio, MP3, DVD and CD player. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, real time weather, rear view camera and a parking system. And Dashboard Devices is going to offer one in the form of their new ENV (entertainment and navigation for vehicles) system.

In fact, calling it an entertainment and navigation tool is an understatement – it’s really a general purpose computer, which means that as time goes on there is no limit to the possible applications it can support.

From a technological perspective, the ENV “carputer” is incredibly cool and probably inevitable. But is it a good idea? On January 1st the California legislature banned sending text messages while driving. The astonishing thing about this is not the fact of the law, but the fact that anyone would even consider texting while driving. With distractions of all forms being a major cause of traffic accidents, one can’t help but wonder if a device capable of generating a virtually infinite number of possible distractions is, in fact, a good idea.