While the latest news in automobiles is focused on hybrid cars, rising gas prices and the introduction of the SmartCar to U.S. shores, what about some good news for the rest of us who already have a vehicle and don't plan to buy a new one anytime soon?
We got a look this week at a great device from CarShield that provides a car owner with everything from updates on diagnostics to the car's location, all via text or email messages.
We're not knocking advances made by the folks at OnStar or other monitoring solutions, but one of the benefits is that if your car was manufactured anytime after 1995, the CarShield device will likely be an easy install.
The CarShield device makes use of a collection of technologies that most people already know about: GPS, wireless communication, and that fancy thing called the Internet.
You can set it to warn you of problems related to engine functions, battery status and even tire pressure. For those of you who live in California, it provides a remote smog check, which means you don't have to go to a monitoring station – a nice time saver. Have you ever locked your keys in the car? Yes, it can remotely unlock your doors. And with the GPS capability you can use it to track your car, whether you've let someone borrow it for a day or even if it gets stolen.
We're big fans of protection and preventative maintenance around here, so if there's an opportunity to catch an engine problem early, or to keep tabs on our vehicle so we're not worried about where its headed, then we'll take it.
The folks at CarShield are making the device available this summer from major retailers such as Best Buy for $299 with an annual fee of $140 per year.
Will Safer
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About Will Safer and the BehindTheBuy blog
Will has been writing about consumer products, electronics and technology trends for more than 10 years. His first editorial home was technology trade magazine of record, TWICE (This Week In Consumer Electronics) where he was the first dedicated Web editor. His latest articles can be found in Conde Nast Portfolio and online at AOL News and Switched.com. Now he's happy to be a part of the team at BehindTheBuy.
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