How To Geek Up Your Car
I don’t know about you, but I’m unashamed to call myself a geek! I love anything to do with computers and electronics, even learning how they work and taking them apart for repairs. I also have a love of cars and have done since I was a kid.
One thing that I find fascinating is how those two worlds converge. Just twenty years ago, the only “state of the art” technology you might find in a car was a CD player. Nowadays, you can use smartphone apps to manage various aspects of your car. And you don’t even have to be in the same country as your car to do so!
Today’s modern cars have a veritable plethora of technology contained within them. But what if you roll around in an “old” car? If you are a technology and car geek like I am, the good news is that you can geek up your car! And for people like us, it’s pretty easy to do so.
Here are a few examples to help get you started!
HUD app for your smartphone
“HUD” stands for head-up display. Being a geek, I’m sure you will have played a few computer games in your time. In some games, information about ammo levels or “lives” get displayed on your computer display or TV screen.
You might also associate HUDs with jet fighter games, for example. The automotive industry decided that it would be fun to put HUDs in some of today’s cars, such as certain Ford Focus models. Click here to find some near you, if you fancy checking that feature out for real!
Of course, only some of today’s cars have HUD displays. If you want a cool way of displaying your current speed, for instance, there are plenty of smartphone apps that do the job!
You just load the app and place your smartphone the dashboard. It then projects the image onto your windscreen. How cool is that?
Wireless mobile broadband
I know that today’s smartphones have 3G and 4G mobile data connectivity built into them. But what if you want the occupants of your car to have Internet access? Some networks don’t let you tether your smartphone’s data connection by setting up a Wi-Fi hotspot.
The solution to this problem is simple. Buy a wireless mobile broadband router for your car! There are plenty of solutions available just for automotive use. Of course, a true geek would find a way to adapt an existing wireless mobile broadband router…
Dashboard camera
As a car driver, you will know by now that there are plenty of moronic motorists out there. Just yesterday, some guy veered into my lane without using his mirrors to check if it was OK to do so. Nor did he signal!
If that had turned into an accident, both of our car insurance companies would settle it as a “50/50 claim.” In other words, it would be my word against the other car driver’s!
Dashboard cameras can get used as video evidence to prove that a third party is at fault. Now you no longer have to worry about your insurance premiums rising. That’s because your insurer can make a valid claim against the other party’s insurance company.
Have you got any other geeky gadget ideas? Post them up below! Thanks for reading.