14 DAY TRIAL // Belkin, a company specializing in accessories for portable devices, including Apple's iPhone and iPods, has announced a couple of new products to go both with your iPhone and your car.
The new TuneBase products from Belkin allow you to talk without taking your hands off the wheel, listen to music from your iPhone while it charges and last, but not least, automatically find the clearest FM station with the press of a button.
Besides the ability to pick up a call on your iPhone while in the car, hands-free, thanks to the features offered by the TuneBase FM and TuneBase Direct, the TuneBase cradle will prove quite useful, Belkin believes, as it repositions your iPhone horizontally to “view turn-by-turn directions and videos.”
While Softpedia wouldn't recommend viewing videos while driving, the audio features of the device are particularly exciting. Belkin reveals that newer cars include an auxiliary input jack to connect different audio sources to the car’s stereo. TuneBase Direct connects to your car's stereo through this auxiliary input. You do this using the included 3.5mm cable, so you can play the music from your iPhone or iPod while in the car. The same equipment also powers up your device while in use, Belkin says.
Main features of the complete TuneBase solution include:
- Listen to music from your iPhone while it charges - Talk on your iPhone and answer calls, hands-free, while driving - With one push of a button, TuneBase FM’s ClearScan automatically finds the clearest FM station In the official press release announcing the availability of its new products, Belkin also sheds light on how its TuneBase products make it easy for users to answer calls in the car. The company reveals that, when a call comes in, TuneBase FM and TuneBase Direct fade out music while the user is required to press a button on the TuneBase. As soon as the call is initiated, the speakerphone turns on as well.
Belkin's TuneBase FM will be available in mid-July 2009 in the US, while the TuneBase Direct should launch any day now (early June 2009). Europe can already buy the two products. The TuneBase FM with Hands-Free (F8Z441) is priced at $89.99. Those interested in the TuneBase Direct with Hands-Free (F8Z442) will spend $69.99 to buy it.