Caution: cell phone onboard

Don't we just need one? It just makes sense for satellite radio to become easier to digest, either with universal receivers that tune XM and Sirius or perhaps even a merger of the two companies. Frankly, they're so similar that having both seems like a waste of RF spectrum. Sirius boss Mel Karmazin just reiterated at an investor's conference that he would like to buy XM. There are also persistent reports that the two companies are working on a receiver that gets both services, which I think would smooth the road to a few million more listeners. But can satellite radio ever outshine today's MP3 revolution and tomorrow's in-car and cell phone-streaming revolutions? I don't think so. Sat radio will win only on content and on live data services that are compelling, go beyond entertainment, and are available on no other platform.

This one's like global warming: you either get it or you don't. The cell phone is a bigger disaster behind the wheel than a couple of cocktails. The University of Utah studied driving factors using a simulator to record drivers' actions in four modes: without distraction, with a cell phone pressed to their heads, with a hands-free call going on, and blowing a 0.08 Breathalyzer test. Only the cell phone drivers rear-ended the pace car; the drunks simply drove badly. Hands-free made no improvement, by the way. The cell phone industry has a problem.

I love it. DaimlerChrysler has finally committed to bring the Smart ForTwo to the United States in early 2008. I've been impressed with these little rat rods since I first saw one in Europe four years ago. My wife and I were all set to rent one to tool around Switzerland for a couple days--until we realized that half of our luggage would have to stay behind. But for daily driving, the ForTwo is fresh and serious about a new paradigm in car design and will make the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit look pudgy and derivative by comparison. I suspect they'll go with a high level of available OEM customization à la the Mini. Sign me up.

A Cayenne, CNET-style. The new Porsche Cayenne S Titanium will be on sale in a few days, designed just for the U.S. and Canadian markets--and tech nuts like us. It will be loaded up with lots of in-cabin tech at about a 10 percent discount over getting the same gear à la carte. Look for Bi-Xenon headlights with dynamically controlled cornering lights, Porsche Communication Management (PCM) with DVD/GPS-based navigation, and an electric tilting/sliding glass moonroof. Nothing new, but a nice package for about $64,000.

But imagine the faces of Cayenne drivers when they get into a 2007 Chrysler Sebring.

Check the toy list for this car:

• TFT display capable of 65,000 colors, multiple fonts and skins
• 20GB hard drive with multimedia jukebox software
• USB port for playback and file transfer
• Onboard GraceNotes CD database
• Playlist creation
• Voice memo recording, with mic integrated into the rearview mirror
• YES Essentials stain- and odor-resistant seat fabric
• Heated and cooled cup holders

And, of course, it has all the routine stuff such as satellite radio, Bluetooth, an AUX input jack, electronic suspension, and braking technology.

Jeep is going high-tech, too. The company's new 2007 Compass (don't worry, I can't keep its model line straight either) is rolling with electronic stability, brake traction control, brake assist, electronic roll mitigation, rough-road detection (gee, thanks), and an overtouted tire pressure monitoring system (see below). Keep going: There's Bluetooth hands-free with address book transfer, Sirius Radio, and Boston Acoustics audio (which sounded weak in the Jeep Commander we just drove).

From the file labeled Disingenuous Press Releases. Porsche is trumpeting that the 2007 Boxster will come standard with a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). Well, I hope so, considering federal vehicle codes require that 70 percent of 2007 model year cars must have such gear, and by 2008 every new car sold in the United States must have TPMS. So this is one feature Porsches will have in common with Kias, Buicks, Volkswagens, and so on.

Upgrading the sticker. It's a real relic: the parking permit. You buy your fancy new car with wireless everything, then you have to stick on a nasty adhesive parking permit if you want to park on the street. The decals have to be peeled off and replaced annually and are subject to counterfeiting. Hoboken, New Jersey, gets around all this with RFID parking tags developed by Symbol. The parking cops just shake a wand toward your car and read its permit status without some ugly sticky thing being visible or glued to your car's paint. And you can renew it online without ever having to replace a decal. Nice.

What's LG up to? A few days ago, Honeywell was crowing about licensing some of its GPS patents to LG, specifically related to "Global Positioning System (GPS), Vehicle Navigation, and Driver Interface?improvements to Vehicle Navigation Systems (accuracy)?Traffic Broadcasts and Hazard Avoidance." Doesn't sound like anything I know of from the current LG catalog.

I'm not sure if this is really smart or really dumb. Belkin usually makes sharp stuff, so I'm inclined to give its new TuneDeck the benefit of the doubt, but just barely. It's a praying mantis of a thing that connects your iPod Nano to your car's cassette deck for playback without a snarly audio wire. That part I like. But it's a clunky piece of structural engineering, like something I would make in my garage with some scrap plastic and tubes of epoxy on a beery Saturday afternoon. Price will be $50 when it hits the market shortly.

Another player goes after mobile streaming. On Command--you know, that "leading provider of in-room interactive entertainment for the hotel industry" (a.k.a. soft-core rentals)--just debuted its mobile streaming service. The company describes it as sating the "growing desire (of) busy travelers to snack on video clips, check the weather, and play the latest competitive games." It's using some prescient terminology in that word snack, which is exactly the role of handheld video. And the fact that it'll have a look and feel common to hotel room service is very smart. So why mention it in a car tech column? I think mobile handheld and mobile automotive media streaming share virtually the same set of initial goals: be snackable, offer adequate resolution, use an interface that builds on some other familiar service, and have a brand that will attract the established gatekeepers, such as wireless companies and carmakers.

If your FM transmitter works well, take care of it. The next one you buy may be a lot less powerful. More than 75 percent of the FM modulators people use to connect their iPod or sat radio receiver to their car stereo are transmitting too much power, according to the FCC rules. Some are more than 2,000 percent over the limit! That won't go on for long.