It has been a long time coming, but Belkin has finally released TuneCast Auto LIVE for the iPhone. The peripheral, which was introduced way back in June of 2009 and was supposed to ship last fall, allows users to listen to their iPhone through their car stereo. Not only that, uses the iPhone's built in GPS function to help finding the right station easier and more reliable.
You see, while many new cars include an auxiliary jack to let you easily use your iPod or iPhone when driving, many older models (and some new ones) don't offer this capability. Folks with these automobiles are left using FM transmitters to get their tunes from their portable music player to their cars speakers.
However, even the best of these solutions require people to constantly change tuning frequencies, especially in urban environments. This is a pain and can be dangerous should it cause you to take your eyes off of where they should be, the road.
Enter Belkin and its TuneCast Auto Live ($79.99), the first GPS-assisted FM transmitter.
When paired with Belkin's free ClearScan Live Application for the iPhone and iPod touch (available for download from the app store), TuneCast uses GPS coordinates to determine the clearest FM frequency at a user's location.
These GPS coordinates are based on geographical data as well as results from other TuneCast Auto users in the same geographical area. The solution also enables the iPhone or iPod touch to automatically change tunings, taking the user and -- you'd think -- much of the hassle out of using an FM transmitter.