Do you drum your steering wheel in traffic jams and at all the red lights? What if it could make drum sounds instead of dull thumps?

The ridiculously named Re-Inventing The Wheel (RITW) is an electronic drum pad that covers your steering wheel and links wirelessly with your car speakers and your iPhone.

The gizmo, which is the focus of a Kickstarter campaign, emits drum sounds through the car stereo via an FM transmitter or line-in jack as you rock along to your favorite tunes on your iPhone.

RITW has eight sensors that can be set to trigger a snare, tom, cowbell, or any drum sound you like, or effects like dog barks or even Chewbacca's howl. You also can hear your drumming -- solo or with background music -- through earphones or mini speakers. … Read more

Old rumors about Volkswagen and Apple collaborating on an iCar will come the closest ever to realization next week, when Volkswagen unveils its iBeetle at Auto China 2013 in Shanghai. The iBeetle announcement consists of a special-edition Beetle, a new iPhone dock, and a Volkswagen iPhone app.

The special-edition Beetle, coming out next year, will feature color schemes inspired by the iPhone. Available in hardtop or convertible form, it will also come with unique wheels.

An iPhone dock in the iBeetle sits at the center top of the dashboard. Volkswagen writes in a press release that "all iPhone functions … Read more

Most cars these days come with Bluetooth, supporting both hands-free calls and audio streaming. For older cars, GoGroove's SmartMini Aux works as a relatively cheap means of adding these wireless features.

However, the car needs an auxiliary input or adapter for running audio to the stereo.

The SmartMini Aux, constructed of black plastic, looks like an ultramodern drawer pull. Its offset T shape includes a flared base fitted with a Velcro pad for mounting in a car. A long wire tipped with a 1/8-inch audio jack leads out of the base.

The business end, a short, curved bar, … Read more

The major difference between the TackForm Steady Clip and the previously reviewed TackForm C-Fit is the way that the two mounting systems hold your phone.

The Steady Clip uses a sort of spring-loaded grip that you open and close by squeezing a pair of levers on the back of the clip. The Steady Clip can hold much larger devices than the C-Fit can, expanding to hold devices up to 4 inches wide. If you're using your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or are planning to use the upcoming Galaxy Mega to navigate, the Steady Clip is up to the task … Read more

Most car stereos that I've ever fiddled with have offered some sort of equalizer setting that lets the driver customize the sound to their liking, but fitting more than the basic treble, bass, and --occassionally-- midrange controls onto the cramped display of a single DIN receiver is a tricky endeavor. Alpine wants to make it easier for users of its new CDE-147BT receiver to access advanced graphic EQ controls by offloading the audio tuning interface to an Alpine TuneIt app for Android and iOS devices.

The app lets users create a profile for their vehicle and any other Alpine … Read more

Editors' note: Portions of this review were taken from our evaluation of the Bracketron Mi-T Grip, since that device and the TackForm C-Fit are almost identical.

The TackForm C-Fit is a deceptively simple universal suction-cup mount for smartphones that holds onto almost any smooth surface with its sticky suction cup.

The C-Fit has only one point of articulation, at the ball joint, where the gripping claw meets the mounting arm. So care must be taken to properly orient the base when placing the C-Fit. This can make getting the C-Fit into the perfect position a bit tricky, but not impossible … Read more

NEW YORK--Adding to its existing roster of app integration, which currently comprises Pandora and Mog, BMW announced its next four apps to work with BMW cars at the New York International Auto Show. Music fans will be able to easily use Rhapsody and TuneIn, book lovers can listen to Audible, and Glympse lets drivers share their current whereabouts and destination.

Each app shows up on the LCD in BMW models equipped with the app integration feature, in a format similar to other car applications, such as navigation or the hands-free phone system.

Rhapsody subscribers will get a similar feature set … Read more

Back in the days of the Car Tech Live podcast, I was often (ahem, every week) asked, "What's the best way to add a lot of tech to my car without spending a lot of money?"

The answer I most often gave was, "Check out Sony's MEX line of single-DIN car stereos. For about two Benjamins, you'll add Bluetooth hands-free calling, wireless audio streaming, USB and auxiliary inputs, and upgrade the audio quality of your car's wimpy car stereo."

The Sony MEX-GS600BT is one of the latest units in the MEX line, … Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Over the past decade, new in-car electronics have helped us navigate and made more music easily available while driving. But if the work shown at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) is any indication, bigger and better changes are in store.

Among the many automotive seminars at this year's GTC, Honda showed off its development of a head-up display, while Audi discussed its initiatives to make urban driving safer.

In Honda's seminar, Victor Ng-Thow-Hing, principal scientist at the Honda Research Institute in Mountain View, Calif., showed head-up display technology that makes current production examples look … Read more