TikiJon.com

If you live some place where it gets really cold in the winter — you might already be familiar with the advantages and convenience of a remote-start car system.

Rather than fumbling to open an icy door or waiting a few minutes for the car to start and the heat to come on, you can start the car using a keyremote and even turn the heat on, so that by the time you get to the car, it’s on and warm.

Today, Directed Electronics, who make the popular Viper remote start systems, are taking remote-start one-step further: start your car with your iPhone. The Viper SmartStart system combines the Viper system with an iPhone app that acts as a remote control for your car.

Here’s how the system works: if you have a compatible Viper remote system installed on your car, you can download a free iPhone app and configure your car to hook up to your phone. Then, you can start your car and turn on the heat before you head out to the driveway. The Viper iPhone app can also lock your car (or unlock it) remotely too.

The advantage of the iPhone app over the traditional key-remotes is that the range is much larger than what you get with IR. I’m assuming the system works via satellite, because Viper calls it “virtually unlimited.” This would definitely be convenient for anyone who has a relative or a spouse with a predilection for locking their keys in the car.

The Viper SmartStart iPhone app is available for either new SmartStart systems (retail price $499) or existing Viper users can get the SmartStart module (retail price $299) from Best Buy stores beginning today. If you like the idea of keyless entry and remote-start, bringing that sort of functionality to the iPhone makes perfect sense.

Do you have a remote-start system? What do you think of unlocking your car with your mobile phone? Let us know!

Tags: iphone, keyless entry, Remote, viper smartstart

Rumors are flying around this weekend about three potential features of iTunes 9, the next major iteration of Apple’s popular music software. While iTunes 8 introduced features such as the Genius sidebar, the buzz is that iTunes 9 will introduce the ability to organize your iPhone apps (right now, it’s a mess) and support for Blu-ray discs. Oh, and here’s the kicker: there will supposedly be some form of social media integration, specifically with Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm.

All of this is according to a “reliable source” over at Boy Genius Report. And while these new features are just unconfirmed rumors, they would be major additions to the popular music player.

Here’s the basic lowdown on each of these rumored features:

Blu-ray: Yes, the Sony-backed disc format may finally see support from iTunes. There’s speculation that this makes sense because of reports that the next generation of iMacs will support Blu-Ray. Again, this is unconfirmed.

iPhone App Organization: When you get well north of 100 iPhone apps, you really do need a way to organize them. Right now, it’s alphabetical and mostly useless. Categorization not only makes perfect sense, but is almost essential to make iTunes app management feasible for the common consumer.

Twitter/Last.fm/Facebook Integration: We’re hoping this one is true, but the Boy Genius Report is completely unclear as to what this integration could be. Tweeting out what songs you play? The ability to automatically scrobble and favorite songs in Last.fm? Links to iTune store downloads via Facebook? Any integration could shake-up the entire social music industry and mean significant income for Apple.

This is all rumor, but we should get confirmation or denial on these rumors next month, when Apple traditionally launches its new line of iPods and other devices. What do you think? Would you use these features? We welcome you to speculate in the comments.

Tags: apple, blu-ray, iphone, itunes, iTunes 9