Apps

We've never heard of the Global Alert Network, but after signing a deal with Clear Channel, their presence in the mobile traffic alert space is set to explode.

Social navigation apps are gaining momentum by the day and Waze is continuing to innovate with a new update that adds voice alerts for traffic. As the video demonstrates, if a driver sees a hazard – be it a speed trap or a patch of ice – he can record a short voice memo that will be pushed to other drivers in the area. When they approach the afflicted section of road or plan a route that includes the hazard, the voice alert automatically plays, warning t

There are plenty of telemetry apps for the iPhone, but few are as sexy as Zilla. The app provides the usual data, including G-forces, weight transfer and speed, but apes the Polyphony Digital-designed instruments found on the Nissan GT-R. You can customize the screens to suit your needs, and the layout and graphics are second to none. Not only that, but according to the app's developers, it has "...near Chuch Norris levels of accuracy." All for $3.99 in the App Store.

We've all been there. Shopping, dining, out with friends and you're not entirely sure when the parking meter is set to expire. You check our watch, calculate how long it's going to take to settle our bill, say your goodbyes and get back to the car before the three-wheeled parking gestapo slaps a ticket on our windshield. BMW has the solution, and even better, it's free.

If you're on an Android 2.1 device with Google Maps, it might be hard to justify spending $9.99 a month on another navigation app. Verizon knows this, so it shot its VZ Navigator app full of features that would make TomTom and Garmin blush.

Navigation systems are a beacon of hope for anyone driving in a new city, but even the most advanced, detailed maps don't give an urban-newbie the details they need. Zenrin hopes to change that with a new set of maps that blend 3D graphics with something close to augmented reality.

When Audi says it is going to have apps available for download to its cars by the end of the decade, it doesn't mean an app like Bejeweled 2 – it means an app like heated seats. Taking the term "app" back to its more expansive origin in "software application," Audi plans to make cars upgradable after the purchase by allowing owners to download software that would activate hardware already installed in the car.

The season of hitting the roads to places you don't really want to go, so that you can give gifts you didn't really want to buy and eat food you don't really like has begun. Naturally, a lot more people on the road means a lot more folks getting lost. Fear not, you invincible iPhone-equipped holiday travelers: Appcast has ranked the created a list of navigation apps taking into account 31 different features and metrics.

What's good for the iPhone is apparently good for the sedan. Hughes Telematics is working up a suite of programs that will work with its in-car communications technology and allow you to download applications for your car. From tailored data collection to controlling your car's systems with your phone to repurposing your car's features, the possibilities will turn your humble transport into the ultimate programmable appliance when Hughes releases the software to be ready in 2010. Let the betting