The Oxygen O-Car promises to push the current boundaries of car audio and iPhone integration. The New stereos developed by Oxygen are new to the UK market having been developed in Europe & US, receiving a host of awards for innovation along the way.

The concept behind the stereos, especially the O-Car is ultimate integration. The whole system is controlled from your iPhone when docked. It works as a conventional stereo in that it plays music & can have an entertainment system in your car. However all of the controls for the stereo are made through the iPhone.

In additional to the usual functions of a car stereo, the O-Car also offers Handsfree bluetooth, your iTunes library and a whole host of additional app based functions like web radio, GPS, Google Maps, Petrolbuddy and beat the maps or even youtube (Dependant on data package). Making the O-Car truly integrated.

The whole stereo is a unique revision of the older styled CD head units, with the cradle docking on the front of the stereo is capable of being angled to suit the driver, dependant on which app or function is running at the time ensuring you can make full use of the system.

The only downside of the unit is that the factory fitted stereo has to be removed & replaced. This could involve additional harness adapters and fascias. However we think the O-Car is worth the sacrifice.

If your having music problems i feel bad for you maam.

Well, your problems may be a thing of the past. Certainly in this day and age you shouldn’t be experiencing any problems when it comes to music storage & integration. You have thousands of different devices to store and play music from. Whether it be your Phone or iPod, other generic MP3 or MP4 players, or even old skool CD players. Its saved and ready to listen to as long as you have it with you.

Integrating into your vehicle is no longer a thing of pain and frustration, especially if your looking to go down the FM Transmitter route. They are perfect if you want something cheep and cheerful but works straight from the box and can be tucked away from prying eyes in your glove box.

Combine this with a iPod / iPhone car holder and you have a perfectly acceptable iPod car kit adapter solution for very little cost. For Example if you wanted a mounted solution combine the Griffin iTrip Auto with the Macally mCup and you have a Music solution for around £60 which charges your iPod and holds securely while your driving.

Griffin have had the griffin app available for download on the iTunes app store for some time now . What we would like to know is, is the app beneficial to its users? Apple kindly allow comments to be made on the app from its users and the general consensus is its OK.

There are some good reviews rating the app highly and some rating it poorly with an average score of 2.5 out of 5.0

The app basically allows you to pre-tune the device to the desired frequency much quicker, and in our opinion much easier too. however its not a life saver and certainly doesn’t make or break the products performance.

If your thinking of purchasing a iPod FM Transmitter the griffin products are certainly the products offering the best performance however not due to the app available (But by all means try it).

We caught up with Griffin at the CU Exposed show in London yesterday to discuss the launch of a few new products into the UK in the coming months.

The new line of products branded “Drive Safe” are updated versions of the iPod / iPhone products currently on the market. The Drive Safe range also offers bluetooth functionality as well as iPod music, Will be landing in the coming months. May to be precise.

Look for the Drive Safe media campaign in the coming weeks as i’m sure the products will be a huge success in the UK, adding to the ever increasing popularity of Griffin.

One of the best features of an FM Transmitter is that its compatible with all vehicles with a stereo (head unit), as all stereos pick up frequencies from the aerial antenna located somewhere within or on the vehicle itself.

An Fm Transmitter simply broadcasts the data as a frequency to a spare frequency channel (Set by the user) which isn’t being used by the stereo, therefore you have a input into the stereo and vehicle speaker system to play your music from which ever MP3 music device you have.

An iPod FM Transmitter work on exactly the same principle just with a iPod connection into the device as opposed to an AUX input. The difference is minimal when it concerns transmission, however the iPod connection does allow for charge of the iPod in such products as the griffin iTrip Auto which a normal AUX transmitter would not offer.

The connection of the iPod into the device via iPod dock also allows for the music to be played in stereo as opposed to mono. However this will be predominately be  unnoticeable as the quality of the music played is analogue not full digital. This is a small price to pay for a cost effective iPod car solution.

If your in the market for a FM Transmitter, its probably somewhat inevitable that you’ll end up that a Griffin product. Whether it be an iTrip, or the Griffin iTrip auto version of it or a Griffin RoadTrip. Most people don’t mind paying that extra £5 to £10 for the additional quality.

So if we assume you want a griffin transmitter, which one will best suits your needs?

This depends very much on how you listen to your music & therefore control your iPod. If your a constant track flicker for example you’ll be better off having the device mounted in one position, so its easily accessible and controllable. The Roadtrip comes with a flexi tube which supports the iPod / iPhone when mounted & holds in position near the Cigarette lighter.

If you like to listen to albums or playlist you might be happier with the iTrip and just leave the iPod running in the tray, ready to pick up and flick tracks when necessary?

One thing you must bare in mind is the charging facilities of the devices, as the iTrip is a stand alone device and draws power from the iPod / iPhone when in use. Whereas the iTrip auto & RoadTrip have cigarette light attachments to recharge the battery, and generally speaking its much better to have the charging facilities as the battery on the iPhones drains fairly quickly.

In essence your getting a fairly similar product which ever you choose. One is stand alone, another offers charge and the RoadTrip offers charge and Mounting.

If your interested in a Dension Kit or already have one. There are a few little tips to making the Dension kits work differently to better suit you and the way you want to use them.

Each Integrated kit (for example the dension gateway 100)comes with two control types, iPod Mode and Gateway Mode. iPod Mode is when you would like to control the music from your iPod (Track / Album selection) Gateway mode is to control from the stereo / steering wheels (iPod mode still retains steering wheel controls).

To change between modes is simple and pain free. It takes a few seconds and a combination of buttons. For example CD6 track 2 and Hold FF.

One of the biggest problems now is the amount of storage on the iPod / iPhone and the number of tracks you have to sieve through to get to where you like. If you have a large music collection and like to flick from track to track, a lot of our customers prefer to be in iPod mode, increasing the speed of which you find the track or album.

An iPod Car Kit Direct top tip is select your favourite tracks and add them into a playlist on your iPod. Keep the device in Gateway Mode, select Playlists and you can fast flick through the tracks and aviod the unwanted album tracks you don’t really like.

Griffin have announced a slightly new direction to the next range of products released in 2011.

Handsfree is on the agenda for griffin as even the more popular products such as the griffin iTrip auto are receiving the handsfree functions.

See a full list of the griffin handsfree products here

http://www.griffintechnology.com/drivesafe/

Griffin have announced a few new products to hit the market soon, Which should excite some of the current griffin fans.

New releases to the market are to come in the form of a bluetrip and an updated version of the roadtrip funnily enough called the roadtrip handsfree. Both of which offer handsfree and music input to the stereo (Via different forms).

There isn’t too much information about the level of integration of the bluetooth devices, however its likely to be similar to the current iPod or AUX connectivity offered on other devices.

One potential problem with the kits maybe interference issue caused by stronger radio signals in particular areas of your region. However one thing you can rely on is the quality of the griffin products in relation to its competitors.