For years my car has been outfitted with an Alpine stereo system. I made sure to look for one that would integrate my iPod without a hassle, because I needed to easily navigate through my library while driving, and the more hassle, the more issues I could possibly face on the road. I came across a new model, the IDA-X001, which Alpine had branded a “Digital Media Receiver” due to the fact that there was no CD player built into the unit. It could simply connect iPods of almost any generation and allow full control through the head unit. It also allowed people to connect generic USB drives with music files, and had add-on peripherals that could allow the unit to pick up HD Radio, Satellite Radio, and even connect to cell phones via Bluetooth.
As someone who was looking to move away from carting around CDs all the time anyway, I was intrigued enough to give it a shot. While there were certain things I felt could be better about the unit, as the first of its kind, I couldn’t knock it that much; Alpine had done a great job. And since then, I really haven’t found another head unit I felt was worth upgrading to.
Insert obvious titular transition here. I was browsing through Kickstarter (as I am prone to do quite often) when I came across a project by the name of Dash. Upon clicking, I found out that a man by the name of Paul Lizer had set out to integrate the smartphone into the car stereo as intimately as possible. Of course, the idea is solid: people tend to use their smartphones for virtually everything from navigation to music and video playback, and not many units tend to integrate all of these very well with a separate User Interface. So Paul and his team set out to solve that problem and came up with Dash; a simple, double DIN head unit that simply docks the phone into the middle of the faceplate, complete with an app suite that gives you access to everything you need.
Off the bat, Dash will ship with the capabilities to control your library and streaming music apps, adjust your audio levels, access FM radio, and connect your phone calls to your car speakers through Bluetooth. Dash is also working on future improvements to the device with their promised “Car Connectivity Kit” which will allow you to connect your phone to your car’s computer. If your car has the controls available, you will also be able to control Dash with your steering wheel controls.
Dash has just under 30 days to go, but is already more than 80% funded. I would highly recommend anyone who is looking to upgrade their car stereo in the near future gets in on this. For a $250 donation you will be preordering yourself a Dash unit for either iPod/iPhone or Android (you have to tell them which one you want). This is a $50 dollar discount, as the production unit will retail for $300, not to mention the steep discount from buying a Navigation unit from a local or chain retailer upwards of $1000. For the color conscious an extra $50 gets you a Dash with a custom faceplate anodized in your choice of Red, Blue, Black, or White. $475 and $575 level donations get you two units, standard or anodized respectively (which is another $25 savings) and for those who are also excited or interested, but don’t own an iPhone or Android, dig deep, because for $3250 the Dash team will custom build a Dash unit to work specifically for your phone (If you’re in Colorado, Paul will hand deliver it, too!).
If Dash isn’t something you’re looking for, but you love the idea, I would still highly encourage you to donate to these guys- There is a tremendous amount of work put into what seems like it will be an incredibly innovative product that will directly affect the future of phone integration. Toss ‘em $30 bucks, get a T-Shirt, and support Paul and his team. I’ll be sure to update this article when I get my Dash unit for a full review.
