Nintendo and Toyota cross paths

Video gamers rejoice – well at least if you live in Japan, speak Japanese, or plan to learn and order an overseas copy of an upcoming Nintendo 3DS game that will work in conjunction with Toyota’s high end navigation systems.

For those that aren’t into the video game scene, Nintendo – a name that surely rings a bell to anyone who watches even a little television – has released a new handheld or portable gaming device called the 3DS which, as the name indicates, displays three dimensional graphics. The reason the Nintendo handheld is so popular and, in my opinion, a technical marvel, is that there is no need for 3D glasses as used in movies, televisions, and the like. Better yet with a simple slider on the side of the device you can alter the degree to which the machine performs in 3D; using the analog slider you can play in full 3D, 2D, or anywhere in between.

So how does this pertain to the Toyota vehicles you came here to read about? Since both are based in Japan and dominant there, Toyota and Nintendo have begun a venture wherein a $90 “video game” will be on sale that uses Bluetooth technology to pair with Toyota vehicle navigation systems. Not only will the “game” attempt to alleviate language and speech barriers through a well-known means input, e.g. the Nintendo controller, largely unchanged since the 1980s (barring the new motion based Wii remote). The idea also houses driving and travel statistics, quizzes, and more to make it more game-like.

Though no word has hit the streets as to whether a U.S. release would ever get here, time will tell. Stay tuned for more techno-news as we hear more.

Chris Dugan

Handy Toyota

St. Albans, VT 05478

 

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What is Entune

Yesterday, October 17, 2011, I posted a question on Handy Toyota of St. Albans, Vermont’s Facebook page that asked “what do you think of the new Entune?” Though only three of the 800 plus of you out there answered the question, the results, lacking scientific merit or not, were disturbing to say the least. Here were the available answers:

1. It’s great!
2. Meh…
3. Not a fan
4. What’s that, a new planet?

Obviously sounding like Neptune, the furthest planet from the sun (or a Greek god, after whom the planet was named, if you prefer) I added that last bit as a comical way of asking what the heck Toyota’s Entune system was, but I didn’t think 100% of you would choose that answer! Again, I realize this isn’t a viable study since only three out of over 800 folks answered, but 100% is a complete answer pool regardless of the sheer quantity of submissions.

In other words, someone (yours truly) hasn’t done his job properly.

So what is Entune? Simply put, Toyota’s Entune is the next evolution of the Toyota vehicle radio. What was once a simple AM tuner grew to include the various fluctuations one finds in FM radio, which gave way to 8-track cassettes, which shrunk in size and became “tapes,” which lead to the huge information and clarity increases found in compact discs, and now finally we can plug in a 3.5 mm cord into our head units and listen to hours and gigabytes worth of digital audio. As you know that was soon followed by SiriusXM satellite radio, beaming unedited, commercial free radio from orbit into your car (and your pocket providing you have a mobile version of some sort), and the satellite radio was heightened by the touchscreen audio controls. Once again, Entune is the next evolution thereof.

However keep in mind that I keep saying it’s related to the audio – that’s really just a part of the puzzle. The Entune system, now equipped on the 2012 Toyota Camry, the upcoming 2012 Prius v, the 2012 4Runner, and soon every Toyota vehicle in VT and beyond, is actually a central hub on the up to 7-inch LCD touchscreen that connects your smartphone with your car. The obvious attractions include easier syncing between phone contacts and your hands free calling controls located on many new Toyota vehicles, but beyond that you can use the Entune application to find restaurants, directions, internet radio channels, and so much more to come!

To summarize once more, Toyota’s Entune system ports a variety of once smartphone-only applications onto a centrally located, easy to view, and perhaps most importantly safer location in your car: the head unit.

For more on Toyota Entune, send our sales team an email today and ask them why you should consider buying a new Toyota with the new system. Cars that come with Entune right now come with a free three-year trial subscription, which is quite an amount of time to see what it can do and to see how it expands. If you’d like to see a demonstration, check out the Handy Channel YouTube page which has a video as compiled by Toyota Prius experts “The Prius Chat Show.”

Chris Dugan
Handy Toyota
St. Albans, VT 05478

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