HUM $49.99
Car system competes well with OnStar
We've been in cars that have OnStar, the connected service on GM cars and trucks that brings up a concierge at the touch of a button. Verizon saw the need for those without it and has delivered a connected car system called Hum that can easily be added to most cars.
The Hum system consists of two parts, a small dongle that fits in your car's OBD-II, or onboard diagnostics, port and a speaker that clips to your car's sun visor. You will also interact with the system through a smartphone app.
You don't need to be a Verizon Wireless cellphone customer to use the Hum system. Besides the $49.99 in equipment and activation fees, it requires a two-year commitment at $10 per month.
The dongle can connect to any car made after 1996. The dongle can understand what's going on inside your car's engine. If you have a check-engine light showing, the Hum app can explain the error. You can press a button on the speaker and talk to a certified mechanic who can answer your questions. The Hum can also send you text reminders when it is time to do routine maintenance.
The speaker also can be used to connect to Hum operators in a roadside emergency. There is also a crash monitoring system that notifies Hum. If it senses a crash, you will get a call, and if you don't respond, Hum will send emergency services to your exact location.
Other features: There is a car locator feature if you can't remember where you parked or if the car is stolen, a feature to track teen drivers' speed and boundaries and, like other in-car systems, can connect to your phone for calls and downloaded content.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
SPARK FREE
Fall in love with your e-mail inbox again
What are your feelings toward your e-mail inbox? There are plenty of entrepreneurs out there in the world who want to "kill" e-mail using instant messaging and other tools. Spark wants to rehabilitate the old inbox and make you love it. The app tries to do this with a super-clean layout that lets you run fairly complex but also nontechnical searches, such as "From Joe with a PDF attached." Like other e-mail apps, you can customize what happens when you swipe left or right on a message, so you can quickly mark things as read, pin them to the top of your inbox or even save them to a service such as Evernote. You can also set smart notifications to cut down e-mail clutter on your lock screen — only the important messages come through. It can be hard to persuade people to use an e-mail app that isn't the default one on their phones. And, for some, Spark's features aren't going to be worth downloading yet another app. But if your inbox is driving you crazy, Spark is worth a try.
WASHINGTON POST
