This story first appeared in the December 2019 issue of AutoTalk.

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To quote Wikipedia: “Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances using short-wavelength UHF radio waves, it was originally conceived as a wireless alternative to bulky data cables.”

For automotive use, Bluetooth is the perfect capability for smart mobile phones allowing hands-free calling, text and email reading and writing, calendar functions, note-taking and of course, location and directions with Maps.

Using voice activation expands the use, although the larger touch screens in dashboards are easier to navigate than fumbling with the smartphone. And there is more to come as apps develop in the future.

The recent and more tactile touchscreens are far more user friendly than previous, using capacitive displays ensuring your contact is effective even with the motion of the vehicle to overcome.

Specialist supplier of retrospective fitting Car Play and Android Auto solutions are OEM Audio, who have evolved products to suit New Zealand’s vast array of models, including those bothersome JDM [Japanese Domestic Market] audio units that usually mean you are trapped to forever listen to 88.6 FM radio driving around in the sea off the coast of Japan.

Not every model vehicle is covered but the range is expanding with demand and availability.

All are engineered to plugin with little to no modification, you just follow the instructions as supplied.

OEM Audio’s website is fact-filled but if you need an installer, they can direct you to someone capable.