Car stereos specifically designed to hold the iPhone aren’t exactly a new piece of tech.  In fact, we’ve seen a few iteration over the years.  However, one major drawback to them has been that they’re designed to work with the iPhone and generally speaking the current generation iPhone only.   So what’s an Android user to do or anyone waiting for the next greatest device from Apple?  Say hello to the DASH from Devium.

Unlike other smartphone compatible head units, which consist of one faceplate and the body of the system, the DASH can be used with a variety of faceplates that are hot swappable and can accomodate a variety of popular phones.  However, for their Kickstarter project, and the sake of simplicity, they’re only building an iPhone/iPod compatible version, at least for now.  So, if you invest in the DASH today and 1 year from now Apple releases a new iPhone, with an entirely new form factor, Devium will develop a faceplate to accomodate the new shape and size.

Now, in terms of the Body, it will boast 50×4 watts of power and 2 preamps running at 2V for a front and rear subwoofer.  It measures  4-inches by 7-inches, which is apparently the standard double DIN size, allowing it to fit in a large number of vehicles.  A set of magnets will hold the iPhone in place and they’ve even allowed enough space for those of you that use a bumper case.    They say that none of this, not even the aluminum body will interfere with the GPS single, though it might be worth noting that the back of the faceplates will be made from plastic, which hopefully means they they’ll be on the cheaper side of things.  For inquiring minds that want to know, the 200 watt amp is built and made from Maxim, a company out of Sunnyvale, CA.

So how much do you need to spend to your get your own DASH?  $250.  They’re looking to raise $45,000 and they’ve got 57 days to go.  Something tells us they’ll accomplish this goal and much more.

TigerDirect is offering a coupon deal on this Sony HID-C10 Dash Personal Internet Viewer Tablet!

With the low price on this portable device you can easily take the internet with you anywhere in your home! This Sony Personal Internet viewer features a Compact 7.0-Inch High Resolution Touch screen allows you quick and easy access to the internet whenever you want it. It connects to your network via wifi b/g and once connected you have access to over 1000 useful applications to further enhance your internet experience. It can make a worthy addition to any room with it’s super sleek design, so you can browse the internet and all of your online media from anywhere whenever you want. It also includes a USB port for device connectivity as well as a headphone jack for private listening.

The price comes to $149.99 – $50 Coupon (OTY25789) + Free Shipping = $99.99!

Amazon is offering this Pioneer DEH-2200UB in Dash CD/Mp3 Player for a huge discount!

This is the perfect upgrade for your vehicle’s CD Player. The price of this one is almost completely halves which makes it even better! This In-Dash CD/MP3 player features full CD/CD-RW playback so you can play even your burned CD’s easily in your car, as well as the ability to change the text color from Red to Green to suite your taste. To get even more out of each disk this player supports the playback of MP3s right off of the disk so you can burn about 10 albums worth onto a single disk and have all your music with you much easier.

Apart from CD’s this player fully supports iPod connectivity to play all your favorites from your personal collection without the need for disks. Your entire collection in potentially limitless format which can be controlled from either the player itself of your iPod, so even your passenger can browse for the perfect song to listen to.

Also features a detachable faceplate for added security and theft protection to further enhance the safety of your investment.

The price comes to $135 -  $69.01 Instant Savings + Free Shipping = $74.99!

3.5 out of 5 stars

Pros:

• Available apps are often tremendous and ridiculous, like Hulu+ and Netflix
• Build quality is superb, should stand the test of time against raging wakers
• App customization and installation through Sony’s Dash website is excellent

Cons:

• Expensive, even at the discounted $150
• Touchscreen lacks sensitivity, isn’t nearly responsive enough
• Organization of apps is awful on the device

It almost feels like a little piece of Star Trek. Sony’s Dash is just a simple alarm clock, running off of Chumby’s UI and apps, and it’s a remarkably simple little device, but it still feels like the future. But does this expensive piece of tech really survive in the bedroom?

The Sony Dash is the sort of thing I’d expect some well-to-do aristocrat to have. It’s shamelessly gadget-like in an 80’s sort of way, with that large 7” screen and thick, rubbery build. And it’s got just one main function: waking you up.

For some background, I haven’t had a standalone alarm clock in about four years. With the proliferation of cellphone alarms, a move and giving my last clock to my kid brother, I never replaced the 10-year old CD player/alarm. Why bother when you can just check your phone? As I quickly learned, thanks in part to Chinese businesspeople and wrong numbers, who have no concept of time, keeping a cellphone near the bed is never a good idea. For a short trip, maybe. Otherwise, you’re just asking for trouble.

Sony’s Dash has most of the same timewasters as any of today’s smartphones, but without the ability to receive calls from that uncle seeking bail. Thanks to Chumby’s UI, the Dash not only plays the clock, it can check email, play videos, show RSS and Twitter feeds, play games, etc. Meaning like your smartphone, it has apps. The available apps are limited, but you can be sure that anyone looking to buy this smartclock will be satisfied when they see Dilbert comics and Philosoraptor on the Dash.

The Dash is a perplexing piece of hardware. It’s thick and big, which is the complete opposite of what most manufacturers, Sony included, strive for.  A thick base seats the Dash firmly in place, and like a pyramid it thins towards the top. The capacitive touchscreen is only single-touch, and is not very sensitive. This isn’t a serious downside, though mostly because it is, after all, an alarm clock.

More tech-savvy users who want to get the most out of the Dash may be disappointed. As a piece of hardware, the Dash seems like nothing special. Chumby was great, but only in a very geeky way. It lacks a long list of apps that so many of us rely on these days, though the small community does churn out useful and fun apps regularly. The most important ones are there: Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, news feeds and more.

The Dash beside a Blu-ray case. The Dash uses a pyramid base that gets thinner at the top

In some ways, the limited functionality of Chumby does keep the Dash from being all it could be. That, and a few of the odd features. Features like an accelerometer, which makes no sense to be in the Dash. Why does it need to know which way is up? There is no built-in application for it, besides tipping the Dash over when the alarm goes off. Even then, really? Similarly, I think Sony could have done better than relied on Chumby, possibly using Android, though it’s understandable that Chumby was their ultimate choice. The hardware requirement is much less stringent, and after all, the Dash isn’t meant to be a tablet.

Some of the best features of the Dash are, frankly, the same you could get with any modern alarm clock. The sound of birds or the ocean instead of an annoying ringing, multiple alarms on separate days…there are analog clocks that can do that! But no analog clock can show you the daily pictures from NASA or Confucious saying, nor can they wake you up and show emails or your daily calendar first thing in the morning.

With USB and headphone ports, plus the surrounding rubber frame, the Dash can take a beating and keep you in bed longer! Why leave the warm confines of your warm blanket? Snuggle up and watch TV or read comics!

I’m of the impression that these functions are all niceties, and for someone with less self-control, it’s far too easy to sit on the Dash and play around with it. That is to say, sit and play with an alarm clock. The idea is ridiculous, stupid and cool at the same time…geeky for the sake of being geeky.

My bigger concern was that the Dash uses an LCD screen, and one reason I never replaced my analog alarm clock was because I hated the light on it. It always was too bright, even after making it as dim as possible. At first, the LCD on the Dash looked like it would be a nightmare, but it really isn’t. The Dash has a sleep setting where it just acts like a clock, and the brightness can be set so dim that in a pitch-black room, the numbers are just barely visible. Light sleepers who are sensitive to light when sleeping can rejoice with the Dash. It won’t make you lose a wink of sleep.

Not surprisingly, the biggest actual flaws from the Dash stem from the software which Sony worked on. Everything with Chumby runs fine, albeit slow at times. Updates however take 5-15 minutes, though in the month of testing I only needed to update the Dash once. The combination of the insensitive touchscreen and the slow software is a harsh reality, one that could easily have been remedied with a multi-touch screen instead of the projected capacitive touchscreen technology currently used.

Philosoraptor, just one of the many Chumby apps available on the Dash

Then again, hating on an alarm clock which can actually play 1080p video (even though the Dash has an 800×480 screen resolution) is pretty hard. Why it needs that ability is beyond me. The fact that I can stream content from Hulu, Amazon, several major TV networks, a slew of online radio stations and far, far more is almost beyond ludicrous. It’s almost as if Sony just got a room of engineers together and said “you have 90 days, put whatever you want into this box and we’ll ship it.”

Sony’s Dash really is a piece of the future. Being able to have all that power – in an alarm clock – is downright insanity. It’s irresponsible. And there is no reason why every electronic device can’t be so jam-packed with features that we have to rely on an alarm clock to show everyone else how it’s done. The only stumbling blocks are the lack of organization, slowness of the UI and the touchscreen, but even then its so easy to see why this makes an amazing gift. Just remember, in the wrong hands, anyone you give it to could suddenly disappear for days at a time, so be careful. Especially if that person is you.

You can buy the Sony Dash from Amazon for $129.  Alternatively, you can choose from one of the retailers below.

It’s$199.99 – $20 (Coupon: 3A825) + Free Shipping = $179.99!

Sony’s soon to be released Dash is now available for pre-order directly from Sony.  The personal internet viewing device is going for $200 and really picked up some traction a few weeks back once it was announced that you could stream NetFlix.

Will this be direct competitor for Apple’s iPad?  With the functionality not as robust as Apple’s jumbo iPod Touch I think Sony lovers will flock to this, especially since the advent of the streaming TV feature.

Units will start shipping out just before or around April 15th.

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I must have completely missed this thing at CES this year.  What is basically a digital picture frame that runs widgets, news has now reached the blogs that the Sony Dash will now be able to run streaming video from a host of websites including Netflix.

What could be a game changer for this device, pricing is set a $200 and it will start shipping in April.  Get your dash and get your swerve on.

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If you’re in the market for a simple QWERTY keyboarded phone, well, look no further.  T-Mobile has released the launch date of the Dash 3G, which is July 8th.  It’ll run you $170 after a 2-year contract signing, but were not sure if that includes a mail-in-rebate or not.

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Features:

• Almost real time traffic updates, 4.3-inch color touchscreen (480×272)
• Yahoo local search, receives new features and software updates wirelessly
• Interact with other Dash users