iGoneMobile Windshield Mount

With the additional of more turn by turn based GPS apps for the iPhone I decided it was time to find a way to mount my iPhone 4 in our vehicle. I decided to look into something that would suction to the windshield to keep things simple. I started by doing a Google search and the first product I looked at appeared to be just what I was after! At $8.99 with FREE shipping I decided it was a no brainer.

I placed an order with iGoneMobile. The product I ordered can be found here: http://www.igonemobile.com/product.aspx?p=24918

I wasn't sure what to expect for such a great price, since some of that cost had to go to the shipping. I waited about a week and it showed up in the mail. When I first opened it I was a bit confused how to get my iPhone in the thing, but I then found the magic button that allowed the arms to spring open! Wow! Plenty of room for my iPhone, or other things, to fit in there. You simply pop the arms open, place your device in, and squeeze the arms closed around it. The arms click into place and hold the device tightly until the release button is pressed again. This makes attaching your device and freeing it a breeze! I am using this for my iPhone 4 and there is plenty of room to attach the USB power cord which I attach to a 12v car charger. You can also hit a button to rotate the holder so you can switch between portrait and landscape view if you are using an iPhone!

Here is how the unit looks installed in my Honda Odyssey, minus the iPhone 4 which was taking the picture:

Great! I can now pop in my iPhone 4, plug it in to a power source, and fire up my GPS app of choice and hit the road! While my minivan (yeah, yeah) already comes with a factory installed GPS, the DVD software was dated even when the vehicle was brand new. I have yet to dump $180 to purchase an updated DVD. Also the GPS interface is fairly basic. You need to manually punch in addresses, and trying to search for things is a real pain. With the iPhone I can do a Google search from within my GPS app and quickly find what I'm looking for.

Lately I have been using a free turn-by-turn app called Waze, which adds some social interaction along with the turn-by-turn navigation. You can report traffic problems, police, hazards, and even ping other Waze users, if you happen to come across any. Of course you shouldn't interact with people while driving! While this is a neat app for free, it isn't perfect when it comes to getting you to your destination. It does have map problems. I have had it tell me to turn left onto a road I was driving over on an over pass.  I have also come across problems where it's missing a part of a major road, so it tries to take me out of the way instead of keeping me on the road which is there in reality. So use this app with caution!

One cool thing I realized I could do with this configuration is use my iPhone 4 as a dash cam! I can shoot 720p 30FPS video, or take 5MP still shots. I could even stream video to services like Stickam or Ustream! I may look into a way to wedge something between the holder and my dash to act as a stabilizer, like a piece of sponge. Right now hitting bumps will make things a little shaky. :)  Here is a sample video:



I have been so pleased with this holder I ordered a spare in case this breaks, or for use in another vehicle. Over time I can't say how well it will hold up, but for the couple weeks I've been using it I haven't had any problems.