Tech Blog

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My pal, John Biehler, has been talking a lot lately about his new car, the Kia Soul.

You could describe it as the SUV of the Mini Cooper.  It's a little bigger, has a bit of trunk space, but it is still a tight little package.  It's a small fuel efficient car that's perfect for these green times, but what sets the Soul apart is the way it can get geeked out. 

Technology isnt just in the home office, you can do some pretty fun things with the dashboard of your car.  The first thing you'll notice is a USB jack right below the car's stereo.  You can use this to toss in a USB key, or if you troll some Kia user forums, even find firmware updates to optimize performance.

You can sync up to 5 phones with the car so whenever you're driving you can access your phone's music playlist and address book through the dash.  Voice dialling happens right from the steering wheel, music playing happens from the stereo controls.

Don't forget the flashing lights in the front speakers.  John says you can't really see them when you're driving since your legs block that area, but it's still a fun little trick to show people.

Let's take a tour of the Kia Soul with John.

A lot of cars are moving in this direction of geek integration.  There's the Ford Sync, Nissan Hypercube and others.

For more on the Kia Soul, check out John's review.

catch the buzz ... pass it on.