Auto Car News Dash marries your car and iPhone [w/video]

Aftermarket smartphone integration leaves plenty to be desired. Most systems limit the usability of your device and require a tangle of cords or battery-sucking Bluetooth. Then there’s the headache of trying to figure out how to entree your files and applications via the stereo’s cryptic controls. A new Kickstarter project aims to fix entirely that. Dash is a standard double-din head unit that uses a unique magnetic CNC-aluminum faceplate to dock your phone straight into your vehicle’s dashboard. From there, accessing GPS, sending texts (by voice, of course) and playing music is as simple as swiping your screen. Pretty slick.

Dash features a video pass through so users can play video on external monitors, and the system keeps your phone charged while in use. The unit pumps out 4x50w of power and includes two preamps for front and rear subwoofers.

We typically get antsy whatever time we see technology that encourages distraction. To that end, Dash also includes an app to make entirely of your auto-themed applications easily approachable from one home screen. While that should cut down on the amount of time spent flipping through the main menu, it still appears that drivers will have to squint at their phones from behind the wheel.

The system features some interesting innovations, too. In addition to carrying the traditional FM tuner and an AUX in, Dash will eventually permit users to link to their vehicle’s computer. That, we can get behind.

The system is expected to start shipping in June 2012. At first, Dash will only support the iPhone 4 and 4S, but Devium, the company behind Dash, hopes to support other smartphones in the future. Check out the Kickstarter page for more information, and click past the jump for a quick video of the system in action.