Handy Toyota

Video gamers rejoice - well at least if you live in Japan, speak Japanese, or plan to learn and order an overseas copy of an upcoming Nintendo 3DS game that will work in conjunction with Toyota's high end navigation systems.

For those that aren't into the video game scene, Nintendo - a name that surely rings a bell to anyone who watches even a little television - has released a new handheld or portable gaming device…

Boy, oh boy... where to start?  I opened a word document to jot down some notes regarding the recent updates to the Handy Toyota mobile application (dubbed erroneously as iphone.handytoyota.com) with the intention of telling you about one new update and then it dawned on me:  the original blog, "Handy's going mobile part II:  iPhones," was not only from way back in February of 2011, but also doesn't any longer apply…

The Blue Man Group; the "dum dum duh dum" tune; blazing fast computer processing.  What do these things mean?  Intel, and you'll be happy to know these things, in a chip form, are coming to Toyota's infotainment products.

In case you don't know what the newly coined phrase "infotainment" means, it's exactly what the strange word looks like:  information meets entertainment.  As a point in case I give you Toyota's Entune...

Something has had me a little bit perturbed lately, and since it pertains to the automotive industry that ultimately pays my bills, buys my clothes, and keeps me fed, I am going to indulge in airing my grievance on a forum that you have no control over aside from clicking the little X in the upper right of your browser's window.  Forgive me if I seem angry, but please read the rest of today...

The bottom line is that the desktop computer or personal computer (PC)/Mac market is dwindling.  As humanity moves along the crazy train of "I want need it now" at alarmingly quickening speeds, the days of the Jetson's-esque future and implanted mobile telephones seems further and further from science fiction and gets increasingly close to ho-hum reality.  Within a year - yes, in around 365 some odd days - mobile devices ranging from BlackBerry to Android...

I would suppose that many of you don't know anything about the Digital Dealer conference, but suffice to say it's one of the biggest annual conventions (and I've heard some claim it is the biggest) in the entire world as far as the automotive industry and online dealerships go.  This is quite an honor to be a part of as you'd imagine seeing as the best and brightest in the industry...

It's that wonderful time of year again folks - new models are arriving!

In fact, Handy Toyota has already received an early gift, one that was not made aware to this writer, in the form of our first 2012 Toyota vehicle in a Highlander Limited which you can view by read more

Toyota is a leader in hybrid technology.  That statement, my friends, doesn't need a qualifier like "in my opinion" or "some might consider" for example - it's a fact.  For over a decade Toyota has lead the fight against rising gasoline costs and greenhouse gas emissions, and the Prius has been so well received, selling its three-millionth unit earlier in the year, that it's soon to be a four-car family as you can…

Toyota has firmly planted themselves at the forefront of the upcoming (or current) electric vehicle war that the top automakers are jostling for position in, and in my opinion previous wins like the Prius, the mid-1990s Rav4 EVs that are still on the road, the upcoming Prius family, and the partnership with Tesla Motors gives the world's largest automaker a clear advantage over others.  But not everyone feels this way of course.  As such…

If you've ever taken an upgraded Toyota vehicle from the higher-end of our lineup for a test drive, chances are you noticed the crystal clear sound as you tested the radio or CD player.  That audio is powered by Toyota's top of the line speaker provider JBL Audio, makers of some of the best sounding speakers on the market.  Truth be told they aren't of the same price range as, for example…