Sony Vegas Pro 10 Stabilization

I've been making the switch from Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 to Sony Vegas Pro 10. Up until buying an AVCHD camcorder two years ago I had been using Premiere exclusively. However, the lack of AVCHD in CS3 and the initial buggy AVCHD support in CS4 prompted me to look for alternatives.

I tried out the trial version of Vegas Pro and found that it was rock solid editing AVCHD, had great export options, and seemed more modern than CS3 or CS4 because of its 64bit architecture support. More recently Vegas has improved their GPU acceleration and the UI has become more polished.

Anyway, since I don't have all night to write this. I wanted to focus on the cool image stabilization feature that isn't included in CS4.

I had some old very shaky handheld footage I shot at a friends wedding using a Hi-8 camcorder.

I searched the internet to see if there was anything I could do to fix it.

Turns out that Vegas Pro has an amazing video stabilization feature. Basically, you just select a clip and tell the software what kind of shakiness you want to remove (horizontal, vertical, etc.).

I've included the shot I stabilized. It literally took just a few seconds to correct.

Even if you don't have old shaky video footage I still highly recommend you try out Sony Vegas Pro Trial.

Vaistech VML (MultiMediaLinQ) Update

Just wanted to give an update on my last post about the Vais VML MultiMediaLinQ.

Over the last several months I've had a lot of different devices connected to it. I'm happy with the VML but I wasn't been able to find a storage device that works perfectly. All the mechanical USB drives I connected would occasionally go offline requiring me to unplug the USB cable to reset everything. Turns out those mechanical drives don't like speed bumps or cold weather. Who knew? Even thumb drives sometimes needed a reset (probably not due to speed bumps).

The most stable device has been the iPod which never needs a reset but the sound quality is degraded for some music. I'm not clear on technical reasons why that would happen but I suspect there is some issue in the conversion from digital to analog. I should mention that this is only true for my older 60GB iPod. Music from my iPhone sounds perfect. I would use my iPhone but I don't want to use up all the space on the device for music. I need to reserve space for taking photographs or videos of the kids. Also, I like to just start up the car and go so having to connect the iPhone is not ideal.

I've been waiting for a USB SSD solution to become available. I figured it was only a matter of time. I ended up getting the ADATA Nobility N002 USB 3.0/SSD 128 GB last week. Not really reasonably priced but it had all the features I wanted. If it didn't work well in the Lexus I wanted to be able to use it as a notebook or desktop drive. It has both a USB 3.0 and SATA II interface. It's packaged to work both internally and externally. It's got a USB port on the side so you can connect it to your laptop or desktop externally. It's also a normal 2.5 inch SSD so it would fit inside a notebook or desktop. Finally, it's a speedy SSD (meaning it's a really fast drive).

I loaded the ADATA up with 80GB of music and connected it to the VML. Tried to lower my expectations before I connected it to the VML USB port and waited for it to start up. In just a few seconds the music started.

After hours of driving (with some speed bumps) no resets have been required. I'm happy to report that the ADATA works perfectly with the VML.The VML also boots up quicker than it did with the mechanical USB drives, I think it may actually switch songs faster too.

(Update 12/13/2010: After more than 40 hours of driving the new ADATA drive is working perfectly. No resets required or any other problems to report.)

Google Gives TV Bugs (Google TV Review)

Television used to be a bug free zone. Now it's a computer science problem complete with bugs.

I was reading David Pogue's review of Google TV. Having recently purchased one I can say that he is spot on with many of his points. In general, the usability of the device needs a lot of work. It's not just surface stuff either, it's deep and pervasive from the controller to the GUI.

The pain starts with the initial setup. Why? Because it is exactly like doing a Windows OS install. Several updates and reboots with a full set of wizards to run through. The updates took an hour on my relatively fast Comcast cable connection. I understand the need for updates but why can't the device start up and play while doing the updates in the background? This is a TV right?

By adding new unneeded buttons and interface conventions somehow Google managed to make the controller (which is essentially a full keyword and mouse) more complicated than a keyboard and mouse. It's got buttons everywhere like it will eventually be some kind of joystick type device but it gives no joy now. After having it for a couple of weeks I still don't understand the difference between a left and right controller button click. I think this confusion stems from the fact that they "could" add more buttons to Android so they did. The designers shouldn't have let that freedom get the better of them. Android will be a much more compelling platform if it works the same everywhere.

Also, as Pogue points out the claim that you can browse the web while watching TV is a farce. The video goes in and out as you navigate through various modes. The video also blocks content on web pages and Google TV's menus. Why the video couldn't be transparent or movable I don't know. It's like Google couldn't figure out what people were really going to do with the device so they didn't know what should have priority. Is it a TV? Is it a web browser? Ideally, it would be a blend of both. Right now it's one or the other with the TV or the web browser just tacked on like some bad fashion accessory.

Another big negative for me and other Xfinity users is that you can not get Xfinity on demand videos from the web. Not sure if this is just a programing glitch or oversight. I can make up reasons for Hulu and the TV networks not liking Google TV (crazy conspiracy type theories) but I don't understand why Xfinity wouldn't work since I'm already paying for that.

Surprisingly, even with all usability issues, there is a lot for a nerd to like about Google TV. What I'm enjoying most is that it can play most of the content on my Windows Home Server, Netflix streaming (not the new slick interface on the PS3 so finding video takes longer), and the couch potato mode on Vimeo. I also love that Google TV has Picasa web albums access so you can turn your TV into a giant picture frame. It also connects to Pandora so your slide shows have nice background music.

I would buy it again because I like the video streaming options, picasa, pandora, and I was really curious about Andriod on TV. Would I recommend it? No. Well, maybe, if you already have a lot of content on your home network and you use Netflix streaming and you don't already have a PS3 connected to your TV and you're an engineer. However, there are a lot of other non-Google enhanced TVs that do the streaming video thing... so, no don't buy it. Really, it's hard to justify the cost tradeoff versus say something like 3D and 240Hz refresh rate.

Car Wash

What my 11 year old son thinks of washing the car

Recalled!

Valve Springs? What about the Navigation System? or the paint?

A Match Made in the Cloud

Is it just me or do Apple and Facebook seem like a perfect pairing?

Facebook has the web version of what should be the social bits of iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, and iTunes.

In iLife, Apple has the desktop tools to enhance the social web experience. Apple also has the hardware and OS to make Facebook a much more integrated experience for users. Based on what I've seen of Windows Phone 7 Microsoft has got the idea.

Facebook's advertising is just starting out. It would be a real winner combined with iTunes and Apple TV. Google is already going there.

Apple needs a cloud presence and Facebook already lives there. They should move in together.

Self Parking and Mark Levinson Audio

When I bought my LS460 the self parking and Mark Levinson audio options were bundled together. I wanted the audio but I didn't want the self parking so I decided against the whole package.

A few months later I regretted not getting the self parking just because so many people asked about it and wanted to see it demoed. I realized that it was an option that made the car special. It was also clear that both the marketing and the feature itself had captured people's imagination.

Now even though I wanted to have the option I still think that I wouldn't really use it. But I'm wondering what people that bought self parking have to say. Does anyone have something they can share? Do you use the self parking? Does it work? Is it just a gimmick?

Look Ma No Brain

More than 20 years ago I worked on an autonomous vehicle project. We had very little funding but managed to put something together that could follow roads, detect and avoid obstacles, and reach its target destination. Since that time I've known it would eventually be possible to replace a human driver with an automated system.

There have been a lot of advances since that time with the DARPA Challenges demonstrating progress this decade.

Honestly, I always thought it would be one of the big auto companies such as Ford, GM, Toyota, or Honda who would be the first to announce a significant real world demonstration. After all, they make cars, and they should have a lot of research dollars going towards automated driving. So I was a little shocked to read that Google is out on the roads with automated cars (probably for their "street view" application though they don't mention it in the blog post). Google is amazing! It's great that they see so many things as computer science problems.

On a side note, Honda does make cool dancing robots so maybe they can be excused for not working on car automation.

Who needs Lexus navigation when you can get a Google car that drives itself.

The future is here. I'm waiting for my flying car.

Adobe Flash Player Settings Bugs

It's become popular to use Adobe Flash cookies for tracking user behavior. Generally, this is a way for websites and analytics companies to get around your browser privacy settings. Why? Because Adobe Flash has its own privacy settings that are overlooked by most users.

You need to go to Adobe Flash Player Settings Manager to adjust your settings.

Personally, I don't mind normal browser cookies because they are easily removable, controllable, and well known by most normal users. Also, browser cookies are really useful for web applications to keep track of things such as your shopping cart and login status. However these Flash cookies are a different animal.

Check out this example called "Evercookie" which demonstrates creating a cookie that's very hard to delete. Is there really a valid purpose for this?

Anyway, I turn off all storage for Adobe Flash on my computer because I don't trust it. My internet connection is fast and I don't care if I need to download Flash components. Today I went to Fox News to hear their slant on Obama's handling of the financial crisis. I got this pop-up.

So I went to my Adobe Flash settings panel and checked the "never ask again" option. However, it doesn't accept my settings. The pop-up keeps popping up.

It's bugs like this that make me not trust Flash.

Anyway, small rant for a small but annoying problem. Nothing to do with navigation systems.

The Pursuit of Usability

Someday...

I want a navigation system that listens to me while I'm driving. One that can listen in on my cell phone or in car conversation and when someone mentions an address or phone number it queues it up ready to be used in some hands free friendly way. One were someone can text me an address and then I can tell the car to go there.

I want a navigation system that learns about my travel patterns. Forgetting privacy for a bit, I want a navigation system to remember where I go everyday. Once it knows where I usually go it can guess where I'm about to go. It can scan ahead for traffic and warn me before I hit it. It can tell me about alternate routes. It can make suggestions for changes in my travel routine to save gas or time.

I want a navigation system that's social. I want to be able share what I'm doing on the road with family and friends. I want it to tell me what music are other people listening to on this road. I want it to tell me what restaurants people I know like in this area.

I want a navigation system that cares about me. I want it be able to layer map data such as collision rate, fatalities, average speed, etc. Then tell me that we're on a dangerous road.

I want a navigation system that makes my car smart enough to aid me in my travels.

A Blemish On My Soul

My Lexus just turned two years old. We've had a good two years together. Even though I can't use the navigation system I've always taken comfort in the fact that the rest of the car is pretty much perfect. However that all changed a month ago when we went to the car wash.

I was sitting on my usual spot watching the cars go through the giant blow dryer. I saw my black Lexus come out of the big car washing machine. One of the car wash boss guys was looking at my car. He pointed to one of other workers, then to my car, then made a motion indicating that the car needed a redo. So my car went through the wash again.

The second time through I looked closer at my car and noticed that some of the spots on the car didn't come off. Oh the horror.

A Spot Where the Lexus Paint is Etched

At home I got out the polish and  worked on the spots. I got most off. But a few remained. Check out one them in the photo. On a side note, it's surprisingly hard to get a good picture of paint up close. It's a lot like a mirror.

I realize that I got something on my car that caused the problem but it wasn't anything that I noticed in between washes. That is, it wasn't bird droppings.

Anyway, so there it is, I have a few blemishes on my relatively new Lexus paint job. Also, since I had Perma Plate put on I wonder if that stuff actually does anything? Anyone else have a fragile black 2008 Lexus paint job?

Google Instant or Predicted Queries - Not Quite There Yet

I doubt you could have missed the Google search interface change today. I like the feel of it and appreciate that they are really using my broadband connection. Hooray! I wonder if Comcast is cheering about the additional bandwidth usage?

The New York Times said "it's as if [Google] is reading your mind." I don't agree with that. To me it's more like Google is telling me what other people are thinking.

Google says the new interface is speeding up your search activity. Maybe. Google is definitely speeding up the rate at which they can show me ads. That's probably the bigger deal for the company. As a shareholder I hope other investors think the same way.

Even though I like it and despite all the hoopla, it's an incremental improvement versus the automatic query form filling they were doing yesterday. I'm disappointed because the change is so small. What I would have liked to see is Google going further and predicting what my next search queries will be based on the current one. Perhaps even predicting where my "search path" will end. They already have that information too based on the search logs of the billions of other people who use Google. Googlers are you listening? The "I'm Feeling Lucky" button could be so much more cool. Am I the only one thinking this? Let me Google that.

Is everything just an iPhone with a different case?

I was watching the Apple WWDC keynote today. I'm a little behind on my Apple following.

Jobs was busy explaining all the new cool features in the iPhone 4: Gyroscope, front facing camera, HD video recording, video editing, glass back, better antennas, etc.

Day Two (6/25/2010): People are still waiting for iPhone 4

As I was listening I started thinking about my Sony HD camcorder and how its days are numbered. If Apple decided to come out with an iOS camcorder it would blow away any consumer camcorder device Sony has in its lineup. All Apple would need is a nice lens with optical zoom,  a good video camera case design, and good button layout. The rest they already have, the gyroscope for image stabilization, GPS, true in camera editing, connection to the internet, awesome video and image management interface, application platform (think of what third parties might do), etc. etc. All this stuff would leave Sony and every other camcorder maker in the dust and I doubt they could catch up... ever.

The iPhone is driving Apple to make the Swiss Army Knife of electronic gadgets. A device that can do it all. The thing is, it's also making the best in class tool for each category. There isn't another camcorder on the planet that has the power of iMovie built in or the simple touch interface that iPhone has.

The convergence of functionality around iOS is really powerful. The only thing limiting it is that the iPhone platform is meant to be a jack of all trades like the Swiss Army Knife. Sometimes you need or want the full-size version of the tools. Apple should use what it has done in the iPhone to make best in class single purpose consumer devices such as camcorders.

Ohh the possibilities...

I wish they would also build some automotive products such as a navigation system for Lexus.

Semi-Touch Versus Multi-Touch

Lexus Navigation has what I'd call a semi-touch interface. That's one where some of the interaction happens on the touch screen and some happens with buttons or controls off the touch screen.

Semi-touch isn't bad or good. It just means that you have some fixed interface elements.

When you design one of these types of systems you want to make things people do all the time easy to get to. You also want those things quickly accessible to avoid having the driver get distracted.  In the Lexus design they also want to be able to completely or partially disable functionality while still giving you a button to press that makes you feel like you're doing something.

The Lexus Navigation system has eight button-like objects around the screen. Design-wise that's probably good because the buttons aren't too big or too small. Seven of the buttons are functional. One of the buttons isn't really a button even though it looks like it. It's labeled "Passenger." Sometimes I press the "Passenger" button when someone is riding with me but nothing ever happens.

Many of the other buttons seem mislabeled to me. For example, to make a phone call I press the "Info" button. "Disp" is short for display I think. Why not just call it "Display"? They were able to fit the label "Passenger" on the fake button. Then there is the "Menu" button which is all about system configuration.

Anyway, of the seven real buttons I use only three: Audio, Info, and Map. I suppose the Climate button could be useful but I'm happy enough with the other temperature control buttons.

I don't find having more buttons helps with using the system at all. In fact, the seven buttons made learning the system more difficult. What happens is that you end up reading the manual because you think that phone calling would be somewhere under "Audio" or "Menu." Surprisingly, having to poke around seven separate trees of commands using mislabeled buttons doesn't make things easier or quicker.

The Lexus Navigation System has its own separate 345 page manual. That's more pages than the first Harry Potter book! Skimming through it I see that the system has a lot of hidden functionality. Mostly stuff that I'm not going to use because I won't spend the days or weeks required to learn all the features. Also, since I have to be parked to operate the Lexus Navigation System I have very little time to play with it. Google's Nexus One phone didn't even need a manual and it's capable of much more than the Lexus Navigation System.

Lexus Park Assist Test

A Day Late, A Dollar Short

One the features I like about the Lexus navigation system is the traffic display. However, it has shortcomings. It's never helped me to avoid traffic problems. Usually it tells me about traffic problems after I'm already stuck. I hear the same complaint from other Lexus and Toyota owners with the satellite traffic option. Oh wait, dare I mention that the Toyota and Lexus systems are exactly the same?

The Right of Entitlement

Blossom and I were having lunch today. As we were leaving we saw a colleague of ours standing in front of the Apple Store chatting with someone. We stopped to say hello.  While we were talking it occurred to me that our  colleague already had his iPad even though he wasn't carrying it with him. He's one of those guys that has everything. The odd part is that it just seems right that he has everything. As we left he confirmed my suspicion.

Anyway, that got me thinking about why I'm upset about the navigation system. Buying the Lexus I had high hopes that I would get everything I paid for, everything that I wanted in a car, but I was let down. Yes there are hacks to fix motion lock on the navigation system. Yes, I can probably buy lots of things to fix the other shortcomings. But shouldn't I be entitled to something nice? Don't we all deserve something that makes us a little happier?

VAIS Technology VML (MultiMediaLinQ) to the Rescue

About a month ago I had a VAIS Technology VML (MultiMediaLinQ) installed in my Lexus. The VAISTech device adds a USB interface to Generation 5 Lexus Navigation systems like mine. The USB interface allows you to hook up an iPod, iPhone, iPad (haven't actually tried it yet), other random portable music player, or USB disk drive to your Lexus audio system.

I ordered it through the dealer and had them do the install. I was too lazy to pull out the navigation system on my own. Having the dealer do the install basically doubled the cost. On the plus side, they did a great job and after a few weeks of waiting for the parts and a four hour install I now have a cool USB port in my center console.

For the first week I had my iPod connected. This worked great. I used iTunes to manage playlists which show up as MP3 CD Folders on the Lexus Navigation interface. I could use all the normal steering wheel mounted controls to switch songs etc. I was pretty happy except that I was limited by the size of my iPod disk and I didn't want to upgrade. I also noticed a few sound issues. Some songs with a wide dynamic range were having their audio clipped.

I switched to using a 2.5" notebook drive I had laying around. The advantage of using the notebook drive is that it has more capacity than my iPod, primary drive partitions show up as CDs, I can use FLAC for my favorite music, I can organize files with or without iTunes, and I can hear the sound without distortion introduced by the iPod.

So far I'm sticking with the USB disk approach. Though I think I may be open to having passengers connect their iPods. I still use iTunes to create Genius playlists (just like Pandora but with your music library). I also use Playlist Creator to manage m3u playlists that the VAIS VML supports.

The VML isn't without quirks. Managing music on a USB disk drive requires that you manually update playlists or that you delete cached data in the multimedialinq folder on the USB disk partition. You only need to do this when you're adding or deleting music or playlists. It's manual because there is no desktop software for managing USB disks. I also had some issues with the USB port not providing enough power for a big disk. I connected a 1TB Seagate FreeAgent Go drive. It worked but occasionally went offline. I was able to get it working reliably by adding power from a car charger USB port. And speaking of large disk drives, the VML requires FAT32 which really isn't ideal for 1TB drives. And because FAT32 isn't supported in the Windows 7 GUI disk management tools it is hard to prep the drive. Finally, VAIS provides firmware updates through a secure FTP site. Which is a bit weird because you have to email a request for access. That said, once you get access you can download updates that provide new functionality and improvements. Try getting an update for Lexus components without a forced recall in effect. Overall, even with the quirks the VML is still pretty cool.

At this point, all my music is in the car. I can't readily access a specific song because the Lexus user interface locks down while the car is moving, and apparently the user interface is not extensible by third parties (why not?), but at least it's easy to scan through and play my music library for my occasional hour long commute.

The Devil Made Me Do It

I bought a VAIS technology MediaLinQ instead of buying a new car. More on that later.

iPad Mania

With the release of iPad coming in a couple of days we were discussing potentially cool applications. Mostly we were trying to think of the equivalent of the iPad Snuggie. We definitely have productive lunch time conversations.

One thing that came up was the idea of using an iPad in your car. iPad has great turn by turn navigation powered by TomTom and maybe someday Google will port their Andriod navigation. You can have all your music loaded or available through "Pandora." You can even watch movies on an awesome screen.

The only problem with the iPad solution is that you'd need to attach it with a huge wad of duct tape, crazy glue, or some suction cup and cradle thing available at Best Buy or your local Apple store. Then you would need to worry that every time you parked your car someone would break your window and rip it off. It's too big to hide or take with you all the time.

Thieves wouldn't bother if it was hooked into your car more permanently, was paired to only worked with your car, or some other security mechanism that made it not worth reselling. These are things that a car manufacturer could do.

I really hope that Apple is working with some car manufacturer to bring us the iAuto.

A Kitchen with a View

A friend invited me over for lunch yesterday.  She has a beautiful house located somewhere in a maze of twisty roads. I hadn't been there in a few years. Perfect chance to use my navigation.

At lunch time I got to my Lexus with no extra time. I rushed to enter the address into the navigation system before starting to drive. As you know, the Lexus navigation system locks down while the car is moving so addresses must be entered before driving. I started the car and entered the address. Street number, Street Name... and then ding. It didn't like my street number. The error was that the street number wasn't in the database. In my wife's Acura the navigation system shows you valid number ranges while you type. Sadly this doesn't happen with Lexus. I pulled out my iPhone and got the right number. Had to re-enter all the data. Finally, the address was accepted. I had now spent about 5 minutes with my car idling.

Next the system asks if I want to "replace" or "add" the destination. I understand that some people have multiple destinations but really how many people is that? I would never have time to enter multiple addresses into the system. One time I hit "add" and boy that was a mistake. The system entered into a hellish multiple destination mode that I couldn't figure out how to cancel out of. It was one of those "OMG what is this thing doing?" moments.

To me "add" sounds more friendly than "replace." In computer speak "replace" means delete something. It might do something like swap out one of my saved destinations. Naturally I'm afraid of commands like replace. In this case, I think "replace" is the right thing to do though. So I reluctantly use it.

Next I have to press "guide." There are other options like "route" and things that I can't remember now. I know to press guide because I've pressed all the other options before and they didn't do what I wanted.

Anyway, so now I'm on my way. The system is saying "continue to follow the road..." However, I don't actually need the navigation now. So I hit menu and "suspend guidance."

When I get near the start of the maze I hit menu and "resume guidance" to start the guidance again. It does help me find her house. I get there  late.

I wonder if using my iPhone navigation would have been faster.

New Screen, Same Old Layout

I think what happened is that when Lexus updated the navigation screen to giant size they forgot to update all the software to use the new giant screen. The result is that a lot of the giant screen is wasted. I'd be happy if it had a cool desktop theme but we don't even get that.

Love You, Mean It

Today I stopped at a drive-thru to get some food. The cashier said he loved my car. I said thanks and discussed Lexus for a minute or two with him. He had a '94 ES and loved it too.

I left thinking about how the Lexus brand inspired love. Mechanically solid, reliable, and luxurious are good traits. Back in 1994 that's all there was to think about. High-tech electronics in a car was a CD changer.

Today you get Bluetooth, USB, voice recognition, self-parking, radar cruise control, etc. All these things are computer controlled and require significant investment in usability design to make them luxury items. Look at Apple to see how good design turns ordinary electronics into luxury items. The problem with Lexus today is that the brand can't or won't put the effort it needs into the design of the electronics to make them luxury components. I'm talking about the poor user interface, and lack of true support and upgradability.

Let me elaborate on the upgradability issue. My car can't completely work with my iPhone and it never will. If I get another bluetooth phone it may not work at all. The car is only a year old! Worse, Lexus will never offer an upgrade to make the systems work with my iPhone. I'm stuck with the system "as is" even though much of it is controlled by firmware that can be reprogrammed or components that could be replaced. Lexus owes it to their customers to support their products for a few years after sale with meaningful software upgrades to address usability issues and add support for new devices such as mobile phones.

A lot of people are complaining about how they can't input locations into the navigation system while the car is moving. That's really just the tip of the iceberg. The whole system including music control locks down while the car is moving. It's really very frustrating. Also, sadly, not something that's easy to properly assess during test drives. It takes an hour long commute with crippled electronics to really feel the pain.

I bought a new Lexus with a navigation system over a year ago and I've only used the navigation system three times. Each time I used it I was disappointed in how hard it was to make it work. Honestly, I paid a lot for this car and its electronics and  I didn't get what I paid for.

I don't hate everything. We use the navigation system on my wife's Acura all the time. Even when we don't need it the kids love to see it count down the miles to our destination. It's simple, always available, and it's a joy to use.

It's easy to say you love your customers. Lexus says they love us but they don't really mean it.

Occam's Razor

Lexus navigation system won't sync contacts with the iPhone. If you want to transfer a lot of contacts your best option is to buy or borrow a phone that will work such as a Motorola Razor. Why can't car electronics systems have meaningful software updates? We pay thousands of dollars for them but they're essentially obsolete before we drive them off the lot. Even my TV and blu-ray player have software updates for better menus and HDMI support! Why do we put up with this from auto makers?

Bring Back the 8-Track

Got a hundred songs on an MP3 disk? Good luck playing it on a Lexus. Lexus doesn't let you see folders or songs on the disk while driving so you can only seek up or down one song at a time. Why have a giant LCD touchscreen and music interface that only works while parked?

Dial "F" for Frustration

Lexus navigation system takes two talk button presses, two spoken phrases, and one off hook button press to start a phone call. Voice commands are more effort and more distracting than dialing a phone number. Is this a check box feature or just a cruel joke? Oh and by the way, Lexus won't let you dial a phone number while driving.

We Don't Need No Stinking Navigation

The Lexus navigation system doesn't let you enter new locations while driving. Safe if you're driving alone but why can't passengers enter locations? I think the guys that design these Lexus interfaces must buy Ford cars for themselves.

It's the Little Things

Lexus navigation system "CD Details Screen" goes blank when your car is moving. You can't see any information on the screen. Why don't they want you to know what song is playing?