Vodafone has announced that Indian electric vehicle manufacturer Mahindra Reva is incorporating machine-to-machine technology into its recently-launched e2o electric car.

Customers can use a smartphone app to check their car’s battery charge, control the air conditioning and lock or unlock doors. The car will also send its owner an alert if the parking brake is left off or a door is unlocked.

A fifth of all consumer vehicles in North America and Western Europe - around 90 million cars - are expected to have app-capable multimedia systems by 2017, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

This growth is expected to be driven by increased smartphone penetration and improvements to in-car entertainment units.

Israeli telecoms company Accel Telecom has launched what it’s described as the ‘first standalone connected car smartphone’ at Mobile World Congress.

The company’s VOYAGER device can be installed in any car and requires its own SIM card, enabling it to be used with an existing phone number on networks that offer ‘multi-SIM’ working.

Location-sharing service Glympse, which enables users to share their location for a limited time, has launched an in-car voice-activated option using the Ford SYNC AppLink. It means that drivers can send their real-time location to friends and colleagues using voice commands.

Customers simply connect their iOS or Android smartphone to the Ford Sync system via Bluetooth or USB lead.

Mark Bridge writes:

I’ve recently been talking to Theo Neumann from Wolverhampton City Radio about the top ten gadgets that are likely to hit the headlines in 2013. The most desirable, most likely to be talked about, most exciting… that kind of thing. Although my top 10 list isn’t entirely mobile-related, I thought it was worth sharing here.