Kia doesn’t offer any fancy parking-assist functionality, but all UVO-equipped vehicles do have the next best thing: a backup camera. It might seem silly that a car as small as the Soul would need a luxury we wish every soccer mom in a Tahoe would use to its full potential, and, to be honest, you could drive around in the Soul without one and never back into a trash can. However, given the limited rear visibility of Kia's Soul (and other new vehicles with more inventive designs), it's not a bad piece of technology to have.
The UVO package's camera is centered on the rear hatch, below the grab handle. It blends nicely with the back of the car, and it's not an eye sore by any stretch of the imagination. That's a nice touch compared to cameras mounted off-center, below “beauty-bar” grab handles.
The backup camera employs a wide-angle lens that reveals enough of what's going on behind the car (plus a little bit of the rear bumper) to ease the process of parallel parking and reversing out of tight spots. Triggering the camera happens automatically when the Soul's transmission is put into reverse. Surprisingly, the backup camera is very responsive, switching on before UVO completely boots up.
When the backup camera's view appears on the UVO display, three "zones" indicate how much room you have to maneuver the car. Green means go, yellow suggests that you're getting close, and red warns you to stop before love-tapping whatever's back there. You even receive a nice little warning to “Check your surroundings for safety.” We hope that means you shouldn't rely on the camera as your only backup aid. Look around before you pull out of a parking spot; that's the only way you're going to see another car approaching.
- Meet Kia's 2012 Soul Exclaim With Premium UVO
- Kia UVO: Powered by Freescale i.MX355
- UVO's 4.3-Inch Display
- UVO's Entertainment Features
- Talking And Texting Through UVO
- The Soul's Backup Camera
- Hands-On With Microsoft Tellme Speech Recognition
- Nice Little Touches
- Benchmark Results: Boot And Bluetooth
- Kia UVO: A Solid, No-Frills Infotainment System


I see what you did there kia, but as a reader of toms i would be much more interested in you inspecting the tech around more advanced systems in higher end cars
Genesis Coupe's are nice.
Come on ya'll should do a Morning or Matiz. Or heck review a tricked out Daewoo Damas, just for kicks.
Well, welcome to the party Ford and KIA.
Kia costs less up front, but WAY more in maintenance. Buy a Hyundai if you're looking for a quality car on the cheap. They don't fall apart on you like Kias do.
Can you select a playlist instead of an individual song? or is it too basic for that?
Unfortunately that's how all new cars are unless you get a convertible.
Well, welcome to the party Ford and KIA.
Vehicle manufacturers work on a longer development cycle. This stuff has to be planned at least 5-years before the product hits a production vehicle for QA and a lot more testing than aftermarket manufacturers.
5-years ago I had a Pioneer AVIC F700BT, and a F500BT a year later, it did all of that but the UI was awfully slow (ran Windows CE), extremely buggy but the Parrot Bluetooth wasn't too bad. All current factory systems are a major upgrade from older after market systems.
I'd say its about the size of a double DIN. A 7-inch touchscreen would have probably fit but then it would take up the entire space of the area leaving no room for buttons. The 4.3-inch is perfectly adequate for your music and media playback. If it had navigation, then yes a minimum 6-inch is a must IMO.
New 2013 Nissan Altima's are shipping with 7-inch displays with Intel Atom
Kia costs less up front, but WAY more in maintenance. Buy a Hyundai if you're looking for a quality car on the cheap. They don't fall apart on you like Kias do.
Not sure which Kia you had. The early Sephia's with the 1.8L are Mazda/Ford I4s. The current ones share the same powertrain as Hyundai. The 4-cylinder being used now, including the GDI Turbo is a global motor design shared with Mitsubishi and Chrysler. My uncle still has a second generation Rio that's running fine, granted he beat the crap out of it.
The new Rio 5 is a decent looker. I keep seeing them around town and they look decent.
I need to get another Kia in to do a quick test on texting. It seems that Windows Phone is the only platform that supports Bluetooth MAP so I just got a Lumia 900 from Microsoft for texting tests.
1. It gets fingerprints
2. It's more distracting than the alternatives
I like the Audi/BMW approach with a scrolling wheel/touchpad near the shifter. Much easier to use while driving and very intuitive. I hate navigating through touch screens.
1. It gets fingerprints
2. It's more distracting than the alternatives
I like the Audi/BMW approach with a scrolling wheel/touchpad near the shifter. Much easier to use while driving and very intuitive. I hate navigating through touch screens.
I don't mind it. I like that manufacturers offer multiple input methods. My personal preference is towards steering wheel controls, direct source buttons, volume knobs and good voice commands for navigation input. I only touch the screen if I have to. The Audi / BMW scroll wheel / touchpad is a really good / cool idea since it places it where your hand would normally be.
There are soooo many other Articles that need to be done than 'stuff' like this and/or women with size D videos are making me wonder WTH TH is thinking here?!
There are soooo many other Articles that need to be done than 'stuff' like this and/or women with size D videos are making me wonder WTH TH is thinking here?!
I only cover automotive technology so it doesn't affect the hardware articles at all. Nothing is being pushed aside for automotive coverage. We still have articles in the pipeline.
I think this is a bit overboard; and distracting. Most people are barely capable of keeping a straight line in traffic as it is.
Ever had the pleasure of backing up a Ferrari?
I did (not mine unfortunately; or fortunately...). And I never heard anyone complaining :-)
Due to roof supports there will always be some sort of 'dead spots' in the rear. But it is not an 18 wheeler (talk about back rear view). So if backing up a tiny 4 passenger city car poses a problem I buss pass may be a better and less expensive solution :-)
I did (not mine unfortunately; or fortunately...). And I never heard anyone complaining :-)
Due to roof supports there will always be some sort of 'dead spots' in the rear. But it is not an 18 wheeler (talk about back rear view). So if backing up a tiny 4 passenger city car poses a problem I buss pass may be a better and less expensive solution :-)
Backing up isn't the issue most of the time. Its avoiding small animals and children that like to get behind vehicles in the blind spots that are the problem and why cars have backup cameras.