Technology features in modern vehicles can make driving easier and more enjoyable. But when buying your next car, it can be hard to know which features are useful and which ones are more like gimmicks. And many times, these features are only available on certain trim levels. To help you out, Edmunds’ car experts have come up with a list of their top four features and offer insight on how to get them.
Most modern vehicles come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These features allow you to display and use many of your smartphone’s apps and features on the vehicle’s touchscreen. Typically, you’ll need to connect your phone with a USB cord to make Apple CarPlay and Android Auto work. But some vehicles also support wireless connectivity. A wireless connection allows you to pair your phone and stop fussing around with a cord every time you get in to drive.
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This photo provided by Edmunds shows a rear cross-traffic warning alert in a Kia Optima. These systems typically indicate the direction in which vehicles are approaching. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
This photo provided by Edmunds shows an adaptive cruise system operating on a Tesla Model 3. Adaptive cruise holds a constant speed and can also slow or accelerate the vehicle. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
This photo provided by Edmunds shows a surround-view camera display in a Ford F-150. Multiple camera views are stitched together to create a virtual top-down view that makes parking much easier. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
This photo provided by Edmunds shows an Apple iPhone connected wirelessly to a BMW i5 through an Apple CarPlay interface. The iPhone is also placed on a wireless charging pad. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
To make the most of it, buy a vehicle that also has a built-in wireless phone charger. Having a wireless charger fully cuts out the need for a cord. The charging pad also serves as a dedicated location for your phone, which isn’t a certainty in every car.
How to get it: Research if the vehicle you’re interested in supports wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Most vehicles either have it or they don’t, though a few do offer it as part of an upgraded infotainment system. A wireless smartphone charger is commonly an option or one of the extra features that come on a more expensive trim level.
A surround-view camera, also known as a 360-degree camera, uses an array of cameras placed in different locations on the vehicle to create a stitched-together image on the infotainment screen. The view, which looks like it’s made by a single camera hovering above the vehicle, is as amazing as it is helpful.
A surround-view camera system is helpful to have when you’re in a tight parking lot or when you’re parallel parking. The top-down view makes it a lot easier to park perfectly between the lines or be the right distance from the curb. The most helpful camera systems also come with parking sensors that provide auditory or visual feedback to indicate how far away you are from an obstacle.
How to get it: A surround-view camera system usually comes on a more expensive trim level or as part of an optional package.
If you frequently navigate stop-and-go traffic on the highway, adaptive cruise control can provide helpful relief from traffic fatigue. Like regular cruise control, it allows you to set a speed that the vehicle will maintain. In addition, adaptive cruise control can automatically slow your vehicle when it senses a slower vehicle ahead and then accelerate back up to your set speed when traffic is moving again. These systems allow you to set the following distance behind the vehicle in front as well.
Some versions of adaptive cruise can bring your vehicle to a complete stop, shrinking the following distance as speeds decrease. Adaptive cruise will then return your vehicle to a preset speed as traffic begins to move again. And it all happens without touching any pedals.
How to get it: Adaptive cruise is often standard equipment on many new vehicles, even inexpensive ones.
How many times have you backed out of a parking spot or driveway, unable to see if there’s a vehicle bearing down on you from the side? It’s a too common scenario that a rear cross-traffic warning system often solves brilliantly. Sensors at the back of the vehicle can sense what’s coming before you can and sound or display an alert warning that a vehicle is approaching.
These systems usually alert you soon enough that you’ll have time to press on the brake and stop. Some vehicles also can also automatically apply the brakes if the driver doesn’t react in time.
How to get it: Rear cross-traffic warning typically comes bundled with blind-spot warning because the two features rely on the same sensors and technology. The two features aren’t always standard equipment, however.
Edmunds editors find these features to be the most beneficial for adding a layer of protection without intruding obtrusively on the driving experience. It’s worth researching how to get these features on your next vehicle.
This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.
Josh Jacquot is a contributor at Edmunds.
This photo provided by Edmunds shows a rear cross-traffic warning alert in a Kia Optima. These systems typically indicate the direction in which vehicles are approaching. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
This photo provided by Edmunds shows an adaptive cruise system operating on a Tesla Model 3. Adaptive cruise holds a constant speed and can also slow or accelerate the vehicle. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
This photo provided by Edmunds shows a surround-view camera display in a Ford F-150. Multiple camera views are stitched together to create a virtual top-down view that makes parking much easier. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
This photo provided by Edmunds shows an Apple iPhone connected wirelessly to a BMW i5 through an Apple CarPlay interface. The iPhone is also placed on a wireless charging pad. (Courtesy of Edmunds via AP)
SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Fighting raged Saturday morning along the border of Thailand and Cambodia, even after U.S. President Donald Trump, acting as a mediator, declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a new ceasefire.
Thai officials said they did not agree to a ceasefire. Cambodia has not commented directly on Trump’s claim, but its defense ministry said Thai jets carried out airstrikes Saturday morning.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Saturday that some of Trump's remarks didn't “reflect an accurate understanding of the situation.”
He said Trump’s characterization of a land mine explosion that wounded Thai soldiers as a “roadside accident” was inaccurate, and did not reflect Thailand's position that it was a deliberate act of aggression.
Sihasak said that Trump’s willingness to credit what may be “information from sources that deliberately distorted the facts” instead of believing Thailand hurt the feelings of the Thai people “because we consider ourselves — we are proud, in fact — to be the oldest treaty ally of the United States in the region.”
The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on Dec. 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July over longstanding territorial disputes.
The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
More than two dozen people on both sides of the border have officially been reported killed in this past week’s fighting, while more than half a million have been displaced.
The Thai military acknowledged 15 of its troops died during the fighting, and estimated earlier this week that there have been 165 fatalities among Cambodian soldiers. Cambodia has not announced military casualties, but has said at least 11 civilians have been killed and more than six dozen wounded.
Trump, after speaking to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, announced on Friday an agreement to restart the ceasefire.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
Trump’s claim came after midnight in Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Anutin had, after his call with Trump, said he had explained Thailand’s reasons for fighting and said peace would depend on Cambodia ceasing its attacks first.
The Thai foreign ministry later explicitly disputed Trump’s claim that a ceasefire had been reached. Anutin's busy day on Friday included dissolving Parliament, so new elections could be held early next year.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, in comments posted early Saturday morning, also made no mention of a ceasefire.
Hun Manet said he held phone conversations on Friday night with Trump, and a night earlier with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and thanked both “for their continuous efforts to achieve a long-lasting peace between Cambodia and Thailand.”
“Cambodia is ready to cooperate in any way that is needed," Hun Manet wrote.
Anwar later posted on social media that he was urging the two sides to implement a ceasefire on Saturday night. Cambodia's prime minister, also posting online, endorsed the initiative, which included having Malaysia and the United States help monitor it. However, Thai Prime Minister Anutin denied that his country was even in negotiations over the proposal.
Thailand has been carrying out airstrikes on what it says are strictly military targets, while Cambodia has been firing thousands of medium-range BM-21 rockets that have caused havoc but relatively few casualties.
BM-21 rocket launchers can fire up to 40 rockets at a time with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles). These rockets cannot be precisely targeted and have landed largely in areas from where most people have already been evacuated.
However, the Thai army announced Saturday that BM-21 rockets had hit a civilian area in Sisaket province, seriously injuring two civilians who had heard warning sirens and had been running toward a bunker for safety.
Thailand's navy was also reported by both sides' militaries to have joined the fighting on Saturday morning, with a warship in the Gulf of Thailand shelling Cambodia's southwestern province of Koh Kong. Each side said the other opened fire first.
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Peck reported from Bangkok. Sopheng Cheang in Serei Saophoan, Cambodia, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
A man sits in a tent as he takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
An evacuee cooks soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
An evacuee tastes soup as she takes refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing from home following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees cook food as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Children raise their hands while receiving donation from charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Evacuees wait to receive donation from local charity as they take refuge in Banteay Menchey provincial town, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after fleeing homes following fighting between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Village security volunteers and resident run into shelter while the blasts sounded too close in Buriram province, Thailand, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, following renewed border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
