LAS VEGAS--Ford CEO Alan Mulally says tech geeks will feel right at home in Ford cars.
Mulally delivered the Thursday morning keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, where he said "smart technology" such as access to smartphones and fuel efficiency are core to Ford's strategy.
"Green technology and smart innovation are helping us serve our customers and differentiate Ford," Mulally said.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally giving a keynote address Thursday morning at CES in Las Vegas.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)He started his talk noting the surge in usage of online applications like Twitter and Facebook in the past year. Ford's Sync software allows drivers to access these applications through smartphones using Sync's voice activation features.
"Fortunately, the connectivity that Ford chose has proven to be right because it has the ability to accommodate change...and connectivity through a mobile phone," he said.
Mulally said Ford plans to extend its pilot program, in which Best Buy will help Ford drivers become familiar
... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blogCertain Kia car owners will soon be able to play music and make phone calls, all by just the sound of their voice.
Kia Motors' new infotainment system "Uvo powered by Microsoft" will let car owners access its key features by voice as well as by touch. With an assist from Microsoft speech technology and an embedded version of Windows, Uvo will help drivers and passengers make and answer phone calls, respond to text messages, and play music from different sources, said Kia.
Using Microsoft's voice recognition, car owners will be able to direct the system by issuing short voice commands rather searching through complex menus, said Kia. Drivers and passengers can scroll through their music lists and phone books by voice or via the touch screen.
For greater accuracy, speech recognition profiles can be created and trained for two different voices from among a variety of languages. The system can even respond to questions, such as "What's playing?" so that drivers don't have to fumble or take their eyes off the road.
... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
Ford announced today that the next version of Sync will turn cars into rolling Wi-Fi hot spots. The user will have to supply an Internet connection in the form of a USB wireless Internet modem, which will plug into Sync's USB port in the car. Ford will add Wi-Fi hardware to Sync, setting up the car as a rolling network. The WiFi network will use WPA2 security to keep out leechers.
As current Sync-equipped cars only have one USB port, using a USB modem would eliminate the possibility of playing music through that port. Ford may have to consider adding extra USB ports to its cars.
Ford did not announce a date when this new version of Sync would come out, and also said it would be available on "select Sync-equipped vehicles," suggesting it may be limited to specific models.
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Audi)
Audi's flagship A8 luxury sedan is the company's technological tour de force, and the company says its 2011 iteration will sport handwriting recognition among its many features.
The feature will be supported in the vehicle's Multi Media Interface, or MMI--effectively the navigation/media unit in the car's console. It allows the user to write the destination in freehand and then use the touch screen to manipulate the directions as necessary.
Read more of "2011 Audi A8 adds handwriting recognition to in-car UI" at ZDNet's The ToyBox.
After driving hundreds of cars to evaluate automotive technology, we've settled on our top 5 car technologies. Amongst the many, many features different automakers are making available, these are the ones we've found the most essential for everyday use. Some of these technologies can be found on most new cars today, while others are rarer, only offered by a few automakers. Some of these technologies will keep you and others safer, some will save you money, and some will just keep you happy.
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Tag Heuer)
If you like fast cars, you might get revved up by the Meridiist phone from luxury sports watch maker Tag Heuer. The company has teamed with Italian super sports car manufacturer Lamborghini to create the limited-edition phone, which flashes fancy dual LCD displays made from 60.5 carats of scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.
The phone's design references the Lamborghini Murcielago down to its signature on the battery cover--the same one as on the Murcielago LP 640's V12 engine block. The device has a hand-brushed stainless steel case and backlit mechanical stainless steel keypad customized with Automobili Lamborghini's trademark Taurus bull on the steel central button.
The Meridiist measures about 4.5 inches by 1.8 inches by a little more than half an inch, giving it something of a 2002 aesthetic, but it does boast above-average battery life--seven hours of talk time or 28 days of standby power. Otherwise it has standard specs, like a WAP 2.0 Web browser and a 2-megapixel camera.
In tribute to the year Automobili Lamborghini was founded, 1,963 of the quad-band Bluetooth phones will be sold worldwide.
You can reserve a Meridiist in different colors of real leather or alligator skin, but the fact that we're not seeing a price listed anywhere on the Tag Heuer site makes us think we're better off sticking with our Ford Explorer handset.
Garmin's great success with its Nuvi line of portable GPS devices lead the company to try and extend its market into cell phones. And with numerous smartphones encroaching into navigation, it's not surprising that Garmin is trying to fight back. After a couple of years waiting for the Nuvifone to come out, CNET's Bonnie Cha got a hold of one. We expect good performance as a navigation device, but how wil it handle the smartphone side of the equation?
This mobile office concept is probably better appointed than your actual office.
(Credit: Brabus)
Can you believe Brabus stuffed a conference room in here?
(Credit: Brabus)The office pictured above is fairly awesome. What's even more awesome is that it's a mobile office, located in the back of a van. The Brabus "Business Light" Concept for the Mercedes-Benz Viano is, besides a ridiculously long title, "the perfect partner for leisure and business with custom interior options, powerful engine tuning, exclusive exterior design and custom-tailored wheels," according to Brabus' own press release.
Of course, the Business Light features the requisite wheel, suspension, and aero/aesthetic upgrades over the stock Viano. Under the hood breathes a 6.1-liter V-8 engine that outputs 458 pound-feet of torque and 426 horsepower, which thrusts the van to 62 mph in 5.9 seconds and onward to an electronically limited 155 mph. This is Brabus, so we expect that sort of thing.
But any van enthusiast knows that it's what happens in the back that counts, and the Business Light doesn't disappoint in this respect.
The huge cabin features upholstery that's custom-tailored in leather and Alcantara to the individual customer's request. The rear compartment of the Viano can be transformed into a movie theater or concert hall on wheels, complete with state-of-the-art multimedia equipment, but in the case of the Business Light, Brabus has chosen to build a mobile office.
Yo dawg, I heard you like work. So, we put an office in your car, so you can work on your way to, err, work.
(Credit: Brabus)First, Brabus installed four power seats in a conference configuration to turn the van into a mobile conference room and a fully functional office on wheels. Next, two motorized 15-inch LCD screens were integrated into the headliner and a large LCD television was integrated into the wall dividing the driver from the passenger compartment. These displays are connected to a DVD changer and a digital DVBT TV tuner.
The final bit of tech is a docking notebook computer that connects to the Internet via UMTS. In-vehicle Wi-Fi allows for the use of multiple computers on either fold out trays or an optional burled-walnut conference table. Storage areas for file folders and office materials are integrated throughout the rear compartment, as are cup holders and a built-in espresso machine (yum!).
Like any epic van, custom-tailored rear curtains provide privacy for the occupants.
All that's missing is an "If this van's a-rockin'..." bumper sticker.
A story on NPR covered this British high-school-produced public service announcement on the perils of texting while driving. The video shows the gory aftermath of an accident caused by text-messaging distraction, and makes it clear that people other than the texter suffered the most. According to the NPR story, only 14 of the United States have outlawed texting while driving. And while many people who do text while driving will probably ignore statistics and videos like this one, it at least might get the attention of more state lawmakers.
The problem is partially that we have trained ourselves, like Pavlov's dog, to respond to the buzzing and beepings of our cell phones, and it seems hard to resist the urge to glance at the screen when a text comes in. But it shouldn't take much of an act of will power to wait, and read the text when the car is parked. People who can't handle that wait are most likely just insecure, afraid that their friends will disown them if they don't respond to text messages immediately.
iSuppli correlates tech availabality with the top 10 Cash for Clunkers cars.
(Credit: iSuppli Corporation)A study by iSuppli Corporation shows that the top 10 cars being bought with Cash for Clunkers vouchers offer tech features such as GPS navigation, Bluetooth phone systems, satellite radio, and iPod integration. However, in iSuppli's automotive tech rating system, the average score for these 10 cars, 14.6, falls below the tech average for all cars available, 17.8 according to iSuppli. The Ford Focus tops the list, and sets the tone for the rest, which are all relatively inexpensive and economical vehicles.
The Ford Focus is the best-selling car under Cash for Clunkers.
(Credit: CNET)The iSuppli report notes that none of these cars offer driver assistance technologies, such as adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, and lane departure warning. Automakers are still reserving those options for higher-end cars. The report also notes that three of the cars in the top 10 offer Bluetooth audio streaming, while only two offer a telematics service.
There seem to be a few discrepancies with iSuppli's numbers, such as the Ford Focus only scoring a 10 for its infotainment rating, while the Chevy Cobalt scores a 14. Neither car offers a navigation option, and the Focus includes a USB interface, lacking in the Cobalt. However, the Cobalt's OnStar system gives it a significant edge in the iSuppli rating.
On a positive note for the environmental impact of Cash for Clunkers, iSuppli quotes U.S. Department of Transportation statistics that show cars bought under the program have an average fuel efficiency of 25.3 mpg, while the clunkers traded in had an average of 15.8 mpg. That's a 60 percent improvement in fuel economy, and probably much more, considering that these older cars probably no longer get their EPA mileage.
