In-car entertainment

The Escape SUV gets a radical model update for 2013. The car goes from a boxy small truck to a modern crossover in one swoop, and it takes a wide variety of engineers to get all the details right.

CNET talked to Ford acoustic engineer Christine Templin, who is currently working on tuning the audio reproduction of the 2013 Ford Escape's stereo system.

The new model will be available with three different audio systems. Starting at the bottom is a six-speaker system with four door-mounted mid/woofers and two tweeters mounted on the car's A pillars. Next up … Read more

Ford is making it easier for a lot of its drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.

The auto manufacturer announced yesterday that it will make its industry-leading Sync voice-activation system standard on all trim levels of the 2013 Ford Fusion sedan and and Flex crossover. Sync is Ford's hands-free system for making calls or accessing the audio system. When used with Sync Services, which is free for the first three years and $60 per year thereafter, drivers can use voice commands to get turn-by-turn directions or listen to news headlines, sports … Read more

Darkside, a big truck, kept on my tail, repeatedly smashing into my Mustang until I found the handbrake button on the PS3 controller.

Pulling 180s, I used my car's better maneuverability to bring machine gun and rockets to bear on the big truck. This was my first taste of the new Twisted Metal game, which Sony is bringing out for the PlayStation 3.

Sony hosted a launch event in San Francisco for the new game, in a venue that included automotive set pieces and two characters from the game posting for photos. And to the delight of attendees, banks … Read more

If you've ever compared a Formula 1 racer steering wheel with the one in your street car, you probably found yourself taken aback by the sheer number of buttons, knobs, and controls crammed onto the relatively small surface of the former.

That's exactly the feeling that I got when unboxing the SteelSeries SRW-S1 steering wheel for the Simraceway online racing game. Compared with, for example, the Microsoft Wireless Speed Wheel, S1 (for short) more than doubles the number of buttons available to the player--an attribute that may be daunting to some novices and enticing to many hard-core gamers. However, despite my initial impressions, I'd learn during testing its control scheme (and lack of pedals) it is probably a better fit for casual players than its complex appearance belies. … Read more

My iPhone, with 8GB of memory, can hold about 1,700 tracks. A BMW's internal hard drive has room for almost 3,000 tracks. Now, BMW's new Mog integration puts 14 million tracks at a driver's fingertips.

I sat in the driver's seat of a 2012 BMW 650i, with Robert Passaro, the head of BMW's App Center, in the passenger seat. But we weren't going anywhere. Our entire focus was on the stereo.

Passaro slotted an iPhone 4S into the BMW's cradle, nestled in the console compartment. Tapping the Mog icon on the … Read more

Car manufacturers are racing to integrate smartphones with infotainment systems, but one startup wants to cut to the chase and build a head unit around the iPhone.

Dash is a sleek, double-din automotive head unit concept that uses interchangable faceplates in which the driver snaps in his or her smartphone to use as the stereo's interface. Colorado-based Devium designed the product and has turned to Kickstarter.com to raise the money it needs to manufacture and sell it.

Smartphones attach to the faceplate and are held in place by a removable rubber lining in the cavity that snugly fits … Read more

According to a study, high fuel economy and robust smartphone integration are the features most important to Generation Y car buyers.

They came of driving age when hybrids were already mainstream, and to them a hybrid power train is as reliable as conventional internal-combustion-equipped cars. To find what this increasingly important demographic wants in a car, consulting firm Deloitt LLP conducted its annual review of Gen Y consumers aged 19 to 31 in the U.S., China, and Europe. While previous generations may have lusted after horsepower and engine, Deloitt found that these savvy consumers are eyeing high fuel economy … Read more

Rear-seat entertainment systems often run more than $1,000 for a factory-installed system, yet many people find a $500 iPad works just as well. The Scosche Backstage Pro works as a rear-seat mount for iPads.

The Backstage Pro clamps on to the front-seat headrest posts, with the iPad holder facing the rear-seat occupant. The package includes a long cord that can connect the Backstage Pro to a 12-volt outlet in the car, keeping the iPad charged while in use.

The iPad holder and the mount make up the two major pieces of the Backstage Pro, with the holder sliding easily into place on the mount. This is a smart arrangement for a couple of reasons. First, it makes clamping the mount to the headrest posts easier, because the holder is out of the way. Second, once installed, the holder can easily be taken out of the car, leaving the unobtrusive mount in place. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As its luxury competitors showed off new connected-car features and integrated apps, Mercedes-Benz lagged, until now.

At CES 2012 Mercedes-Benz revealed a full-featured new telematics system, Mbrace2, which gives drivers access to a number of useful and popular apps in the dashboard. This new system will first see production in the updated 2013 SL-Class, then roll out to other 2013 models.

Mercedes-Benz enhanced its traditional onscreen interface with a carousel menu structure, and one of those carousel items leads to the apps. These include Facebook, Yelp, a news reader, Morningstar Finance, Google search, Google Street View, and Panoramio. Most … Read more