LAS VEGAS--On CES 2010 press preview day, in-car electronics vendors have less than 24 hours to set up their high-powered, often-thumping and pulsing booths in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. By show open Thursday morning, these displays will be complete.
While some of these exhibitors simply drive their biggest attractions (Lamborghinis! Classic Cadillacs!) onto the show floor, many others piece together elaborate walls of speaker systems, amplifiers, GPS systems, and various forms of safety and entertainemnt tech. Flip through our slideshow for a behind-the-scenes look at CES 2010's car tech.
Has the promise of easy in-car Internet radio finally been fulfilled?
(Credit: Pioneer)LAS VEGAS--Pioneer unveiled the latest addition to its AVIC line of in-dash navigation solutions and its first Pandora Internet radio-enabled car stereo, the AVIC-X920BT, during its CES 2010 press conference.
The X920BT's navigation features enhanced ECO routing functionality.
(Credit: Pioneer)One of the most notable changes to the AVIC's software is Pandora Link, which adds the ability to stream audio and display metadata from the Pandora Internet Radio app on a connected iPhone with a 3G connection. Users are also given access to album artwork and controls such as skip track, thumbs up and down, bookmarks, and station changes from the X920BT's touch-screen interface.
The X920BT bumps the AVIC-X chassis' screen size to 6.1 inches with a WXGA resolution and a new touch interface. Features such as voice recognition, Bluetooth hands-free calling/audio streaming, and USB connectivity for iPhone/iPod carry over from our current Editors' Choice title holder, the flagship AVIC-Z110BT, as do an updated version ... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog
Certain 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
BMW's M Power app is actually quite useful.
(Credit: BMW)BMW has launched the M Power iPhone app, the Bavarian automaker's second free application to promote its brand. However, unlike its previous offering, this app is actually sort of useful.
The M Power app measures vehicle acceleration using your iPhone's (or iPod Touch's) built-in accelerometer. After securing the iPhone (via a windshield mount or just tossing it in a cup holder), the app will measure 0-60 mph times other user-customizable speeds in mph or kph. The app will also measure forward and lateral G-forces for users who want to take a spin on a skidpad. Users can also unlock different skins on BMW's Web site to customize the look and feel of the app.
Although branded with the BMW M badge, the M Power app will work for any car that you can fit an iPhone into. Unlike my favorite paid iPhone accelerometer-based speed computer, Dynolicious, BMW's app doesn't look like it will calculate your vehicle's horsepower or torque. But at the low cost of "free," the M Power app is a hard bargain to turn down.
Check out the BMW M Power app in the iTunes App Store.
An in-car HD Radio device from Jensen.
(Credit: Ibiquity Digital)Ford Motor just can't seem to get enough lately of high-tech flourishes for the dashboard.
Earlier this month, the automaker unveiled plans to integrate Wi-Fi into its Sync entertainment systems so that drivers can turn their cars into wireless Internet hot spots. On Tuesday, Ford said that starting in 2010, car buyers will be able to get a factory-installed HD Radio receiver with iTunes Tagging capabilities:
"Through the Sync system," Ford said in its press release, "iTunes Tagging will provide Ford customers with the ability to capture a song they hear on the HD Radio receiver for later purchase. With a simple push of the 'TAG' button on the radio display, the song information will be stored in the radio's memory."Up to 100 tags can be stored on Sync until the iPod is connected to receive the download of metadata. When the iPod is then synced to iTunes, a playlist of 'tagged' songs will appear. Customers then can preview and, if desired, purchase and download tagged songs from the iTunes Store."
Ford is proclaiming itself the first automaker to offer HD Radio with iTunes tagging as a factory-installed feature, but its announcement comes nearly a year after consumer electronics company JVC began touting its KD-HDR50, an in-car stereo system that comes with a built-in HD Radio tuner that incorporates iTunes Tagging.
For more on HD Radio and the gadgets that get it, see:
The new Audi A8 incorporates innovative new tech features, along with LED headlights.
(Credit: Audi)
In case the automotive press was in any doubt about Audi's message for its new A8 sedan, the company chose to launch the latest iteration of its flagship model at this year's Design Miami art festival in Miami Beach. The third generation of the A8 does deserve some credit for its new design language: its clean side profile and squat front end chime with many of the cues we've seen on other updated models in the automaker's lineup. Audi has a thing for lights recently, and the A8's LEDs got plenty of airtime at the launch ceremony, with British designer Tom Dixon crooning over the car's "anti-gravity luminosity." We're not quite sure what that is, but any headlight assembly that packs in more than 40 LEDs on each corner has to be something special.
In the cabin, Audi's new luxobarge offers the usual lineup of entertainment and information systems with a few head-turning features, including an optional handwriting recognition system for navigation inputs, an updated MMI interface, and an optional 1,400-watt Bang and Olufsen audio system. Other notable innovations include an intelligent link between the car's navigation system and other onboard systems, including the adaptive cruise control, gearbox, and--of course--the headlights. Check out the photos to see the latest that Ingolstadt has to offer.
The combined Land Rover/Jaguar company, now owned by Indian automaker Tata, had a little fun for the holidays, coming up with concept images for Santa's sleigh, one designed by Jaguar, and the other by Land Rover.
(Credit:
Jaguar)
(Credit:
Land Rover)
Land Rover went futuristic with its land-based speeder design. Being a Land Rover, we assume it handles rough terrain well. It also looks like the cockpit is designed for a reindeer driver, which must require some very special controls.
This TomTom Car Kit for iPhone uses the EasyPort suction cup windshield mount.
(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)Any automotive GPS worth its salt will come packaged with some sort of suction cup mount that will let users stick it to a vehicle's windshield. For most users, this is where road ends where GPS device mounting is concerned. But is this the best way to keep your navigation device in place while you drive? And what about that weird plastic disk that was also in the box? Let's take a look at the pros and cons of the different GPS mounting options.
Pay attention, because what you learn here can also be applied to mounting your GPS-enabled smartphone.
... Read More
A video signal is delivered from the camera mounted in the head of the truck to the back door panels through a projector.
(Credit: Art Lebedev)Russian design studio Art Lebedev calls this simple invention--a camera that takes images from the front of a truck to show it on screens in the back--Transparentius. I call it geeneeuzz.
I don't know why the drawing below shows a tank at the front of the truck, but I guess that in Russia people drive T-90s like people drive Fords in the U.S. I wish the technology was so cheap that this could be implemented for real, because I'm sure being able to see what's in the blind zone before switching lanes would save a lot of lives on the road.
(Credit:
Art Lebedev)
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
(Credit:
Magellan)
Following the launch of its turn-by-turn navigation app for iPhone, Magellan has released its Premium Car Kit for iPhone and iPod Touch. The Premium Car Kit features an amplified speaker for spoken directions, a Bluetooth speakerphone for hands-free calling, a built-in GPS receiver that should improve positioning compared with the iPhone 3G's built-in GPS as well as adds GPS positioning to first-generation iPhones and the iPod Touches.
The mount lets you rotate the iPhone to portrait and landscape views, and has a built-in charger. Essentially, it will behave exactly like TomTom's Car Kit; however, the Magellan kit has an adjusting arm that will let it accommodate an iPhone or iPod Touch with a protective case.
The Magellan Premium Car Kit will cost $129.99. When TomTom's kit debuted for slightly less than that price, it was universally regarded as too expensive, so we can already guess what sort of reception Magellan's kit will get.
Magellan's Premium Car Kit for iPhone is available now for preorder.
