In-car entertainment

Harman International, in looking for a way to personalize the in-car experience, found that the most unique thing everyone carries is a phone. In its demonstration of a new dashboard electronics system, Harman pointed out that people are more likely to loan someone else their car keys than their phones.

At the 2012 Geneva auto show, Harman used Rinspeed's Dock+Go concept car to show off the new system. In the car we had a number of smartphones, each equipped with near field communications, belonging to a variety of different people (set up for the purposes of the demonstration). … Read more

Very few people change the performance software on sport cars, but today Ford showed people that upgrading a car's software can be as routine as installing computer updates. The company is shipping owners of its cars with the MyFord Touch infotainment system a USB drive that changes the look and performance of the screens that access navigation, entertainment, climate control, and communications.

CNET got an exclusive look at this update when Ford's Director of Electronic Systems Engineering Jim Buczkowski stopped by to show us how it is done. After plugging in the USB drive, the car's infotainment … Read more

Intel Capital is placing a huge bet on the connected car market. The investment arm of the semiconductor giant announced today that it's creating a $100 million venture capital fund dedicated to investing in automotive technology.

According to Gartner forecasts, automobiles will be among the top three fastest-growing market segments for connected devices and Internet content by 2014, cites Staci Palmer, general manager of Intel's Automotive Solutions Division. That presents a new market for the technology company, and as the connected car wave rises, Intel wants to be there to ride it.

The Intel Capital Connected Car Fund … Read more

Mercedes-Benz is making Apple the core of the A-Class' infotainment system by integrating iPhone applications and functionality--namely Siri--with its electronics system.

The Drive Kit Plus integrates the iPhone with the vehicle's electronics platform. It works in concert with Mercedes-Benz' Digital DriveStyle App to display iPhone applications on the infotainment system screen and let the user access the app using vehicle controls or voice commands.

What applications the users can integrate and control will be up to Mercedes-Benz. The free app will add Twitter, Facebook, and Aupeo Personal Radio (which is like Pandora for Europe) to the vehicle's infotainment … Read more

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