Communications

To look up an event location on Facebook, Ford wants drivers to ask Sync for directions--and put down the phone.

Ford engineers are testing how drivers can use the Sync AppLink system to tap into Facebook with voice commands. The automaker says social integration is the next evolution for its voice-controlled Sync system, and accessing Facebook events is just one example already being developed.

In a demonstration for CNET, SyncApp Link Product Manager Julius Marchwicki had Sync announce upcoming Facebook events, his RSVP status, and the venue locations. The next steps, he said, would be to get directions to the … 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

After more than 15 years spreading beyond the U.S. into Canada and most recently China, OnStar is planning to expand its reach even further. The telematics company partnered with Telefonica, the world's third-largest mobile carrier, to make its emergency response and navigation technology available to countries that don't use CDMA networks.

Telefonica will help deliver OnStar's automatic crash notification, emergency services, turn-by-turn navigation, diagnostics, and remote mobile connectivity to consumers using its international GSM network. With 6 million global customers to date, the new partnership means that the GM subsidiary will be able to tap into … 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

Amazon's Kindle Fire falls short of the iPad in a satisfaction survey but has some big upsides, said market researcher Changewave Research in a note released Thursday.

The Kindle Fire has become surprisingly popular because it's affordable yet versatile for its price. And the numbers bear this out.

Bob O'Donnell of IDC told CNET this week that he believes Amazon shipped just under five million units in the latest quarter. "That's huge. Remember they didn't ship until early November so that's essentially two months," O'Donnell said. (Amazon does not reveal exact … Read more

BMW iVentures officially opened the doors to its New York office this week, and inaugurated its new space with a panel discussion on digital technology and mobility.

The $100 million fund has already seeded U.K.-based Parkatmyhouse.com and MyCityWay, which will lease space in BMW's trendy West Village office. The firm plans to invest primarily in urban mobility technologies to solve the transportation needs of the future. But the hot topic of the evening was, of all things, parking.

Speaking in front of an audience made up mostly of VC groupies and techies angling for a free drink and an introduction to fund managers, panelists seemed to unanimously agree that the practice of finding a place to park your car was 20 years behind the times. In an industry where advanced technology is considered a gate or the capability to take a credit card, there is obviously a lot of room for improvement. … Read more

Qualcomm, along with Ericsson, has successfully completed a major hurdle that will enable Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE).

The technology, called Single Radio Voice Call Continuity, or SRVCC, enables continuity of service by seamlessly switching to a WCDMA network when a consumer on a VoLTE call leaves the LTE network's coverage area, Qualcomm said.

Qualcomm and Ericsson have completed the first voice call handover from an LTE mobile network to a WCDMA network using SRVCC.

A Snapdragon-powered Ericsson device, using Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 3G/LTE multimode processor, will be on demonstration at Qualcomm's Mobile World Congress booth, Qualcomm said. … Read more

The popularity of Apple's iPad and iPhone is driving the shift of chip spending to wireless from computers, according to IHS-iSuppli.

Global spending by the world's top device makers on chips for wireless products amounted to $58.6 billion in 2011, up 14.5 percent from $51.2 billion in 2010, according to IHS iSuppli. As a result, spending for computers was topped by wireless, which became the world's largest semiconductor spending segment for device makers--aka, OEMs or original equipment manufacturers--in 2011.

Though this is not the first time wireless spending has exceeded that of computer-related spending (… Read more

Qualcomm has acquired display startup Pixtronix, which has developed technology applicable to smartphone and tablet screens.

Andover, Mass.-based Pixtronix's Digital Micro Shutter technology integrates MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) and TFTs (thin-film transistors), providing "differentiation, while leveraging proven manufacturing equipment, processes and materials," according to the company's Web site.

Hallmarks of the technology listed by Pixtronix include low power, high-speed light modulation, Digital TFT backplane, backlight efficiency of 60 percent (a claimed 10-fold advantage over LCD), utilization of existing TFT-LCD equipment, processes and materials, and elimination of high cost, performance-limiting liquid crystals, color filters and polarizers. … Read more