uvo

LAS VEGAS--At CES, Kia announced its new Microsoft-powered UVO technology, which will be included in the 2011 Sorrento. But the company has much more tech on deck, as it showed in its display area.

Kia showed a steering wheel-mounted thumbwheel controller for accessing vehicle infotainment. With haptic feedback, the controller delivers a different feel depending on user settings, from smoothly turning to detents to a spring stop.

Digital TV would be displayed in rear seat monitors.

A new telematics service uses a paired Bluetooth phone to get local search information or automatically call 911 in the event of a crash. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Kia takes a page out of Ford's playbook by partnering with Microsoft to include advanced voice command systems in its cars. Kia calls its Microsoft-powered system UVO and, similar to Ford's Sync, it lets you connect Bluetooth phones and MP3 players, and use voice command to control them.

We got a demo of the system at CES in a new Kia Sorrento, the first model that will feature it.

UVO uses Microsoft's voice recognition technology, and the system understands commands in a variety of contexts. During our demonstration, we told it to "Play Sirius channel … Read more

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 more