Google, Yahoo to direct your Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz USA has an answer to complaints that car navigation directions don't measure up to those from sites like Yahoo, Google and Ask.
The automaker has partnered with Google and Yahoo to allow users to send customized Google Maps and Yahoo Local Maps directly from a computer or Web-enabled cell phone to their car computer.
A new "Send to Car" icon that will appear on both companies' mapping sites will allow you to send customized directions, maps, addresses and points of interest to your Mercedes' GPS navigation system.
Once you get in your car, pushing the "i" button in your Mercedes will download the information directly to your car's computer for either immediate or future use.
Better yet, other people can send directions to your car while you're driving.
The high-tech car tech is called Search & Send and will become part of the current Mercedes roadside and emergency GPS service, Tele Aide.
It will be available on the Mercedes S-class sedan and CL-class coupe as of September 5 and the entire 2008 C-class lineup.
(Credit:
Mercedes-Benz USA)
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
