Renault-Nissan and Microsoft Partner to Work on Connected Driving Technology

The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Microsoft Corp. have signed a global, multiyear agreement to partner on next-generation technologies to advance connected driving experiences worldwide.

The companies will work together to develop next-generation connected services for cars powered by Microsoft Azure, one of the company’s intelligent cloud offerings. These new services will improve customer experience via advanced navigation, predictive maintenance and vehicle centric services, remote monitoring of car features, external mobile experiences and over-the-air updates.

“A car is becoming increasingly connected, intelligent and personal,” said Ogi Redzic, Renault-Nissan Alliance senior vice-president, Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services. “Partnering with Microsoft allows us to accelerate the development of the associated key technologies needed to enable scenarios our customers want and build all-new ones they haven’t even imagined. We aim to become the provider of connected mobility for everyone with one single global platform.”

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is pioneering autonomous driving and connectivity features on mainstream, mass-market vehicles at affordable prices. The Alliance aims to develop connectivity technologies and features to support the launch of more than 10 vehicles with autonomous driving technology by 2020 with services to maximize better use of newly found in-car free time.

Renault-Nissan will continuously develop and launch new connected services and applications that make it easier for people to stay connected to work, entertainment and social networks, and offer vehicle centric services that will simplify and enhance engagement with the car through usage-based information, remote access, remote diagnostics and preventive maintenance

Microsoft Azure provides a proven, secure global cloud platform with unlimited scale that allows Renault-Nissan to deliver services worldwide to its broad customer base.

Renault-Nissan selected Azure in part because of its enterprise-grade security and Microsoft’s rigorous commitment to compliance. In addition, Azure supports multiple operating systems, programming languages and tools, providing flexibility and choice to build a common platform for Renault-Nissan to deploy services to both Alliance brands.

“While the connected car experience is in its infancy, we believe there’s so much potential to dramatically change the industry. We are partnering to accelerate Renault-Nissan’s mobile and cloud strategies and unlock new experiences for their customers,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president, Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, Microsoft. “Renault-Nissan is an exceptional partner thanks to its global presence and range of brands, which enable it to bring entirely new mobile and digital experiences to so many people. This collaboration will bring a new standard to connected cars.”

Focus on next-generation technologies

The partnership will accelerate development of best-in-class infotainment and location-based services that will:

Allow customers to personalize and protect their settings: Customers will be able to customize their settings knowing that data is safe and that they have the option to transfer the settings from one car to another, or lock them and disable transfer. By adding a driver-centric experience in the car, the drive becomes personal and allows for things like adaptive route suggestions and advanced navigation.

Productivity: With Microsoft, Renault-Nissan will expand the realm of productivity into the car – transforming the daily commute into a productive experience by seamlessly integrating the digital experiences present at work and life into the car. 

Give access to over-the-air updates: Customers will be able to download over-the-air updates to, for example, have the latest autonomous drive software and collision-avoidance applications.

Help customers stay in touch: Customers will be able to easily check in and communicate their estimated time of arrival, or alert friends to a change of plans. They will also be able to use automatic payment from the car for highway tolls or parking, with a simple touch from the comfort of their seat.

Monitor the car from a distance: Car owners will be able to monitor their car from anywhere, through their mobile phone or laptop. They could transfer control to a friend or relative who needs their car – without transferring physical keys. They will use a mobile application that helps them find the car, can trigger remote charging and preconditioning and lock and unlock the car.

Protect the vehicle: Tracking software locates a stolen car and disables it at the next practical opportunity. “Geofencing” technology creates invisible fences around the car that will enable notifications when the car enters or exits a predefined area or route.

Improve the vehicle experience: By adding connectivity, customers will be able to have access to advance vehicle diagnostic services, allowing the car manufacturer to deliver unique features. Collecting real usage data will also support vehicle engineering to improve manufacturing quality.

ABOUT MICROSOFT

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @Microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

ABOUT THE RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is a strategic partnership between Paris-based Renault and Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan, which together sell one in 10 cars worldwide. The companies, which have been strategic partners since 1999, sold 8.5 million cars in nearly 200 countries in 2015. The Alliance also operates strategic collaborations with other automakers, including Germany’s Daimler, China’s Dongfeng, and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors. The Alliance has a majority stake in the joint venture that owns Russia’s top automaker, AVTOVAZ.

@Info-courtesy autonews

Gesture control from Volkswagen, there is nothing to touch it.

VOLKSWAGEN BRINGS GESTURE CONTROL TO MASS PRODUCTION WITH THE E-GOLF TOUCH.

Volkswagen will offer one of the world’s first compact cars with gesture control functionality, New infotainment system has a configurable 9.2-inch home screen

• New infotainment system with gesture control to be launched in compact cars
• Configurable home screen with interactive tiles enables driver-selectable preferences
• Tiles can be configured for any of ten different functions (e.g. Music, Phone)
• “Electronic voice amplification” allows easy communication with back-seat passengers
• Personalization settings can be saved to the cloud for access in other Volkswagen models

Additionally, Volkswagen will introduce numerous electronic innovations at CES 2016, to debut in the very near future. These developments illustrate how cars are currently undergoing immense transformations via electronics. New innovations control drive functions, allow driver assistance features to react faster, and increase connectivity by bringing the Internet into the car. Other technologies will transform instruments, displays and controls allowing for a new level of functionality.

Bringing gesture control to mass production cars

Interactive Human Machine Interface (HMI) functions make new communication channels between humans and cars possible—and natural. Devices such as smartphones, tablets, smart watches and cameras have become omnipresent in our everyday lives, and are being integrated into the car in new ways. This fusion is accelerated by more powerful computers and increasingly intelligent software, resulting in evolutionary leaps that are destined to transform the automobile.

The Golf R Touch concept car that was shown at CES 2015 was the first production-based Volkswagen to feature a gesture control system. With the introduction of the e-Golf Touch, Volkswagen presents a more advanced generation of the Modular Infotainment Toolkit (MIB) and for the first time, an early series-production preview of this new intuitive control technology. The e-Golf Touch features the latest version of MIB with a 9.2- inch high-resolution display (1280 x 640 pixels). All functions and displays are embedded in a sophisticated, clear glass surface.

Facing the driver are four touch-sensitive buttons (Menu, Home, Car, App) and a push-rotary switch. The system’s 8.2-inch wide and 4.1-inch high home screen consists of a large main area as well as two configurable tiles on the right of the home screen. Each tile area, sized 1.7 inches high and 2.4 inches wide, can be assigned any of ten different functions. They can include Media (including cover art) or phone (including photo caller ID). It is also possible to drag the main area out to fill the entire home screen, displaying the full navigation map or smartphone integration platforms such as MirrorLink TM, Android Auto TM or Apple CarPlay®, through Volkswagen’s Car-Net® App-Connect interface.

Features of gesture control by volkswagen

• Open and close the sunroof
• Have power-seat controls appear on the center touch screen
• Lights switch settings
• Air conditioning and heat settings
• Music volume settings

The e-Golf Touch also marks the debut of Volkswagen’s latest generation voice control technology. This system offers significantly improved controls, as voice commands are displayed on the screen to accompany the request. This new version of the voice control system will be launched in the early summer of 2016 in Europe.

Volkswagen will also be the first manufacturer to present a new “Keyword Activation” voice recognition function in the e-Golf Touch. This feature allows the driver to start voice recognition simply by saying “Hello Volkswagen”, or similar, to the system. This eliminates the need for physical activation.

Unlike BMW’s more complex array of gesture-control inputs, VW keeps things simple. The only recognized gesture input is a left/right swipe across the screen. (BMW’s new 7-series can recognize different hand gestures, such as a twisting motion to increase or decrease audio volume.) For instance, to skip to the next song on a playlist, simply bring your hand near the display—the floating menu will appear—then swipe your hand from the left of the screen to the right. The next song is called up after a brief pause.

The proximity-sensor aspect of the system is slick, too. On the audio screen, for example, you’ll see only album art and title, as well as the song title and the time left on the track. Bring your hand near the screen, and the floating menu with next/previous song and play/pause buttons appears; you can press these buttons or swipe left or right to skip songs. There is no hand gesture for pausing or playing a track. If you’re wondering why the e-Golf Touch concept’s gesture controls feel more limited than those on the Golf R Touch concept that VW showed at last year’s CES, blame the more cost-friendly infrared sensor; the Golf R had a pricier but more capable infrared camera.

What is the Volkswagen MIB II Infotainment System?

MIB II Infotainment

The second iteration of the Volkswagen infotainment system boasts faster processing speeds and improved graphics over the first edition. A touch screen is standard in all models that come with MIB II technology. Volkswagen is also upping the quality of its touch screen technology for the MIB II system. Most models will include touch screens with pinch-zooming and swiping capabilities—a major bonus considering the typical quality of car touch screens, which often have a delay and clumsy controls. MIB II additionally supports USB, AUX-in, SD cards, Apple iPhones and iPods, and Bluetooth. It also includes a reverse camera.

 

@Info-courtesy thinknew.volkswagen

Five BMW technologies, that makes Engineers proud….. !!!!!!

1. Hand and finger gestures: Tell the car what you really think

Useful technology or stupid pet trick? We’ll see. A pair of infrared sensors in the roof   near the mirror and map lights track your hand and fingers and translate the movement. For now, it’s five gestures. It could be more later. Two are obvious: Make a clockwise gesture with your index finger and the volume goes up, counterclockwise and it goes down.

You can also swipe your hand right or left to accept or reject a call. Just as BMW got the iDrive zoom motion backwards (most people visualize a clockwise motion to zoom; BMW makes it counter-clockwise), when you left-swipe dat hand, unlike what Tinder users might expect, you accept not reject. There’s also a poke motion with two fingers, sort of a horizontal “peace, man” gesture, that can be user-defined.

2. More refined iDrive: twirl, touch, scribble, speak, gesture

iDrive was the poster child for technology run amok, stuff that didn’t work unless you had a degree from Cal Tech or Carnegie Mellon. Let’s get this straight: That was then (2002), this is now, and iDrive is arguably the best way to interface with the car if you spend a little time learning. iDrive 5.0 continues with buttons close to the control wheel that let you access key functions such as navigation, phone, entertainment. For 2015, iDrive offers drivers the opportunity to make selections by touch or swiping what is now a 10-inch touchscreen.

BMW offers the widest array of ways to interact with the car. No longer do you and a partner have to decide on a control wheel interface (BMW iDrive, Audi MMI, Mercedes Comand) but you also can use a touchscreen. The top of the control wheel is a touchpad and you can finger-write an address or phone number one character at a time. There’s voice input. There are useful steering wheel buttons, including scroll wheels to select from multiple options (satellite radio stations, iPhone playlists) and quickly adjust volume. Plus there’s the gesture recognition. BMW WhyDrive looked like a disaster 15 years ago, but it’s now mature and growing — as it should be in the wake of alternatives, such as the huge 17-inch Tesla touchscreen display or the Volvo Sensus display and interface that resembles an iPad permanently mounted to the dash.

3. Self parking from outside the car

Another stupid pet trick? Hardly, if you’ve got a small garage and a big car. The 7 Series comes with a huge (“is that a gun in your pocket…?”) remote with its own LCD and probably more compute power than the lunar lander that first put man on the moon. Point the car more or less at the entrance to your home garage, or a parking garage space, step out, and press the remote. The mirrors retract, the parking sonar sensors sense, and the car edges forward into the garage, including a garage bay better suited for a Mini Cooper. This is on top of the now common abilities to parallel or perpendicular park a car with the driver inside.

Unfortunately, don’t look for this on USA-bound vehicles. Highway safety laws here essentially require the foot of the driver always within reach of the gas and brake pedals while parking. It’s another in a moderately long list of tech advances, most coming out of Europe, that NHTSA effectively bans because of overly broad laws. It’s why front night vision sensors here can’t swivel a headlamp element to pick up a deer walking onto the roadway, or radar in back can’t flash the brake lamps to warn a car coming up on you way too fast.

4. Bigger, better head-up displays

Already the industry leader in offering head-up displays across the majority of its model line, the new 7 Series gets a new, full-color HUD with a 75% larger projection area. It’s standard on the V8 750i, optional on the six-cylinder. The driver chooses if he or she wants some or a lot of information. That can include speed, adaptive cruise control speed, speed limits, navigation directions (including an exit lane view showing which is the exit and which are through lanes), phone call numbers so you can accept or reject (if you don’t use hand gestures), entertainment choices, and car status information.

If you haven’t driven a car with a head-up display, it sounds as if the information might be overload. That’s not the case at all. The info floats at the base of the windshield, the height can be adjusted, it appears farther away visually than info in the instrument cluster (useful for drivers who need reading glasses) … and it can always be turned off.

This is an interim step toward an even larger HUD that could actually project a turn arrow in the driver’s line of sight that actually maps to the location of the turn or exit ramp.

5. Rear screen touchpad, other bells and whistles

The 7 Series used to have an iDrive controller in back. Not any more. It’s reasonable to expect the driver to understand iDrive after a week or two, less so the occasional passenger. Back seat iDrive has been replaced by a 7-inch Touch Command tablet embedded in the center armrest. It controls rear HVAC settings, tilt and recline of the rear seats (one of the options that help push the 7 Series over $100K), and infotainment. It browses the web via a built-in hotspot. Most passengers will find this a more palatable solution than iDrive in back.

There’s more, of course. The center console has a wireless charging pocket for your phone. You can get adaptive LED headlamps that swivel to follow the road. There will be 360-degree surround camera views for the times when you manually park the car yourself, or for backing.

The standard suspension is now an air suspension. An Active Driving Assistant provides the now-common blind spot detection, lane departure warning, etcetera, along with city safety features to auto-brake for pedestrians and suddenly stopped cars. Active Comfort Drive with Road Preview uses navigation data to and pre-conditions the air suspension for changes ahead. The existing Dynamic Drive feature that lets the driver set the car for sporty, comfortable, or eco ride and acceleration now has an adaptive that adjusts to the driver’s style and road conditions. Active grille shutters close at speed when there’s already enough cooling air reaching the radiator.

Those who think BMW has lost its sport sedan pretense will find ammunition with the ambience lighting, an LED Light Carpet (translation: puddle lamps on the side mirrors), and the Panoramic Sky Lounge LED Roof. To keep up with Mercedes-Benz, there is now a perfumed cabin air option, with eight choices to the four Mercedes offers.

 

@Info-courtesy Extremetech

In Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) – The Next Great Innovation In Automobiles?

We are get attached to the things we use frequently, as our new love affair with smartphones attests. But a new form of entertainment, automobile “infotainment”, promises to provide a new form of technology obsession. Services will include: SMS Messaging, HFP & GSM, digital phone book, 3G+ Internet access, audio streaming, PIM, WiFi, Dun-Pan, and more.

Transition From Analog To Digital Automobile Systems

Over the past two decades vehicle analog audio systems have been replaced by digital systems. Broadcast content continues to flow as before, but there is a new universe of content available including interactive multimedia internet-based information content.

Navigation, Connectivity & Remote Services

In fact, the automobile industry believes there is and will be a disconnect between consumer handheld devices and automobile IVIs including: differing lifespans, the speed of adding new features and the ways humans can best interactive with an IVI.

Automobile manufacturers are interested in having a connected car but they want control over the interface to provide the quickest and easiest way to update software and programming while providing the highest level of security.

Industry Alliance In Place To Promote An Open Source Platform

A nonprofit industry alliance, GENIVI, is committed to adopting an In Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) open source development platform, setting requirements and implementation standards and providing certification programs. GENIVI seeks to provide entertainment and information features and functionality so that infotainment applications for music, news, navigation, location services, telephony and internet services will be universally available.

GENIVI consists of Linux-based core services, middleware, and an open layer interfaces that developers can use to create compliant applications. Selection of the open-source platform was made to speed up time to market, accelerate innovation, reduce development costs, and set the groundwork for a vibrant ecosystem of valuable apps.

Audi cars will tell you in advance when a traffic light switch to green

German luxury carmaker Audi has become the first automobile brand to connect the car to the city infrastructure – an important step towards autonomous driving.

Imagine a situation when you know in advance when a traffic light will switch from red to green. Yes, that dream is going to be a reality soon as German luxury carmaker Audi has become the first automobile brand to connect the car to the city infrastructure – an important step towards autonomous driving.

In Las Vegas, starting immediately, the Audi A4 and Q7 models can display traffic-light phases directly in the car. Further US cities will follow, and introduction of the system is planned in Europe. Traffic Light Information optimises traffic flow, saves time and reduces environmental impact.

“For the first time, our cars are exchanging data with traffic infrastructure in real time. Drivers can adapt their behavior to the situation and move through city traffic in a much more relaxed and controlled way,” says Andreas Reich, head of Electronics Pre-Development at Audi AG.

“We increase energy efficiency when we connect our Audi models to smart cities. Further V2I services will follow, making the car into an interactive mobile device. We see autonomous driving as the end of this development.”

As a first step, all Audi A4 and Q7 models produced for the US market since June 2016 and equipped with Audi connect will have this function on board. In the USA, municipal traffic management centers will communicate the traffic-light data to Audi’s project partner Traffic Technology Services TTS.

The first function of the Traffic Light Information V2I component is called Time-to-Green. In the Audi virtual cockpit or head-up display, drivers see whether they will reach the next light on green while traveling within the permitted speed limit. If not, a countdown is provided of the time remaining until the next green phase – and drivers can take their foot off the gas pedal in good time.

“In our tests the the number of cars that had to brake to a standstill in traffic fell by around 20 percent. This saved time for the driver and also made fuel savings of about 15 percent in the pilot project,” says Michael Zweck, project manager for Audi Traffic Light Information.

Audi also intends to introduce the technology in Europe. In Berlin, Ingolstadt, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Verona there have already been extensive pilot projects. In Berlin alone, some 700 traffic lights in the inner city have been connected to the service.

“In Europe highly diverse traffic technology is in use, as the infrastructure has developed locally and decentrally. We are working on harmonization of the data that have been prepared. After that has been done, we can provide Traffic Light Information in Europe too,” Michael Zweck announced.

 

@infocourtsey Auto.economictimes.indiatimes

Best infotainment systems – ultimate guide to in-car tech

Each car got a score out of five for each section of the test – and here’s how

Usability

Two seconds looking away from the road is said to increase your risk of an accident by around 24 times, so being able to use an infotainment set-up quickly and safely is vital. Assessed how long it took to operate various functions, such as tuning a DAB radio station, and how many steps there were to access different features.

Performance

A system that’s just slow to respond can prove equally distracting to drivers, plus the interface can be infuriating rather than helpful. Tested how quickly the screens loaded, their colour quality and brightness, the cars’ Internet connection speed, audio quality and voice commands, which can be infamously problematic.

Connectivity

Having multiple options to connect your phone or multimedia device is no use if they don’t work – so we put them all to the test. Looked at how easy they were to link to various phones, and whether the onboard computer would remember the connection when we left the car. We also tested any onboard apps or systems, such as Mirror link.

Satellite navigation

If you’ve decided to specify an infotainment system, sat-nav will probably be one of the features you use most. Ran the same test route with each of the cars to see how accurate and quick the routes were.

Cost

Probably the most important question is whether it’s worth specifying an infotainment system. Looked at what you get for your money and how much add-ons cost.

 

Audi MMI – 4.4/5

Audi’s MMI system has been updated and it might take a little getting used to the new layout, but once you’ve learned where everything is and under which menu, it’s actually a very easy system to use. We tried it in the latest Audi Q7 SUV.

There’s a rotary controller with re programmable fast keys for the main functions, as well as a touchpad that lets you input letters using your finger. It’s much easier than using a QWERTY keyboard on a touchscreen, but it didn’t recognise the letters we were writing as quickly as BMW’s iDrive system.

A nice touch is the use of Google Earth for the navigation, which boasts great graphics and plenty of detail. The route we programmed was fast and easy to follow, too. There’s a good colour contrast on the screen, while the home screen itself is very clear and easy to make sense of. The audio system is excellent, too, although it can get a bit harsh towards the top end.

BMW iDrive – 4.5/5

Like Audi’s MMI system, BMW’s iDrive is controlled via a wheel, a collection of buttons, fast keys and a touchpad, and we think it’s the most intuitive infotainment system on the market as tested in this BMW 3 Series test car.

The fast keys can be programmed not just for your favourite radio stations, but the functions you use the most, such as calling a particular person or taking you to a certain destination. This saves a great deal of time and also means distractions while you’re driving are kept to a minimum. Overall, the iDrive system performs very quickly, and screens load in no time at all.

When you’re using the sat-nav (now standard on all BMW models), it’s better for you to follow the guidance rather than your own instinct. The traffic knowledge is fantastic and directs you away from congestion, even if you’re familiar with the route.

 

Ford SYNC 2 – 3.8/5

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Ford’s SYNC 2 system is available across much of the range, including the Mondeo we used here. It is controlled solely via a central touchscreen, which is divided into four sections – sat-nav, entertainment, climate and phone. This makes it simple to use as each section is always available to get into from each corner of the screen. However, if you go into the navigation screen, different route options and preferences are located all over the screen, so it’s not the quickest to use in that respect.

A strong point of the Ford’s system is the connectivity options available. There’s Bluetooth and two USB ports, but you can also tether your phone to the car to turn it into a Wi-Fi hotspot.

The whole system is let down by its performance, though. The screen itself is slow to respond when you touch it, and scrolling through a music playlist took among the longest of the ten cars we tested. The audio itself was impressive and offered a good all-round sound, but the screen, again, let the whole thing down by being a bit dull and grey.

Jaguar InControl Touch – 3.6/5

As soon as you get in the car, the Jaguar’s sleek and bright touchscreen – tested here in the XE saloon – looks great and is easy enough to view, but once you begin to use it, it becomes a case of style over substance.

Like Ford’s SYNC 2 system, InControl Touch features four clear options on the home screen to choose from, and the whole system is generally easy to use, but it suffers from slow responses and some unclear options on particular features. For example, navigation settings is represented by a collection of small square boxes.

The slow responses are balanced out slightly by the reasonable cost, while the standard model boasts an eight-inch touchscreen, satellite navigation and DAB radio.

On some models, you can link the system to your smartphone via an app to check things like the fuel economy and whether or not the car is locked.

Mazda MZD Connect – 4.0/5

The Mazda’s system is one of the simplest on test, but that also makes it one of the easiest to use. In our Mazda CX-3 test car, as well as the rest of the range, it’s controlled either via a touchscreen or rotary controller situated between the two front seats, while there are dedicated buttons for key features like sat-nav and media located around the wheel. it’s very easy to find the feature you want while driving along, and reduces the need to take your eyes off the road, too.

The system itself is intuitive and quick to respond to actions, while the screen is clear and sound quality good. All of the devices we used connected easily via the USB port, but the Bluetooth connection struggled and the full suite of functions wasn’t always available.

It’s worth pointing out that while our CX-3 test car came with a seven-inch colour screen with Aha and Stitcher music apps as standard, lower-spec SE models only get an FM radio and CD player.

Mercedes COMAND – 3.3/5

Mercedes’ COMAND system generally works well, but it looks much more dated than the rest of the cars in this test. The screen isn’t very bright, although the blacks are very crisp which makes it easy to read in low light.

The satellite navigation system was one of the best on test in our Mercedes GLA test car, as it was the only car that managed to find the specific house we were searching for, while the estimated arrival time was accurate and traffic updates were helpful.

Voice commands worked well in the Mercedes, although you need to know the phrases and these can be a bit long-winded. Once you know them, it saves valuable time by keeping your eyes on the road. The system was let down by its high price where it’s an option on some Mercedes models, and it struggled to connect with all of the devices we used in our test.

Nissan Connect – 3.3/5

Like the Mercedes COMAND system, Nissan’s Connect touchscreen infotainment system looks and feels very dated compared to some of the other cars in this test. It’s generally easy to get your head around, but the whole thing is let down by poor screen graphics, below-par audio quality and weak connectivity – we couldn’t even skip music tracks when we tried in our Nissan Qashqai.

Where the Nissan improves is value for money. It comes with apps like Google Search, and the combination of touchscreen and physical buttons around the outside make it quick to select the function you want.

The sat-nav is quick and simple to use, although the estimated time of arrival wasn’t quite accurate when were using it. It only takes four steps to enter a destination, though, and there’s an icon purely for finding the nearest petrol station while on a route which is handy.

SEAT Full Link – 4.8/5

The SEAT Full Link system doesn’t look like the most interesting or expensive system, but it’s actually the best in this test according to our scores. The standard system is operated via a touchscreen which is clear and easy to operate, but there are also eight buttons around the outside for each function.

To get the Full Link system as in our SEAT Leon test car, you just need to pay £150. For this, you’ll get SEAT’s own phone integration, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto or Mirror Link. Both the Apple and Google systems are excellent, and we think it’s worth paying the reasonable £150.

Screen quality isn’t quite as good as VW’s similar Discover system, the audio goes very loud with strong bass and vocal quality.

The satellite navigation is very easy to operate, while the whole system is intuitive and quick to use. It shows that simplicity is key to a good infotainment system and gets the best score in this test.

Vauxhall Intellilink – 4.3/5

Vauxhall has really stepped up its infotainment game with the new Intellilink system, tested here in the latest Astra. It comes with features you’d previously have expected to only be available on premium cars – even standard models come with a seven-inch touchscreen, DAB radio, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

If you’re willing to pay £700, you can upgrade to an eight-inch touchscreen which comes with sat-nav and more features, but this is standard higher up the range.

The whole system is touchscreen, although there’s four buttons along the bottom for particular functions. It’s easy to use on the whole, but there a couple of quirks that would take a bit of getting used to. Sat-nav routing is very good and searching via postcode is very easy, but adding a full address is quite long-winded.

The Vauxhall’s party piece is the OnStar concierge service. It’s free for the first 12 months and costs £79 a year after that, and includes things like 4G web, while you can add internal Wi-Fi, too.

The Intellilink system represents great value for money, especially when you compare it with other systems on the market.

Volkswagen Discover – 4.1/5

The VW Discover system shares a lot with the SEAT infotainment set-up, combining a touchscreen with eight physical buttons around the outside. The VW’s screen is larger in our Golf GTD test car, and the colours are dark and deep which makes it easy to read even in bright sunshine.

Our Motorola and Nokia phones connected well via Bluetooth and USB, but our iPhone 6 and Blackberry showed errors. The screens were very quick to load and the system was fast to boot up in the first place.

The routes the sat-nav takes you on can seem a bit strange, but it found the fastest route every time – just trust it. Live traffic updates were faultless, too. It’s worth noting that models from 2016 will come with Apple CarPlay as standard on Discover Nav Pro systems, or just £100 everywhere else across the range.

@Info courtsey carbuyer.co.uk

 

The 10 Coolest Infotainment Tech Features seen at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show

Automotive technology is progressing at a blinding pace. Nearly every automaker is on the eve of producing an autonomous car, in-car connectivity is becoming nearly ubiquitous, and the size and resolution of automotive displays are echoing the trend of TVs in the home. Even better? Much of this tech is coming to more affordable vehicles. Here’s some of our favorite mechanical and digital technology we saw on the show floor at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Mercedes Touch Control Steering Wheel

If there were an award for the most technology-crazy new car launched at Detroit this year, it would have to go to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Selecting just one feature from this ride was a challenge, but you can’t go wrong with the Touch Control Steering Wheel. The two pads on either side of the wheel operate like an iPhone: Swipe in any direction to choose the menus you want and then push to confirm your selection. It’s meant to eliminate the dangerous habit of looking down at the wheel to make sure you push the right buttons.

Volvo Pilot Assist

Volvo took a leap ahead of its rivals by making its semi-autonomous driving program, Pilot Assist, standard on the new S90 sedan unveiled at Detroit. Every other manufacturer that offers an autonomous system makes it an option. Pilot Assist debuted on the 2016 XC90 and now allows the vehicle speed up, slow down, and steer at speeds up to 30 mph. In the S90, it can do those things up 80 mph.

 

Chrysler Pacifica Uconnect Theatre

Think a minivan can’t be high-tech? Quite the contrary. When it comes to vans and kids, any feature that keeps them smiling and occupied is important, and the Pacifica’s new Uconnect Theatre is sure to hold their attention. The rear-seat entertainment package includes two huge 10-inch rear seat touchscreens. The system can play movies, stream content, and even play built-in games. Cross-country family road trip, anyone?

Chevy Bolt Rear Camera Mirror

Chevy’s innovative new electric car, the 2017 Bolt can handle 200-mile trips on a single charge thanks to its huge battery pack. But one of the smartest features on the Bolt can be found in an unassuming place—the rear-view mirror. Plenty of new vehicles offer multiple camera systems projected onto the infotainment screen to help you out with pesky parking chores. But the Bolt uses cameras to eliminate blind spots in the rear view mirror. When you look in the mirror to change lanes, the system stitches together a scene that makes it seem like you’re driving a convertible with a clear 180-degree view behind you.

GMC Acadia Tow Vision

Trailer towing aids are usually found on full-size pickup trucks. But GMC figures that people who tow smaller trailers need a little help, too. The GMC Acadia can handle a 4,000-pound trailer when equipped with the new 3.6-liter V6, and to make that work a little easier, the Tow Vision Trailering system uses a rear camera and guidelines to help align the Acadia’s hitch with the trailer. The system can even offer a look at the trailer while driving, which is handy when driving in foul weather conditions.

Toyota Kymeta Connected Technology

Toyota predicts that in about five years, we’ll be able to stream the Internet to cars at nearly the same pace we do at home thanks to low-flying satellites. Previously these satellites have required a large dish, but Kymeta’s system allows such a system to work with flat antennas mounted in the roof. Toyota says this will allow for uninterrupted distribution of large amounts of data to your car practically anywhere in the world. And Toyota says a system like this will be far more stable in a natural disaster than conventional communications. “We’re excited to be working with Toyota on this next generation of vehicle connectivity,” said Nathan Kundtz, CEO of Kymeta. “Kymeta is the first company to successfully demonstrate this type of technology, and we have over 8,000 miles of road testing with cars connected to satellites.”

VW Advanced Gesture Control

The new Tiguan concept unveiled at Detroit features VW’s new Gesture Control, a system Volkswagen announced just days earlier at the Consumer Electronics Show. Gesture Control allows the driver to move their hand in front of the infotainment display, without actually touching anything, and have the system respond as if you’d pressed the screen or buttons. This amazing technology will move into VW’s Golf this year, and into the next-generation Tiguan too.

FordPass App

Sign up for this free app, as a Ford owner or not, and you have access to a marketplace that offers a variety mobility services. Ford says you’ll be able to find easier parking and pay in advance, through ParkWhiz. FordHubs will allow access to explore Ford’s new products at “exclusive events” and find out about new mobility updates. We can see all sorts of potential features that could be added to FordPass in the future, not the least of which could be autonomous ride sharing.

Lincoln Perfect Position Seat

It’s not often that seats are newsworthy. But it’s worth saying a word about Lincoln’s Perfect Position. The brand says they are inspired by the seats found in private jets and can adjust to just about anyone’s shape and weight. The seats can cool, heat, and massage as well, and they offer independent thigh extensions so each side of your body can be treated separately.

Honda Ridgeline Bed Stereo System

Honda’s new Ridgeline is unlike any other pickup truck, from its carlike chassis to its innovative bed system that features a lockable storage trunk. And no other truck has an audio system built right into the bed. The new Ridgeline has an available 540-watt stereo system that uses “exciters” behind the bedside walls instead of conventional speakers. Together with the 400-watt power inverter, the Ridgeline could become an excellent tailgating machine.

 

@info courtesy popular mechanics

Mercedes Adds Pebble Smartwatch to Its Roster of Integrated Wearables

WHILE WE’RE STILL waiting for the day when we can finally ditch our car keys, Mercedes-Benz is inching closer to incorporating wearable tech into its cars. And the latest integration comes in the form of the Pebble smartwatch.

Just like the text, email, and phone call notifications the Pebble currently receives from Android and iOS devices, Mercedes has developed its own series of alerts and features that flow through the Digital DriveStyle app on the driver’s smartphone.

That allows the Pebble to show fuel level, vehicle location, and whether the car’s doors are locked when the driver is away from the vehicle. But they’re not incorporating remote locking or starting. At least, not yet.

Instead, Mercedes’ Silicon Valley lab focused on creating non-intrusive alerts and alternative controls when the driver is behind the wheel.

If there’s an accident or road construction up ahead, the Pebble will vibrate to notify the driver, rather than relying on the navigation screen. Additionally, the three buttons on the right side of the watch can be customized to trigger a driver’s favorite functions, including hazard reporting, skipping songs, auto-routing, and activating Siri on the iPhone to handle more complex tasks like sending a text or picking a playlist using voice commands.

Mercedes has already shown an interest in wearables, developing a prototype that incorporates Google Glass for “Door-to-Door Navigation”, allowing the driver to input a destination into Google Glass, have it transferred to the car when they get inside, and then back to Google’s geek goggles for walking directions.

“We definitely see wearable devices as another trend in the industry that is important to us,” Johann Jungwirth, the automaker’s North American R&D President & CEO, told WIRED when tested out its Google Glass integration earlier this year.

But like Google with Glass, Pebble is just beginning to give developers a shot at creating apps and expanding the functionality of their smartwatches. That means Mercedes had to hack together its own solution for integrating the Pebble with its app, so a version for consumers is still a ways out.