Infotainment

As we're seeing with cars like the 2011 Ford Fiesta, small size no longer means a small specification list. The 2012 Toyota Yaris will be no different. The car has just been launched in Europe and more details have been revealed about what toys you can expect to have in Toyota's smallest model. The...

It's official: In-car CD players are so last century. If you're not listening to your music via a portable MP3 player or USB drive in your car, then you may as well give up on the luxuries of modern motoring altogether. Okay, we won't be that harsh on you, but flash drives and in-car MP3...

You can make your own mind up about the styling of the upcoming 2012 BMW 1-Series hatchback, but one thing is for certain: with larger dimensions and more efficiency, the appeal of BMW's smallest model will be broader than ever. Most exciting for tech fans will be the EfficientDynamics and...

What electronic feature would you most like from your next car? That's what J.D. Power and Associates asked 18,000 vehicle owners, and 55 percent were interested in a vehicle diagnostics service. A system that allows your vehicle to send and receive information on car troubles to an engineer was...

While in the past we’ve seen Microsoft work closely with Fiat in the auto industry to develop the Blue&Me electronic interface, the software giant is now partnering with Volkswagen to help develop the next-generation of in-car entertainment technology, and possibly do-away with in-car DVD...

Kids these days don't know how good they have it. The most entertainment many of us could muster on a long journey was playing I-spy, or maybe kicking our siblings and getting away with it when they complained. In-car DVD has made long trips a much quieter experience for parents, and now a deal...

Nintendo's 3DS has caused something of a stir in the world of 3D imaging. Rather than using unfashionable and unwieldy 3D glasses to view a stereoscopic image, the 3DS and some other recent gadgets use autostereoscopy, utilizing two layered screens to display an image that appears 3D to the user...

Volvo is updating its XC70 crossover and S80 flagship sedan for the 2012 model year, adding its latest safety and infotainment technologies to the new models in an effort to keep sales chugging along against a much newer range of competitors. The new features include the latest Volvo...

Straight outta Redmond, Toyota and Microsoft will be pairing up for a new Windows Azure-based telematics platform that Toyota is pitching as a "contribution to society," designed to save energy in every aspect of your life. Microsoft's tendrils are about to reach even more deeply into your life. At...

A new strategic partnership between Toyota and Microsoft will see the next generation of telematics systems built on the Microsoft Azure platform, allowing the incorporation of GPS, energy management, multimedia, and more within a single platform. Microsoft's SYNC system, already several years old...

New technology is exciting, but like most exciting things it's also fraught with peril -- and that's doubly true for developers. Think of all the tsoris caused by the great VHS vs. Beta battles of the 1980s, or the far more recent Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war, both of which cost manufacturers billions of...

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) we brought you news of MINI Connected's first app: Pandora. Today, MINI expands on what Connected adds to the in-car experience with this detailed video highlighting its key features. Want to link your iPhone to Twitter, Facebook, Google Local Search, or...

As we reported earlier, Saab is working on a new telematics and infotainment system for its future cars called Saab IQon. The new system, previewed this week in Saab’s striking PhoeniX concept, is essentially a new car communications platform based on Google’s Android operating system...

Tonight, Chevrolet unveiled its new Chevy MyLink in-car infotainment package, which lets drivers control integrated online services like Pandora internet radio and Stitcher SmartRadio using either touch-screen menu options or voice commands to control smart phones via Bluetooth connectivity. While...

There were a couple of more interesting articles the past few days involving software in cars. Early last week, Markus Waibul over on the Automaton blog and I both wrote (here and here) on the concept of "car platooning." I also noted in my post the Ford development effort involving a new crash...

Rupert Stadler, Audi chairman, gave a keynote speech at CES this morning. While he spoke very little of specifics, he did lay out a missions statement for the company to continue to be a leader and to break new ground in in-car electronics. The first step in that direction is the new MMI interface...

If you're into in-car infotainment systems (and you are) you've probably heard about Chrysler's Uconnect Touch system. Built in collaboration by Garmin and Chrysler, the system's launch vehicle was the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and it's available on a number of other 2011 Chrysler vehicles...

Just yesterday AT&T and BMW announced their partnership for in-car cellular Web connectivity, but it's today's OnStar-Verizon prototype that's really proving to be interesting, if ephemeral. Why? Because the proposed tech allows things like Skype video chat, voice-to-text, vehicle and home...

Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, apps in the car? That's the formula for Toyota's new Entune multimedia/app system, announced today at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. From iheartradio's 750 local radio stations to movie tickets, real-time traffic, and more, the Entune system...

Volkswagen is inviting designers, programmers, developers and interested users to help develop applications for the infotainment systems of the future as part of the new contest App My Ride. In the contest users can jointly develop new infotainment applications with Volkswagen. A jury of experts...