Vision - January/February 2009 - (Page 40) The Q5 will be the first vehicle ever to incorporate an automotive-grade NVIDIA graphics chip, says Barry Hoch, SUV product manager at Audi of America, adding that the chip ensures smooth zooming in and out and no delay in loading the map. from colleagues over the Web (as some cars do now), and sends out an early warning to the dealer so a technician can repair a fault without the car ever having to come into a service bay,” Spira says. The last is part of a business model being pursued by Hughes Telematics Inc., an Atlanta-based service provider to automakers, including Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz. Hughes already supplies some of the technology underlying Chrysler’s UConnect brand for safety and security, hands-free Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, says Erik Goldman, president. By partnering with wireless communications service providers to enable complete communications into and out of the vehicle— including future migration to “4G” broadband wireless technologies such as WiMAX or LTE—Hughes plans to offer a variety of free and subscription-based services to drivers beginning late this year. These will include, for example, consumer applications that can be personalized at a website dedicated to the specific car, and content that can be downloaded to the car over a home’s Wi-Fi network while it is parked in the garage. The first of these services will be available starting this fall for some 2010 model-year Chrysler vehicles, and in November for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, Goldman says. “This is a future that most [automakers] recognize is coming. By 2015, I think it will be more common to buy a vehicle that is connected than one that is not.” ensures smooth zooming in and out and no delay in loading the map. The underlying map data, from NAVTEQ, occupy 28-GB of the vehicle’s 40-GB hard disk drive, with the balance reserved for the user’s stored digital music. The company will also introduce 3D-view navigation in its other models beginning with the 2010 model year. The feature requires an upgrade to the company’s third-generation Multi Media Interface (MMI) technology bundle, which also enables other capabilities—such as Bluetooth audio streaming—that Audi plans to roll out later, as well. Audi is not alone in this plan, either. Volvo expects to integrate Bluetooth audio streaming into its vehicles’ sound systems by 2010, about the same time the company plans to migrate to 3D-view navigation, according to Hans Lahti, technical expert for audio at Volvo Cars Corp. in Goteborg, Sweden. And BMW, too, expects to add Bluetooth audio streaming within two model years, Dance says. Another audio feature enhancement coming in Audi’s new MMI beginning with the Q5 is a Sirius satellite radio preview mode. It eliminates the need to tune in to a channel to find out what is playing on it. Instead, the user can just scroll over the channel in the guide to see this information displayed on the MMI screen. On the XM side of the satellite radio spectrum, Porsche last year was the first to introduce the ability to search through what’s playing on all of those channels, with listings of artists’ names and song titles. This capability is included in the Porsche Communication Management system (PCM 3.0), which debuted in the new 911 Carrera and Carrera S models. More innovations are expected to debut this month at CES, where Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Co. president and CEO, is a keynote speaker—and is likely to present the further evolution of Sync, the automaker’s telematics system based on Microsoft technology. Ultimately, concludes Basex’s Spira, everything about the convergence of CE and cars—from iPod integration to Internet-connected navigation and streaming audio over Bluetooth—is about connectivity and choice. Anything less, he says, “is as obsolete as having an 8-track player in the vehicle.” • www.ce.org 3D-View Navigation and More Vehicles’ built-in navigation systems are evolving in other ways, too. Along with the use of hard disk drives instead of DVDs to store map data arrive three-dimensional map views—topography details that includes mountains and, in urban areas, tall buildings. This evolution started in vehicles sold in Japan and is migrating to those available in Europe and the U.S. BMW has included 3D-view navigation in its 3 Series and 1 Series cars sold here since last year, and will launch it in the new 7 Series in the first quarter of this year. Audi will debut such 3D-view navigation this March in the allnew Q5, a small SUV based on the company’s A4 model. The Q5 will be the first vehicle ever to incorporate an automotive-grade NVIDIA graphics chip, says Barry Hoch, SUV product manager at Audi of America, based in Herndon, Va., adding that the chip 40 January/February 2009 http://www.ce.org
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