| Backbone TV |
NEW Geoweb video
|
|
|
| It’s a computer. It’s a cellphone. It’s...your car |
September 11, 2008 |
Cars have changed dramatically in the past year. Here’s a rundown of the tech to expect in your next ride
 By Laurance Yap
Fans of the Terminator movies might call it the rise of the machines. It’s been happening for years, of course, but it is increasingly evident that the way cars work — the experience of driving — is governed more by computers than by gears. We now have features and capabilities that were once the realm of science fiction, like navigation systems that can read traffic signals and radar-based cruise control that maintains a set distance from the car ahead.
Whether you’re inside the car or looking under the hood, high-tech is everywhere, even in places you’re not expecting to find it. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most interesting tech tidbits of the last year.
His master’s voice
When Ford first announced it was entering into a collaboration with Microsoft on in-car connectivity, the part of me that’s a diehard Mac enthusiast stifled a laugh. It was all too easy to joke about system crashes, restarting the car and “general protection car faults.”
But the system, called Sync, is here and it works - quite well, in fact. With it you can wirelessly connect and operate your cellphone or PDA and also control and access all of the information on a wide range of entertainment devices like iPods and other portable music players connected to the car’s built-in USB port. It’s all done through a set of convenient dashboard controls, a dash-top screen and voice commands, which you issue after pushing a button on the steering wheel.
Want to dial the phone? Say a name from your address book or call out a number and Sync dials it for you, even if you haven’t recorded a voice command for the person you’re dialing. Unlike other systems on the market, Sync doesn’t need to be trained. Selecting tracks from a music source is equally simple: you browse tracks, change playlists and choose inputs by speaking or touching a button. The system can also read inbound text messages and you can speak the names of artists and genres of music and Sync will go searching for the correct files on your music player.
None of this technology is really new; high-end cars have been listening to voice commands for years. But the high level of integration is notable, and Sync aims to democratize this technology. Sync will be in your new Lincoln but you’ll also be able to get it in the entry-level Focus as well. It’s the first time such high-end electronics have been available at a reasonable price point: just $495 as an option on the Focus, which starts at under $16,000.
Ford has exclusive rights to Microsoft’s in-car technology until 2010, at which time the software company is free to license it to other automakers; already Microsoft has announced Hyundai and Kia will feature the next-generation system starting that year.
Digital soundscapes
One of the most interesting - and expensive - options available on any car today is the US$7,800 Bang & Olufsen advanced audio package available on the Audi A8 and S8. That’s a serious chunk of change when you consider Audi’s standard 12-speaker Bose system is already darn fine. But unlike most audio packages, the upgrade consists of electronics as well as mechanics, and this is immediately visible when you enter the S8. The loudspeakers — in the doors, in the dashboard and most prominently on the rear parcel shelf — are encased in aluminum cabinets. Turn on the car and the audio system fires up with a visual flourish as the information screen powers into view and two small inverted cone-shaped units emerge at the corners of the dashboard.
The cones, which sit on top of a pair of tiny speakers, are called acoustic lenses. Their purpose, beyond looking really cool, is to better disperse the stereo’s higher tones so they’re heard more clearly by everyone in the car. After some fiddling with the numerous controls — signal-processing options allow you to focus the sound on the front or rear seat, alter the size of the virtual sound stage, and compress a CD’s dynamic range for a more consistent volume — the system is a revelation. The clarity with which it plays CDs is exceptional; you can hear the tiniest little foot-shuffles during live performances and the high notes on any recording don’t get muddled even when the volume is turned way up. Bass notes rock the cabin without literally rocking the cabin and introducing extra vibrations like in most other cars, and at low volumes you can still hear each instrument clearly and separately.
Car or cellphone?
 Land Rover’s chief designer, Gerry McGovern, is quick to point out that while the LRX concept car represents a big step in terms of the company’s positioning, its styling is a clear evolution of the familiar Land Rover design.
It’s inside where Land Rover’s intentions for this vehicle become clear. The LRX is awash in high-grade leather and high-tech aluminum, and buttons aren’t buttons so much as touch-sensitive pads, their outlines backlit like on a Motorola RAZR phone.
In fact, phones were an important inspiration for the LRX designers. They realized that many of the features often found in cars — music, contact lists, etc. — are already available on people’s smartphones. So instead of having a bulky infotainment unit, the LRX simply has a docking station where you plug in your iPhone. Why burden owners of the car with yet another manual to read and another operating logic to learn?
However, this is a bit of a future play: Land Rover admits that, while an iPhone can sit in the centre console with an Engine Start button alongside its music player, telephone and Web browser, none of the software engineering to make the advanced auto-integrated functionoality work has been completed yet. But that is coming.
Ford’s new entry-level Fiesta, which was introduced at the Geneva auto show last March and will soon be on sale around the world, also has a design that was heavily inspired by portable consumer electronics. Its dashboard was designed to mimic the functionality and look of the mobile phones owned by its frequently text-messaging young female target audience.
Servers on wheels
Many technophiles have already set up home entertainment and information networks with servers streaming video and audio to different locations, centralized storage for all forms of media and the ability to operate from anywhere with the touch of a few buttons. The same trend is invading the car world, in a slightly miniaturized form. Hard drives live in the trunk serving up navigation to the driver, with photos, movies and audio being piped to the passengers. In larger vehicles, different passengers can select different entertainment sources, or plug in their own iPods and control them through the car’s built-in controls.
These servers are easy to use, too: Chrysler’s excellent MyGig infotainment system, developed in conjunction with Harman/Kardon, combines navigation, audio, telephone and other functions into one easy-to-use touchscreen installed at the top of the dashboard. Not only can you browse radio stations (including Sirius satellite frequencies) but the on-board hard drive allows you to record songs from discs or the radio. There’s a USB port for downloading photos and movies, and many functions are also available with voice commands. In the back, kids can program the two big screens to run media from two separate DVD players or an auxiliary input.
Next-gen nav
Now that in-car navigation systems are becoming increasingly commonplace, more and more customers are starting to ask: so what’s next?
How about a navigation system that can automatically route you around traffic jams? It’s the logical extension of a system designed to get you where you’re going efficiently. Already quite commonplace in Europe, where digital information has long been broadcast over radio, real-time traffic monitoring is now available in several major cities in the U.S., as well as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Reading traffic information already broadcast over conventional radio using RDS (radio data system) or signals broadcast over satellite, these systems know where the traffic jams are and automatically re-plot your route to avoid them, saving you time and aggravation.
The big player in next-gen real-time traffic information right now in the U.S. is XM NavTraffic, which is available on select Acura, Cadillac and Infiniti models, but competing provider Sirius (which has announced it will merge with XM) launched its TravelLink system at the Detroit auto show as an option in the new Ford F150. In addition to providing real-time traffic reports and automatic re-routing, it also can display coast-to-coast weather conditions and real-time fuel price information.
Multiple personalities
But beyond these electronic nice-to-haves, the big shift is that driving is now largely based on a digital representation of the road. Steering is assisted by variable-ratio electric motors, slides and skids are handled by computer-actuated braking systems, and the gas pedal is only connected to the engine by a set of wires, not an actual throttle cable. Suspensions and steering systems that can flip from super-hard for track use to super-comfortable for freeway cruising are appearing, so traditionally stiff, uncomfortable sports cars like Porsches or Lamborghinis are now more suited to daily driving.
 The intervention of electronic stability control systems is so subtle and smooth that there’s very little benefit to switching them off, especially given the safety boost they provide. Lexus’ Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system in the LS600h works in concert with its hybrid drive to keep the big car pointed where you want. Sometimes the interventions of the computers are a little less subtle. The first time I steered the new Infiniti G37 into a corner at the test track, I nearly took out a whole row of pylons thanks to the car’s active four-wheel-steering system. After a few more turns, however, I came to love it. You can maintain speed through quick turns with an amazing sense of stability and confidence.
Should we be worried about the onward march of microchips in today’s cars? As a part-time IT guy who spends a lot of time fixing software that seems to randomly go bad, I’m naturally a bit cautious about any new gadgetry, especially the latest whiz-bang features on the highest-end luxury cars. But once the innovations start filtering down to more common models, and after a few years of working out the kinks, I’m happy to have them sprouting out of my dash or helping out the car’s mechanics. The benefits are just too great to ignore.
autoForward Archive
|
|
|
| Green Innovation |
|
|
| Top 300 Issue |
 
|
| Gadget of the Week (Canadian) |
|
Pick the best 3G for you
RIM Blackberry Bold
Choosing the right smartphone is an important decision, and here’s the good news: while both the new iPhone and the Bold are excellent, the feel is entirely different, making it easy to choose.
more>>
|
| Gadget of the Week (Japanese) |
Sounds of Japan
Why record just the visual when you can capture the sounds as well.
more>> |
| Backblog RSS feed |
Click to subscribe  |
|
sponsored by 
