Chrysler has announced it will offer wireless charging in its new 2013 Dodge Dart. The charging bin will work with MP3 players and iPhone, Blackberry and Android mobile phones, provided those devices are fitted with a special case.
The Pentastar says that this $199.99 Mopar accessory is an "industry first," but we'll take the liberty of assigning an asterisk* to that claim, as wireless charging has been offered as a third-party solution for some time now (even at new car dealers). This is just the first such offering from an official branch of an OEM. The wireless charging hardware isn't a factory option, it's actually a dealer-installed accessory, which means that buyers will have to pay for installation or do it themselves.
Either way, wireless charging is a very cool piece of technology, and Chrysler does deserve credit for being the first automaker to officially offer it throughout its dealers nationwide - asterisk or otherwise. Scroll down to watch a Mopar video of the technology in action.
Continue reading Chrysler introducing industry's first* wireless charging mat in Dodge Dart [w/video]
Nissan has released the fifth and final teaser of its all-new 2013 Altima sedan ahead of the car's official debut at the 2012 New York Auto Show. It's a good thing this is the last one, because Nissan has seen fit to show off almost the entire car, albeit very quickly and never stationary.
It's plain to see that this new Altima will be much swoopier than before, with a highly stylized front fascia and a steep D-pillar arc. We also note a rising body line that starts below the side mirrors before heading over the rear haunches to the taillamps. At the rear, there appears to be a bulging rump on the trunk lid that reminds us of the infamous Bangle Butt made popular by past BMW models.
It seems Nissan is most interested in promoting its latest interior technology, pointing out that the 2013 Altima will feature a "new Advanced Drive-Assist Display" in the instrument cluster that "is designed to keep the driver focused on the road." Available will be lane departure warning, rear moving object detection and blind spot warning. We're pretty sure we see steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters, too.
Feel free to peruse the press release below, but not before watching the video. Enjoy, and come back next week for the Altima's full reveal.
Continue reading Nissan releases final teaser for all-new Altima [w/video]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has produced a minutely detailed document addressing and attempting to assess driver distractions. According to its numbers, "17 percent (an estimated 899,000) of all police-reported crashes reportedly involved some type of driver distraction in 2010." Out of that number, three percent, or 26,000 accidents, were caused by distraction from "a device/control integral to the vehicle," such as a navigation or infotainment system.
The document provides voluminous guidance to reduce or eliminate possibilities for distracting the driver, and at first glance, their adoption would seem to make in-car navigation systems useless. One of the guidelines suggests that "Systems providing non-safety-related dynamic (i.e. moving spatially) visual information should be capable of a means by which that information is not provided to the driver." Another states that "static or quasi-static maps" are fine - a quasi-static map being one that's updated every few seconds, but "Dynamic, continuously-moving maps are not recommended."
These are only guidelines and they're full of loose phrasing, but the question is what kind of visually useful navigation system could be built to satisfy them. They appear to allow for audio-only navigation while driving, but making maps either inaccessible to the driver or only refreshing them every few seconds would make such systems useless unless a driver can get by with knowing his position once every four seconds. Again, this is only a document that attempts to pair suggestions to evidence derived from hard data, but as far as a practical solution to driver distraction, this might not be the road map drivers or automakers are looking for.
Ford has officially served up the details on the upcoming 2013 F-Series Super Duty. Buyers will be able to snap up the latest work rig with in a new Platinum trim level that throws in niceties like SYNC, MyFord Touch, navigation and a rear-view camera as standard equipment. Power telescoping mirrors are also part of the package.
Unfortunately, the Platinum trim will only be available in Super Duty Crew Cab configuration. Even so, the cabin is swaddled in high-quality wood grain trim and premium leather seating. The leather-wrapped steering wheel is also heated for those really frosty mornings.
Outside, a smattering of chrome trim work sets the 2013 F-Series Super Duty Platinum apart from the rest of the trucks on the job site. Chrome door handles, mirror caps and running boards all add a bit of splash, as do the sizable 20-inch wheels that are newly designed for 2013.
Ford says the MyFord Touch at work in the new Super Duty is truck specific with features like a massive eight-inch touch screen display which has been optimized to function even when users are wearing thick work gloves. See below for the full press release as well as a brief video.
Continue reading Ford unveils 2013 F-Series Super Duty, now with Platinum [w/video]
A few months back, Ford told us that it had listened to consumers and wanted to cure the ills of the first generation MyFord Touch. Starting today, the Blue Oval will begin shipping out USB drives to owners of 2013 Ford Taurus and Flex models, allowing them to install the latest version of the software from the comfort of their garages.
The update addresses many gripes that both the public and press have had with the MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch interface since its launch in 2010. The graphics have undergone a relatively major overhaul with bolder text and a cleaner, more user friendly UI. Just as important, the touchsceen lag we've complained about in the past should be all but eradicated and voice recognition has also improved. No word from Ford on how it's dealt with the intermittent crashes that users have experienced, but we know that it was a top priority for engineers.
Ford's wonks have also added more phone support, Audible audiobook integration, a revamped mapping and navigation system and the ability to link a variety of tablet devices to the Sync platform.
Ford is shipping both a USB flash drive that contains the update and an SD card with all-new mapping data. Ford claims the installation should take around an hour, but if you're hazy on the install process, it can be performed at your local Ford or Lincoln dealer. Make the jump for the official details.
Continue reading MyFord Touch, MyLincoln Touch upgrades shipping this week
Here's a stat for you: By 2014, cars will be in the top three fastest-growing segments for connected devices and streaming content. So it's not entirely surprising that Intel, which has continued to diversify its businesses in the last decade, is betting big on the connected car market.
To that end, the chipmaker has created the Intel Capital Connected Car Fund to invest in technologies and companies that advance in-car infotainment systems.
Intel already has partnerships with BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota and a handful of Chinese manufacturers, but this new fund will primarily finance private and public software and hardware ventures. The key technologies Intel will be focusing on are everything from vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-smartphone and vehicle-to-infrastructure systems, along with speech and gesture recognition, social media integration and eye tracking. Geeky details in the press blast below the fold.
Continue reading Intel socks away $100M for Connected Car Fund
Most of us don't quite understand why we'd want Facebook in our cars, but during a recent Hackathon at Facebook's Palo Alto campus, the Blue Oval and the new Big Blue combined forces to go beyond status updates and photos sharing.
In an effort to make a truly "social" car, devs from Facebook held one of their monthly Hackathons that incorporates some of the social giant's most popular apps into Ford's SYNC system.
The all-nighter bred a handful of integrated apps that allowed you to check-in somewhere as soon as you parked your car, find a restaurant that one of your friends "liked" and even automatically stream songs that your friends have posted on their walls.
You can get a taste of what came out of the event in the video after the jump.
Continue reading Ford attends Facebook Hackathon to create The Social Car
The paradigm has shifted. Normally an automaker's range-topper gets the latest and greatest technology, but with the introduction of the all-new A-Class, Mercedes-Benz is flipping that order on its head.
At next month's Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes will show off the next A-Class and with it, its updated COMAND infotainment system. The user interface has undergone a complete overhaul, ditching the black and beige color scheme for a sharp, modern, three-dimensional design and a range of new features and functions, nearly all of which are centered on the iPhone 4S.
The new Digital DriveStyle app allows drivers to stream AUPEO! radio (Europe's equivalent to Pandora), connect with Facebook and Twitter to read out status updates, find your car in a crowded parking lot and get real-time traffic data and point-of-interest searches through a new Garmin navigation system. All of which is available with the entry-level "Audio 20" setup.
More intriguingly, Mercedes is the first automaker to support and integrate Apple's Siri voice-recognition technology, allowing users to make appointments, send text messages and emails, get weather status and access all their songs through voice commands.
While all these features will be limited to the Euro-only A-Class at first, Mercedes says that the iPhone-integrated COMAND Online suite of services will be coming to the B-, C- and E-Class models this fall. Hit the jump for the full details.
Continue reading Mercedes-Benz integrates iPhone, Siri into all-new A-Class
We record Episode #270 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below. Check out our discussion topics or chime in to help determine what else the crew chats about this evening. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #270
Porsche Macan
Fisker on the ropes?
DOT proposes distracted-driving guidelines
Could smartphone integration be the solution for the DOT?
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Distracted driving is a topic that's on everybody's minds these days, and for good reason. Every new car and truck sold today is packed with more technology than every before, from touchscreen LCDs that offer myriad audio and infotainment options to voice-controlled applications and various forms of smartphone integration.
It comes as little surprise, then, that U.S. Department of Transportation head Ray LaHood has announced a new set of proposed distracted driving guidelines for automakers that would limit the use of in-car tech solutions that are "not directly relevant to safely operating the vehicle, or cause undue distraction by engaging the driver's eyes or hands for more than a very limited duration while driving."
Specifically, DOT is recommending that automakers not introduce technology packages that require both hands to operate or that could take a driver's eyes from the road for more than two seconds. Further, DOT wants technologies that require detailed input from the driver to be disabled while the car is out of park. That would include text messaging and internet browsing along with such tasks as address entry into navigation systems and manual phone dialing.
Future guidelines may include recommendations to manufacturers of aftermarket devices like smartphones, portable GPS units and tablet computers. It's important to note that these guidelines are recommendations, not mandates. Feel free to read the entire press release, which includes specific guidelines, after the break. The public will have 60 days to comment on this proposal before final guidelines are drafted.
Continue reading DOT proposes distracted driving guidelines for automakers
