Items tagged with infotainment
Over the last few years, the infotainment systems inside cars, trucks, and SUVs have become increasingly complex and powerful. They are even getting their own dedicated chipsets from major brands, like the Samsung Exynos Auto V9 that was unveiled in January. New research suggests that while new infotainment system technology has the potential to increase comfort and extend mobility for older drivers, it is a distraction. New AAA Foundation research indicates that infotainment systems are particularly distracting to older drivers. Older drivers age 55-75, on average, took their eyes and attention off the road for more than eight seconds longer than younger drivers age 21 to 36. The time difference...
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Intel, Google, and Volvo Cars have announced at Google I/O that Intel will be powering Volvo's next-gen in-car infotainment systems. These infotainment systems will be powered by the latest Intel Atom SoC and run Android P. At the show, the new infotainment system is being demonstrated in a prototype Volvo XC40 compact crossover utility vehicle. Volvo notes that the new infotainment system has advanced features like voice recognition via Google Assistant, support for the Android app ecosystem directly from Google Play Store and the ability to use Google Maps natively in the infotainment system. You won't need to connect your smartphone via Android Auto to get this functionality -- it's already...
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Creature comforts inside automobiles are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with a larger emphasis placed on the infotainment system. However, drivers should use caution when fiddling around with in-vehicle electronics. There have been numerous reports and studies of the ill effects of distracted driving, and it is no longer mostly relegated to texting. New research commissioned by the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety underscores what previous studies have already indicated—that distracted driving is a growing problem. The study points out that it can take around 40 seconds to program a car's navigation system. In a vehicle that is traveling at a speed of just 25...
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Buying a shiny new car is an easy way to get the latest in-car technologies, but it’s not the most economical. I've had my fair share of new car purchases in the last decade – a 2008 Chevy HHR SS, 2011 Volkswagen Routan SE, 2014 Mazda 5 Sport and a 2015 Nissan Leaf – and driven hundreds of press cars featuring the latest technologies and infotainment systems. Despite new cars being technically superior on paper, the average age of vehicles on the road in 2016 was 11.6 years old, according to IHS Markit. We’ve seen substantial upgrades to the car stereo and infotainment systems in the last decade, including the elimination of the cassette and CD players, integrated navigation systems, improved...
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Tech giants like Apple and Google are making a big play to take over your car’s dashboard. Their respective CarPlay and Android Auto platforms allow you to connect your smartphone via a USB cable (or wirelessly in future implementations of CarPlay) and mirror functionality to your vehicle’s center-mounted display. Phone, texting, audio streaming, and navigation functionality is all made accessible through the touch screen in a format that supposedly cuts down on distracted driving, making the roads safer for us all. As we find ourselves becoming part of an increasingly connected world, it was only a matter of time before our vehicles started becoming an extension of the smartphones that we carry...
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Detroit may be bankrupt, but the surrounding towns seem to be doing quite well. Ann Arbor has traditionally been a fairly well-to-do place, with the University of Michigan no doubt having a very positive impact. And clearly, NVIDIA is willing to bite while everyone else is selling The Motor City. The company has just announced that it will soon open up the NVIDIA Technology Center in Ann Arbor, and it notes that both Microsoft and Google have also recently opened offices in southeast Michigan, not far from Detroit. Interestingly, software developers are in high demand in the area, as all of the local automakers seek to re-envision the dashboard and up the ante with superior infotainment systems....
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