Tricked-Out Cars Trickling Down

Good sends us to an IBTimes article on the expanding trend for more options for electronic gadgetry — telematics — in cars. Manufacturers are including more high-tech options in more models, including low-end models, as component prices drop and as the car makers attempt to sell to a demographic that has grown up surrounded by personal electronics. According to a telematics analyst, Bluetooth hands-free modules for cell phones will be available on more than a third of car models sold in the US in 2007, and auxiliary jacks for iPods in nearly half. From the article: "One of the industry's more advanced systems will be Ford's Sync, which connects digital music players to the car's voice-control communications system and reads aloud cell-phone text messages and has 20 preset text-message responses... The flash memory-based system, controlled through voice commands and buttons on the steering wheel, is based on a Microsoft Corp. operating system for cars."

stupid

[Pojut]

and auxiliary jacks for iPods in nearly half

Do they literally mean iPod specific, or do they simply mean that factory radios with aux line-inputs will be more commonplace?

Christ I hate how people think that iPod's are the only thing someone would hook up to car's sound system via aux-in.

Just what we need

[spun]

More gadgets distracting people as they drive.

Ford + Microsoft = ???

[MattyCobb]

I mean I use Windows and while I don't drive an American car I am all for getting our auto industry out of the shitter, but c'mon... Ford + Microsoft = works well? I just don't see that happening...

What about real "Crashes"?

[WiiVault]

With all of the peripheral electronics involved I only hope that they are smart enough to separate this from the safety functions of the car. If the MS OS crashes and the airbags fail or the car becomes unresponsive this could be a real tragedy. Ford + MS is hardly the kind of combo I would be willing to trust.

Re:Just what we need

[svendsen]

Except I have read a few articles where the research has shown it's not the issue of both hands being on the wheel, it's the actual conversation on the phone which distracts the drivers and there has been no evidence hands free reduces accidents. Once you take you mind off the road (phone, computer, eating, fighting with someone in the car, etc) that's what causes the accidents. I see no reason to have all this stuff available to the driver when DRIVING. The safety of the driver and others is greater then their need to check stocks, email, etc.

Maybe...

[svendsen]

They could focus more on mileage, pollution, quality, etc. of cars then the bells and whistles?

Neat...

[sporkme]

Fun gadgets are great, but how about making vehicles more user-serviceable? I can fix anything on my '96, but my mom's^w girlfriend's '06 is a mystery to me. On many Kia models, you can't even change the oil without special tools.

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -- Antoine de Saint-Exuper

Oh, and check my spinners!

Re:Just what we need

[svendsen]

That is interesting to say the least. I wonder if it's because the other people in the car can sense dangerous situations and be quiet. But overall I think adding any distractions to the driver is just a bad idea. Have gadgets in the car fine; don't make them available to the driver if driving.

The other good old days

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Remember when people designed cards for driving? All this in-car entertainment etc cannot be really contributing to good driving.

As for voice commanded anything, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkeC7HpsHxo [youtube.com] . I've worked with vehicle electronics for quite a while, any wonder that I drive a 1980s car with manual everything?

"Tricked Out" BAH!

[iminplaya]

That's all rice boy stuff. Where are the Holleys, the Edelbrocks, the Hooker headers, the Koni shocks, the glass packs, the high compression engines??? That's what makes a tricked out car, not decals and cell phones, and home theater(in the car??? Sheez). Just give me one that will do the driving for me.

Re:The other good old days

[LoudMusic]

Remember when people designed cars for driving? All this in-car entertainment etc cannot be really contributing to good driving.

Instead of rolling entertainment I'd like to see accident avoidance technology become more common place. I think it's Mercedes Benz that has all kinds of road sensors for keeping the car between the lines and at safe distances from the vehicle in front. Makes more sense to me than hands free telephone in the car.

Driving a hybrid I'd like to see GPS data used to improve efficiency of hybrids and other efficient vehicles. Knowing what's coming up, as far as hills and such, could allow the car to better handle cruise control to make better use of the electric motor / batteries. All the technology is in the car already, it just doesn't talk to each other yet.

Can I buy a car without all that junk please?

[JustNiz]

I don't want to be charged extra to be able to plug in an iPod I don't have.

It wouldn't be so bad if it really was just a standard aux socket, but some car manufacturers are actually providing ipod-specific docking sockets which are useless if you happen to have any other player.

How about people learn to drive?

[CasperIV]

People always want easier cars; cars that drive for them. How about we tell people that you can't have a smart car until your a smart person? Sounds like a plan to me.... driving not a right, it's a privilege and a lot of people do not deserve it. The more the car does, the less the person pays attention.

The electronics I really want

[Bryansix]

I want auto manufactures to include a device to actually read the information stored in the Engine Management computer and allow you to download it an analyze it on your home computer. I mean it really sucks that all cars contain an OBD-II connector but don't come with a way to use it. Why should I have to spend almost $200 for a device like this when it could just be included with the car and almost no cost to the manufacturer?

No thanks.

[Lumpy]

Cars already have too many electronic systems that fail easily, now they want to pile in more shit?

No thanks.

What car makers are making things sane? I.E. DIN car stereo mounts instead of this integrated crap that GM, Ford, and Toyota are pulling?

I have a Pontiac car right now that if you press the power window up on the drivers side and the passenger side at the same time it resets the WHOLE car's computer system except for the engine management. Headlights go off, dashboard resets, etc... that is incredibly silly that the power windows are in any way attached to the system that turns the headlights on.

No thanks, I want a car that has electronics with either complete seperation or 5 nines of reliability. WE know that the car makers cant make reliability, so hopefully someone wil continue to make cars without all the crap.

Re:"ipod" jack, aka aux input

[Wordplay]

Sure. So, once the car stereos that have a detachable 60GB+ drive built-in come out, we can do away with the AUX jack.

There's a fundamental difference between the older equipment that an AUX served and the newer equipment. The newer equipment is the player and the media, not just the player. There's no advantage in replicating the player, because you'd just have to copy the media. Really, the most convenient method is to interface to your existing MP3 player. It's already storing everything, and you only have to sync to one device.

The next step up from here is streaming off your home computer over your mobile network connection. We're probably a little ways off, still. Even then, I suspect the AUX jack will stick around. Personal audio is much, much more diverse than it used to be. Even the different MP3 players have some radically different presentations and capabilities.

Re:Neat...

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you serious? Car manufacturers want the car to the least "user-serviceable as possible." The manufacturers support the dealers/repair shops so that you have to go to them whenever you need service. It's getting to the point where you WILL have to go to the dealer for a oil change. The dealers get more money from servicing vehicles than selling them! No shop except my VW dealership will touch the electronics on my bug because they are the only shop that can reset the key code, for example.