Seeing all the comments on "infotainment" systems, I'd like to add that MMI is much more than that. Many of the car's systems are controlled/customized through MMI, including steering and throttle response, suspension settings, interior and exterior lighting systems, service intervals, GPS navigation, etc.

Wow, Toyota is going to "allow" bluetooth pairing in next year's models? Welcome to 2005 Toyota! This is 2013, right?

I've had no pairing issues in my 2013 Audi with the MMI system. It works flawlessly with my Lumia over bluetooth. It even detects changes in contacts on my phone re-syncs it with the MMI system whenever the car is started. Using MMI I can also access placed and missed calls, my voice mailbox, etc. Call transfers and multi-party calls also work.

What's this "fee" for using your phone as a hotspot? Oh right... US carriers. Carry on...

Oh, and what OS is running in the device that you connect your BYO to? Surely, you don't think that's an analog connection these days...

Nah, he's just a 'Murican!

Seriously, this is a MAJOR problem with the so-called "news" in the US. It's so US-centric (and crime and entertainment-centric) that even the prime minister of the UK is not known by name.

... the beginning of the end is near...

Interesting study.

Now please explain Sarah Palin.

I love it:

  'All that foam cushion and padding probably didn't add all that much comfort. All that's been taken out,' he said. 'You haven't really lost all that much if the airline does it right.'

Pure speculation at its finest and spoken by a person who probably doesn't travel much.

Maybe so, but you can bet the manufacturer keeps track of the items shipped by serial number and to whom they have been shipped.

If it ain't broke, then why does MS still keep pushing out patches for XP? Because there are exploitable holes, that's why.

The whole thing falls apart after April 2014 when MS stops pushing out any patches for XP. Zero-day exploits will undoubtedly appear shortly thereafter, and now black hat hackers will have a huge incentive to target XP machines because they know that once they are in, a patch is not coming to close the hole. Think about that for a moment...

The only way to keep an XP machine safe from attacks after April 2014 is to unplug it from the internet completely.

Please let it die, it's had a good run. It's time to move on.

"*Big Pharma Companies* have been powerless to stop the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and are increasingly desperate to develop novel drugs."

Here's a hint: Stop indiscriminately throwing antibiotics at everything that moves. It's precisely the over-use of these drugs that has created the problem in the first place.

+1 Insightful, where are my mod points when I need them.

Same here in Finland. My last two cars (VW, Audi) did not even require routine service until they hit 30,000 km (19k mi). With my daily commute that's about 2 years. In between, just top off fluids, if needed. The routine service is little more than a simple oil change, checking the brakes, tires, etc.

I completely support Tesla's idea of selling direct, even if I'm not an owner (yet). I hope that they someday find a solution for batteries in Nordic climes, so it's a viable car here as well. After all, we already use the grid to keep our cars warm and start-able in the winter.

I find it appalling that some states, including my own home state, are using legal means to try and block Tesla from entering the market. Whatever happened to the so-called free market in the US? This sounds decidedly less free market.

Native Texan here born and raised, and 100% true.

Fortunately, I decided to leave the state (and the country, for that matter).

Not necessarily stupid, but ignorant. They are not the same.

Nope, it's the kossu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kossu