GM To Intro V2V “Talking Cars” in 2 Years

AMY GILROY SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 0

General Motors will introduce in 2016 what may be the first car that can talk to other cars to prevent accidents, it announced Sunday.

In addition GM will start rolling out semi-self-driving technology to cars as an option, also in 2016.

The first car to receive vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) car to car communication will be the 2017 model year Cadillac CTS sedan (to be sold in 2016).  It can only communicate with other cars that have the same technology, however, so its use will be limited initially.  GM said the Fed also has to finalize requirements for this V2V technology before it can be deployed. Also, the new technology will allow cars to communicate with road infrastructure or V2I technology to help reduce traffic.

Also in 2016, GM will start rolling out handsfree driving (or semi-autonomous driving) that uses lane following and speed control. GM calls this “Super Cruise” technology.

GM CEO Mary Barra, told attendees of the Intelligent Transportation Society’s World Congress Sunday that this type of technology is now “imperative,” to prevent accidents and the environment.

Traffic jams cause urban Americans to travel 5.5 billion more hours and purchase an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel each year, according to the Texas Transportation Research Institute.

Barra also announced that GM will help create 120 miles of V2I enabled roads in metro Detroit, which when complete, will be the largest use of V2I tech in the US.  It is joining forces with other automakers and the Michigan DOT and University of Michigan on the project.

“The sooner the industry puts a critical mass of V2V-equipped vehicles on the road, the more accidents we’ll prevent… and the more society – and individual drivers – will benefit. The same holds true for V2I,” she said.

Car Tablet-In-A-Box

Car Tablet-In-A-Box Ships for GM

AMY GILROY AUGUST 29, 2014 0

Intraphex’s tablet-in-a-box that you add to a car radio is now it’s finally shipping.

After two years of previews, Intraphex, now part of AAMP of America, is shipping the Prodigy Pro for GM cars that turns GM 7-inch MyLink radios into Android tablets with touch screen control.

The device is a black box with a 1.2GHz Cortex A9 processor running Android 4.3 with WiFi capability; so if you use your smartphone as a hotspot, you get an Internet connection.  Users can download apps directly to the radio from GooglePlay and get any feature offered by Android. And as OnStar is rolling out 4G to its cars, soon Prodigy Pro will offer Internet without a smartphone or personal hotspot.

“GM doesn’t support Spotify but there’s a ton of Spotify users in the market. With this you can download the Spotify app and play it in the car,” said Senior Product Manager for Intraphex, Don Zaney.    He added, “You can turn your radio into one of the most advanced on the market.”

While you can get YouTube and Netflix on the unit, it has a safety feature, so that at about 3 mph, only safe apps are permitted such as navigation, music, weather and news.  Called the PPN-GM11 Prodigy Pro, it also has a digital video recorder (DVR) function and, it also connects to the car’s OBD2 port over Bluetooth so it has access to the car’s on board computer and engine data.  It is shipping now at $1,299.95.

Also, Intraphex says it also now the only company offering an aftermarket add-on navigation/backup camera interface for GM MyLink factory radios with 4.2 inch screens.  The P1N-GM13, now shipping, has an overlay to convert the factory screen to touch controls. The plug and play interface works with separate backup cameras.  It uses iGO Primo navigation and Nuance voice recognition with features including Google search and 3D building imagery and terrain.

Smartphone Mirroring on the Factory Radio

CRUX Interfacing Solutions has begun shipping two new WiFi audio/video integration kits that allow smartphone mirroring on the factory radio.

The kits work with Ford/Lincoln vehicles with MyFord Touch radios and with General Motors LAN 29-Bit vehicles from 2007 to 2013.

The CRUX kits WVIFD-02 and WVIGM-04 allow video streaming from a smartphone onto the car radio screen while the car is in motion for both Android and Apple iOS devices.  Users may deactivate the video-in-motion feature through their radio control buttons.  The kits  also permit audio streaming.

'iPhone 6' rumors

Apple has reportedly asked partner suppliers in Asia to ramp up mass production of expected 4.7- and 5.5-inch "iPhone 6" models, with combined orders for both versions amounting to between 70 million and 80 million units.

"iPhone 6" and "iPhone 6c" concepts by Martin Hajek.

What to expect:
'iPhone 6' rumors

• Larger screen, thinner design
• Two new sizes: 4.7" & 5.5"
• Faster next-gen 'A8' CPU
• Fall 2014 launch

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➤ Learn more

Citing sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports Apple is asking suppliers to produce between 70 million and 80 million 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 models by the end of December, the biggest initial handset order in company history. 

As noted by the publication, the supposed order is much larger than the initial production run for combined iPhone 5s and 5c models, which came out to between 50 million and 60 million units in 2013. 

In addition to the expectedly large launch offering, or offerings, Apple is reportedly asking suppliers to ready components for up to 120 million iPhones by the end of 2014 to compensate for possible display failures. With larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens, display makers are said to be seeing yield issues due to the inclusion of advanced in-cell touch technology. The overall figure is huge compared to last year, which saw Apple prepare parts for 90 million iPhones for its supply chain, sources said. 

It appears Apple may already be experiencing manufacturing delays, however, as the people said Foxconn and Pegatron are expected to start production of the 4.7-inch version in August. Foxconn is supposedly responsible for all 5.5-inch iPhone 6 orders and will begin manufacturing the "phablet" in September, suggesting the handset will not see release until October at the soonest. 

The report contrasts a recent rumor that pegged iPhone 6 production to begin this week for the smaller version, while the larger next-gen model would hit the assembly line in August.

Remote Start From a Watch Coming Soon

AMY GILROY JULY 16, 2014 0

The ability to remote start cars from a smartwatch will be available by the end of the year from General Motors. And Hyundai is planning to let you remote start a car from Google Glass.

Aftermarket suppliers say they are watching the trend.

Tom Malone of VOXX (Audiovox) said once a smartwatch develops a large market share, it would consider providing an app for it.   “It would have to be something of the scale where a company made a watch that sold in the millions and we’d look at apps that would talk to our remote starters.” VOXX has no plans, however, to offer a smartwatch under its own brand for the purpose of remote starting a car.

But that million-unit selling watch could happen soon with Apple expected to launch an “iWatch” this fall. Also, we’re starting to see smartwatches using Android Wear hitting the market.

GM’s planned app will work with the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 that launched in April.  The app is is essentially a scaled down version of its current remote-start-from-a-phone RemoteLink app, already in use for Android, iOS and other smartphones. It will also lock and unlock doors from the watch and flash your lights to find your parked car.

Hyundai demonstrated remote start from Google Glass back in January, in its 2015 Genesis.  The Genesis is now in showrooms but the app for Glass is not yet live.

A spokesman said, “Our announcement showed our initial exploration into wearable technologies.  We have not yet made a Blue Link app available to all Google Glass explorers.  Hyundai is continuing to study the quickly evolving wearable tech space and working on solutions that will support these new devices within our Blue Link ecosystem.”

Other companies who have shown wearables working with cars include Volvo, Nissan, Mercedes, BMW, Harman and INRIX.

Garmin also offers a navigation app for the Sony’s SmartWatch 2.

Custom In-Car Wireless Phone Chargers

First Custom In-Car Wireless Phone Chargers

AMY GILROY JULY 8, 2014 0

Brandmotion is shipping the first aftermarket line of in-car wireless phone chargers that are customized for many vehicles.

It is offering a small wireless charging panel that connects to the car’s electrical system (so no wires are seen).  Users just place a phone on the pad while driving, and the phone charges.

Brandmotion is using the popular Qi wireless standard for its device.

The catch is that both the phone and charging pad must be Qi-capable, so Brandmotion offers adapter sleeves to slide over an iPhone 4 or iPhone 5.

The Toyota Camry will soon  join the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, 2014 Toyota Avalon and a handful of other vehicles as the only new cars with built-in wireless charging.  Brandmotion says it will cover just about every other vehicle with a custom charging kit under its FreedomCharge line.  The first four of these kits are now shipping.

“We anticipate the car makers will be the catalyst for a major marketing push outlining the benefits of wireless charging in the car,” said Jeff Varick, Brandmotion President.  “Our message on top of that is simple – you can get the same benefit they are offering in new cars, in a kit that’s made specifically for your car – today. And for a whole lot less than buying a new car.”

Charging kits for the 2013-2014 Ford Fusion;  2011-2014 Toyota Camry;  and 2009-2014 Ram trucks with bucket seats are now available. A universal kits is also now shipping: the installer may cut the pad to fit any console tray up to 10.5 by 7.5 inches and then hard wire it to the car.

Kits for other car models should become available each month.

'iPhone 6' to launch on Sept. 25, larger 5.5" version dubbed 'iPhone Air'

Rumor: Apple's 'iPhone 6' to launch on Sept. 25, larger 5.5" version dubbed 'iPhone Air'

By AppleInsider Staff

Another questionable rumor out of China on Thursday claims Apple will announce its next-gen iPhone on Sept. 15 ahead of a Sept. 25 launch date, while mention is made of a 16GB 5.5-inch version that will supposedly be called "iPhone Air."

"iPhone 6" and "iPhone 6c" concepts by Martin Hajek.

What to expect:
'iPhone 6' rumors

• Larger screen, thinner design
• Two new sizes: 4.7" & 5.5"
• Faster next-gen 'A8' CPU
• Fall 2014 launch

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➤ Learn more

According to Chinese language website China.com, industry sources are telling various media outlets in the region that Apple is planning to start sales of its next iPhone on Sept. 25, with China expected to be in the first group of countries to get the device.

The report, spotted by GforGames is highly suspect, as Apple historically starts sales of new iPhone models on Fridays, and Sept. 25 is a Thursday. Last year, Apple performed a simultaneous launch with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on Friday, Sept. 20.

Perhaps more believable, though by no means verifiable, is a rumor from May saying that Apple plans to launch the device or devices on Sept. 19, a date echoed in a follow-up report last week.

Insiders also said a 5.5-inch "phablet" version of the next-gen "iPhone 6" will be called "iPhone Air," though such a move would likely confuse the "Air" naming convention. As it stands, the MacBook Air represents the Apple's smallest and lightest laptops, while the "Air" moniker is assigned to the company's largest iPad.

As for pricing, Thursday's report is exactly in line with prior claims that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will cost 5,288 yuan (about $850) when it hits store shelves. While last week's rumor failed to mention a 16GB variant of an anticipated 5.5-inch iPhone, today's report cites insiders as saying the device does exist and expects it to run 5,998 yuan (about $965).

Finally, sources claim Apple's partner carriers in the region, China Mobile and China Unicom, are already testing prototype iPhone 6 units on their respective 4G networks.

When the next-gen iPhone lineup does launch sometime this fall, many expect the handset to feature a complete redesign relocated sleep/wake button, slimmed-down profile and advanced innards like an "A8" processor. Some analysts believe Apple plans to differentiate the purported 5.5-inch version from its smaller siblings by adding on features like optical image stabilization and higher storage capacities.