01/09, 12:09pm
Bracketron announces tablet-friendly in-car mounts
Bracketron has added two more mounts to its range of mobile device holders. The Mi-T Grip Dash Mount attaches to a dashboard or any hard surface using suction, and provides a low-profile way of holding an iPad mini or small tablet in a vehicle. A more-conventional Universal Tablet Window Mount performs the same task, but has a reinforced articulating arm and 360-degree rotating head for precise positioning from a glass surface. Prices and a release date have yet to be revealed, but are likely to be around $30 each, based on previous releases.
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01/08, 5:00pm
Audi demonstrates Matrix LED headlight, laser taillight at CES
At the brightly-lit Audi booth at the CES show in Las Vegas, we had a chance to see a demonstration of the German luxury automaker's Matrix LED headlights and laser taillights. Part of a more complicated system that includes a front-facing camera which scans for light sources, we were given a flashlight and told to aim at the camera. Upon detecting our beam, the system turned off some of the LEDs that were aimed at us, effectively sending the light around us, as if we were an immovable rock in a fast-flowing stream.
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10/17, 4:14pm
Silvercar aims to do for rentals what iTunes did for music
A former executive at car rental service ZipCar has started up his own very specialized car rental service: one with a fleet consisting solely of Audis. Silvercar aims to provide a VIP-style rental service that streamlines the car rental process, allowing customers to bypass much of the hassle of renting by providing just one type of car.
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04/05, 2:45pm
Intel Atom systems coming to 2013 Nissan vehicles
Nissan and Intel have forged a relationship to integrate the latter's Atom chips into some of the former's vehicles. Only higher-end vehicles will be equipped with these Atom-powered in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems starting in 2013, however, and will likely first appear in Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti. The Infiniti LE electric car concept was just unveiled earlier on Thursday at the New York International Auto Show sporting the twin-display IVI.
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02/17, 4:30pm
Nevada first to allow autonomous vehicle testing
Nevada is the first US state that has approved the use of self-driving cars on its road system, such as those being developed by Google. The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles' Legislative Commission approved the regulations earlier this week. The autonomous test vehicles will need to have a red license plate attached until green plates arrive and signal public use.
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01/12, 8:40pm
We try Audi's new Tegra-based dash system
Audi used CES to unveil a new take on its car interface based on NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 chip, and we got to try it for ourselves on the CES show floor. The new approach promises a much more discreet but also simpler and more powerful approach to controlling the car and its media than before. Read on for an early look.
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05/10, 6:30pm
App takes GPS location to dispatch assistance
Audi has introduced a smartphone utility that allows users to connect with roadside assistance services through their iPhone, Android-based device or BlackBerry. The app connects to Audi and the company's roadside assistance provider, Allstate Roadside Services. If a user runs into trouble on the road, the app sends vehicle information and GPS coordinates to dispatch the assistance
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03/21, 11:35pm
Vehicles connect to map data, traffic information
Audi has announced that it has chosen T-Mobile to provide wireless broadband for the manufacturer's range of vehicles equipped with Audi Connect features. T-Mobile SIM cards will enable the vehicles to access data for services such as Google Earth maps and navigation, Google Search content, Sirius Traffic information, news, weather and fuel prices.
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10/09, 7:00pm
Google testing camera-guided robotic cars
Google provided an unusual surprise on Saturday as it revealed that it's testing fully automated robot cars. The modified Toyota Priuses and lone Audi TT are significantly more advanced even than the DARPA Challenges cars and use a combination of video cameras, radar and laser sensors to find both the road and other vehicles on the road. Test cars have driven over 140,000 miles of real traffic, going distances as far as San Francisco to Los Angeles where earlier robots have only driven short distances.
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12/17, 9:10am
Audi car to get Google 3D map data, search
Google today revealed that the Audi A8 will be the first regular production car whose GPS system will use Google Earth for data. The implementation will give the luxury sedan Google's 3D terrain data and satellite imagery to provide a more realistic view of driving directions when requested. Importantly, it will also bring some of Google's search features: among the extras will be the ability to push a destination or a business entry to the A8's GPS unit and have directions ready.
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