This year’s CES was the biggest in the show’s 44-year history. It boasted 15 miles of exhibit hall aisles, 3,100 booths and 153,000 attendees. It is easy to be jaded by the endlessly repetitive products, but the thousands of innovations point toward a future of connectivity. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
TuneIn Radio, which has become a powerhouse in streaming local radio content, is now ramping up efforts to bring its service to cars with a new Ford Sync AppLink integration and an updated Android app with voice-controlled “car mode.” Read more »
Recent developments in the vehicle industry suggest that 2011 could be the year of the car as a major platform for apps. From BMW’s support for Apple’s iPod Out feature to the emergence of Nokia’s Terminal Mode, a system that integrates mobile applications and the car, automakers and app developers are jumping on board the in-vehicle app movement. This report examines that landscape, its major players and their offerings, and how the market is shifting from device to car and, eventually, to the cloud. Increased broadband speeds, electronic vehicles and social apps such as those powered by Twitter will play major roles on this journey. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Ford, BMW, Geely, Nissan and Google. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The electric car has encountered a number of hurdles in its ongoing path to the mainstream, and they haven’t all been technical. More human challenges, like range anxiety, have served as hindrances in the wide-scale consumer adoption of electric vehicles (EVs.) As big carmakers move more […] Read more »
When it came time for Nissan to set specifications for the infotainment system in its electric LEAF sedan, the automaker wanted two things: more info, less “tainment.” Turns out Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Auto fit the bill. Might a Hohm-LEAF connection be in their future? Read more »
MyFord Touch, the latest generation of SYNC, raises the number of voice commands from 100 to 10,000 first-level commands. How did Ford increase the platform’s vocabulary a hundred-fold? The use of aliases, which allow for a more conversational experience, play a big factor in the solution. Read more »
Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla have just turbo charged diesel engine startup EcoMotors International with a “substantial” amount of second-round financing. EcoMotors announced today that Khosla’s venture capital firm Khosla Ventures and Gates are the “two exclusive investors” in this round. Read more »
