Cars Bikes Boats

Chrysler's Mopar division is planning to be the first car manufacturer to eliminate power cords from cars. The company announced its new in-vehicle wireless charging technology, which will be available in the 2013 Dodge Dart.

"At Mopar, we look for every single opportunity to make our customers’ lives easier," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC's service, parts and customer-care brand. Our industry-first in-vehicle wireless charging system is the perfect solution for those connected customers who are always on the go."

The wireless charging system is installed just below the center stack and in front of the center console. The unit features a built-in charging grid that is activated when a user places their iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, or compatible MP3 player on it, and will begin to charge when the vehicle is started. As with other wireless charging options, a separate phone case will be required. The in-vehicle wireless charging system will be available for $199.99 plus installation, and the 2013 Dodge Dart is scheduled to be available in the second quarter of 2012. Read more

The all-new 2013 Cadillac XTS will begin production this spring and it will be the industry's first car to use what is called directional tactile sensation – a fancy way of saying vibrations of the driver's seat bottom will occur to warn of crash threats while driving and parking.

It works like this: the seat vibrates pulse patterns on either the right or left of the driver's seat bottom to alert the driver if they're drifting out of a lane or getting too close to an object while parking. In the event of a threat from the front or rear, the seat vibrates on both sides.

"It's akin to someone tapping on your shoulder in a crowd to get your attention," said, General Motors active safety technical fellow Raymond Kiefer. "Using the tactile sense to communicate crash threat direction provides an effective and intuitive way to cut through the clutter of visual and auditory sensory information that drivers routinely experience."

The Safety Alert Seat works with a variety of sensors and cameras installed in the car that help "intelligently" decide when to activate warnings. For example, if a turn signal is on, lane departure warnings are not presented. The seats also will be connected to the XTS Park Assist system and Rear Cross Traffic Alert system to help make parking in tight spaces easier.Read more

OnStar launched the Family Link pilot program back in August 2011 in an effort to gauge consumer interest. It appears that this app - which allows families to stay connected even when they're not in the same house (or car) - was a hit! OnStar will begin a phased launch in mid-April for select OnStar customers.

With OnStar's Family Link program, subscribers can log on to a website to view a map showing the vehicle's location at any time. You can even sign up to receive scheduled vehicle location alerts for notifications to your family's whereabouts. The notifications can be sent via text or email and will include the address the vehicle is near as well as the date and time.

"Our subscribers have asked us for a solution to help them stay connected to their family when they're on the road," said Joanne Finnorn, OnStar Vice President, Subscriber Services. "What parent hasn't asked their teenaged driver to call or send a text when they arrive somewhere, only to not hear from them? Family Link's Vehicle Locate feature lets a parent check on their child's progress or help determine when he/she might be home safe and sound."

OnStar will begin a phased launch of the Family Link program beginning in mid-April for Select OnStar customers. The service will continue to roll out to customers throughout the year. It is priced at $3.99 per month and is the first a-la-carte service offered by OnStar.

Electric vehicle owners now have another option when it comes to purchasing an indoor electric vehicle charging station. Schneider Electric's EVlink Indoor EV charging station is a compact, easy-to-install, safe and reliable Level 2 charging solution for charging all types of electric vehicles – and the best part of all? You can purchase it online at HomeDepot.com.

"Electric vehicle drivers are asking for the ability to purchase EVlink charging stations online," said Mike Calise, Director, Electric Vehicles, Power Business, Schneider Electric. "We are excited to work with The Home Depot to provide consumers a simple, point and click purchase option for buying our EV chargers."

EVlink Indoor charging station features:

• Faster charging features: Charges approximately four times faster than a standard 110 volt home outlet. With a full 30 Amp Level 2 charging rate, EVlink owners charge almost two times faster than other 16 Amp Level 2 charging stations.
• Homeowner-friendly design: Sleek, space-saving design, LED charging indicator, and independent cord bracket for safe and convenient mounting options.
• Delayed charging option: Enables users to delay charging for up to eight hours, in one hour increments, allowing them to take advantage of lower off-peak utility rates.
• Advanced safety features: Integral ground fault monitoring and protection capabilities including auto reset provides additional user safety from power outages and lost connectivity.
• Standards compliance: UL for US, cUL for Canada and NOM for Mexico listed and SAE J1772 compliance ensures universal compatibility with any electric vehicle entering the market today.

While we've seen car stereos designed to hold iPhones in the dash, they're usually limited to fit the current generation iPhone only. If you have an Android device or are waiting for the next generation iPhone, you are usually out of luck fitting your current smartphone into products like these. Until now. Introducing the DASH from Devium.

Unlike other smartphone compatible head units, which consist of one face plate and the body of the system, the DASH can be used with a variety of face plates that are hot swappable and can accommodate a variety of popular phones. The Dash is a Kickstarter project. Kickstarter is a company that raises project money from consumer investors, promotes that product invention and gauges market response prior to manufacturing of the actual market product. For Devium's Kickstarter project, they're only building an iPhone/iPod compatible version for now. So, if you invest in the DASH today and 1 year from now Apple releases a new iPhone, with an entirely new form factor, Devium will develop a face plate to accommodate the new shape and size.Read more

We take the open highway for granted, especially when we're operating a 4000-lb automobile. I don't think I need to tell anyone that accidents happen every day, many of which are avoidable if today's drivers paid a bit more attention to the road and not their smartphone or radio. How nice would it be to have a copilot monitoring your driving behavior, and provide you with a heads up to those obstacles and distractions on the road. Introducing the Mobileye 5-Series.

The Mobileye 5-Series is similar to some of the systems found in today's luxury vehicles, though this one can be outfitted in any car as an aftermarket part. It is composed of a camera and heads up display. Inside the camera is a microprocessor that actively watches the road as you drive and warns you of any impending dangers, such as a bicyclist in the road or a stopped car in the middle of a freeway. It's capable of alerting a driver 2.7 second before a crash, which might just be enough time to avoid one. The system can also be programmed to teach you to keep a safe driving distance from vehicles in front, warn you of a dangerous lane change, lower and raise your vehicle's high beams, and read speed limit and traffic signs to help you reduce the likelihood that you'll get into an accident or receive a ticket for speeding.Read more

Are "smart windows" in our future? GM challenged students from the FUTURE LAB at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel to develop a new concept in backseat entertainment technology that…get this…uses the windows themselves!

GM's "Windows of Opportunity" (WOO) project gave researchers and students from FUTURE LAB free reign to design applications that will turn car windows into interactive displays for rear seat passengers. What they came up with is amazing!

The apps include:

• Otto, an animated character projected over passing scenery that responds to real-time car performance, weather and landscape. With Otto, passengers can learn about their environment in fun, playful ways.
• Foofu, an app that allows passengers to create, explore and discover through finger drawing on window steam.
• Spindow, an app that provides its users a peek into other users’ windows around the globe in real time.
• Pond, an app that allows passengers to stream and share music with other cars on the road, downloads favorite tracks, and share messages with other passengers on the road.

Pioneer Electronics is changing the way you listen to music. The company's new MIXTRAX technology works like a virtual DJ, creating a nonstop mix of your music library. MIXTRAX takes the music from your iPhone, iPod or USB/SD device and plays it back with added transitions and effects, similar to a live DJ in a club.

This is how it works: the MIXTRAX music management software analyzes your entire music collection, identifying tempo and beats per minute (BPM). The software then tags each song and creates playlists in different musical styles such as Beat, Chill, and Thump. The software identifies the best transition points of each song in the music library and mixes the tracks together. You can choose between three Mix Styles - Active, Standard and Simple – allowing you to adjust the intensity of the effects and transitions, along with the duration of each track in the mix.

Once created, the custom MIXTRAX playlists can be transferred to a USB/SD memory device and played through Pioneer in-car products, the AVH-P8400BH audio-video receiver and DEH-P7400HD and DEH-P8400BH CD receivers. MIXTRAX is also included in Pioneer's STEEZ products.

MIXTRAX Sound Demo Video:Read more