I wasn't going to do it. Yeah I'm talking about the iCar. Wasn't gonna do it, didn't want to do it but, due to multiple requests for information and a new Microsoft vs. Apple battle...Here comes the NEW controversy: Is your next car gonna be a Mac or a PC?
Microsoft + Ford vs. Volkswagen + Apple. Ding, ding, ding...
In this corner Microsoft got the voice command down pat and their product is real. Meaning it isn't vaporware and you can get it in an actual car! Plus its name is not Ford XP or MS Ford 08. It is just a Ford with Microsoft Enhancements. Are you listening to us Apple and Volkswagen?
The who
le Iconcept was cool 10 years ago... No wait it wasn't. Technology and a car should not only be seamless it should have that wow factor. Now we are going to get back to demoing our new on-board computer friend out. We have named him KITT. I hope it doesn't turn evil and start text messaging our ex-girlfriends @ 3 in the morning. No really, it does voice to pre-set text messages, search for MP3 author by voice and so much more. Pretend to be Knight Rider today.. No wait. That would make you David Hasselhoff... Alright pass.
le Iconcept was cool 10 years ago... No wait it wasn't. Technology and a car should not only be seamless it should have that wow factor. Now we are going to get back to demoing our new on-board computer friend out. We have named him KITT. I hope it doesn't turn evil and start text messaging our ex-girlfriends @ 3 in the morning. No really, it does voice to pre-set text messages, search for MP3 author by voice and so much more. Pretend to be Knight Rider today.. No wait. That would make you David Hasselhoff... Alright pass.First The Mac RUMORS via Engadget:
A Volkswagen spokesperson told German magazine Capital that an iCar may be on the way. Steve Jobs and VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn got together in California a few days ago to "plan an intensive co-operation with the building of vehicles." It might even be called an iCar. This is against a background of chatter we heard floating around last month, but we're not thinking Apple's going to get into the car business.
This will probably be another exercise in incorporation, where iPod functionality is integrated into the car as it was on BMW 7 series. We're hoping it's considerably more substantial than the iPod integration into the Honda Civic Hybrid, which we've tested here and had a hard time getting enthusiastic about.
And Now The Microsoft News via Jalopinik and Gizmodo in that order:
We sent Gawker videographer Alex Goldberg to catch a demonstration of Ford's M
icrosoft-built Sync audio system out in NYC yesterday. This is the same system we were so amazed with before the Detroit Auto Show. Check out the above video to see a Ford PR staffer talk to his car, and then blatantly pander to our videographer by sending a text message of "gawker rules" to the Sync-ed up phone -- all while showing off this amazingly cool system.[Jalopinik]
icrosoft-built Sync audio system out in NYC yesterday. This is the same system we were so amazed with before the Detroit Auto Show. Check out the above video to see a Ford PR staffer talk to his car, and then blatantly pander to our videographer by sending a text message of "gawker rules" to the Sync-ed up phone -- all while showing off this amazingly cool system.[Jalopinik]OK, Ford, to me and many of you, is not the future. But Jalopnik got a tour of the voice command system's final release and it's pretty damn cool. Apparently, It can play MP3s off a thumbdrive, and search for artists by voice command. Nuts! And you can receive and send preset text messages by voice over bluetooth to your cellphone. Wow, Microsoft and Ford, making decent systems together. Those Apple/VW rumors have a lot to live up to[Gizmodo]
