CES: Day 2 (day 1 for me)

**justchat_1** · 01-07-2010, 10:21 PM

If theres a better place for this feel free to move it...
Part 1:
So I started off the day with a panel discussion on the "Connected Car" with representatives from SEMA, AutoNet, ATX, DENSO and Kia. I missed the beginning of the panel discussion but what I saw was rather embarrassing. They identified the future as internet connected vehicles either via tethering (using their own apps) or built in 3G connections. Kia really pushed their UVO system (more on that later) as a competitor to Fords sync which are both built on the same Microsoft platform. SEMA also pushed a grid connected car which they expected to arrive by 2018 (though with no plans to make it happen-just the idea that it was the future). Their big technology which was also featured heavily by a few manufacturers (including the SEMA showcar [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvRcPVZhDT4[/url]) was FLIR ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndNjiQ2araQ[/media]) which is expected in a few aftermarket systems later this year.

What was missing, and was made very clear by a few people in the audience asking questions, was any innovation whatsoever. Voice recognition and other safety-improving, eyes off the screen technology was nowhere on their to do list. The trend seemed to be add an internet connection and see what happens. The kia UVO system for example will allow third party widgets to be added.

The trend continued to PNDs....Garmin updated its maps and added an internet connection ($5/month) to deliver flight info, gas prices and google local search but again nothing innovative. Still no A2DP or AVRCP bluetooth capability or any type of infotainment functionality.

Magellan which probably has the worst looking nav I saw at the show added PBAP support to some of its maestro series and updated the maps-that was it....its almost like the company stopped trying.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rILu9tYUytg[/media]

Pioneer surprisingly had one of the better PNDs of the bunch. Build in A2DP, AVRCP, a smooth routing engine and support for music and movie playback from sd cards, an iphone or even Pandora radio (with an iphone app).

For the first time I would have to say in-vehicle technology is doing the real innovation. Ford Sync continued to impress: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,4905917.story while the UVO was in my opinion basic at best ([media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kid-EPiVmyk[/media])

I expected to see the end to the carPC here but instead I saw a scattered batch of decent technology but certainly nothing that jumped out as this years "must have product".

A few other cool technologies really picked up from what I saw last year. On-the-move TV will be the big in-car technology of 2010 with 4 different companies I saw today alone offering DTV receivers (aka mobile-ATSC).
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9EP2TmJhgk[/media]

There was also some great innovation from the competing cell-phone based technologies offering an impressive 60 channels.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9wztSiTvNw[/media]

And of course FLIR mentioned above.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndNjiQ2araQ[/media]

More to come in the next few days and sorry in advance for the grammar, its being done on an android phone for now.

Part 2
A few of those other cool technologies deserve some mentioning...
Theres a company called BI Automotive (http://www.bi-automotive.de/) that is working on getting US distributors for its two products. The first one are battery powered laser engraved led sill-plates that were a very reasonable $100 per pair with an estimated battery life of 6-8 years. The second one and of far more use to carPC enthusiasts is a universal connector. It has 12 pins which can be used for CAN-Bus, antenna, power, usb, audio or just about anything and the other half of the universal connector is a dock for just about any device-PND, phone, etc. I had some really cool ideas for futures uses but more on this later.

The other one was a company called Nav-TV (http://www.navtv.com/) which had a full line of in-dash screens and FLIR cameras ready to go. They even have a dash console replacement complete with gauges and a custom screen for GM-LAN equipped vehicles.

Last but not least I talked with the guys from Lilliput (http://www.lilliput.cn/) about whats in the near future for them and have two exciting announcements. The first is that they just released a usb powered monitor. This is huge news as it now allows touchscreen control and power to be supplied by the PC making things just that much easier to get setup. The second is that we should be seeing multi-touch monitors from them in the next 6-9 months.

**2k1Toaster** · 01-07-2010, 10:45 PM

Well that's good info, and I would agree I am fairly disappointed. Perhaps they are saving the good stuff until the end?

**justchat_1** · 01-07-2010, 11:07 PM

I can only hope...... just updated with some more info -> i'll try and fill in some better videos tomorrow.

**VegasGuy** · 01-07-2010, 11:34 PM

Keep in mind that the availability of over the air mobile digital TV depends on local stations adding the necessary equipment and signals to their digital transmissions. You could easily have a chicken and egg scenario: The broadcasters are waiting for a large enough market to exist before investing in the necessary technology, and the market is waiting for enough content to make the purchase compelling. It's also very unlikely you'll see any kind of government mandate, which is the only reason digital TV exists today at all.

Actually though, it's pretty amazing how fast this technology is making it to market, so who knows? Maybe there's enough demand to get this rolling. Certainly in the major markets I would expect.

Not that I'm a shill for them or anything, but get over to the Visteon booth tomorrow outside in the central plaza next to Sprint and Best Buy. They have some pretty neat hardware on display with integrated guage/video and all video clusters, all in one setups and force-feedback touchscreen displays...which I could see having a use in the car.

VegasGuy

**justchat_1** · 01-08-2010, 12:33 AM

Originally Posted by VegasGuy

Keep in mind that the availability of over the air mobile digital TV depends on local stations adding the necessary equipment and signals to their digital transmissions. You could easily have a chicken and egg scenario: The broadcasters are waiting for a large enough market to exist before investing in the necessary technology, and the market is waiting for enough content to make the purchase compelling. It's also very unlikely you'll see any kind of government mandate, which is the only reason digital TV exists today at all.

Actually though, it's pretty amazing how fast this technology is making it to market, so who knows? Maybe there's enough demand to get this rolling. Certainly in the major markets I would expect.

Well yea thats a great point for the DTV stuff and I think market adoption has been slower then they expected. The cell tower based stuff on the other hand has really taken off with 60 channels and growing available everywhere theres cell service.

Originally Posted by VegasGuy

Not that I'm a shill for them or anything, but get over to the Visteon booth tomorrow outside in the central plaza next to Sprint and Best Buy. They have some pretty neat hardware on display with integrated guage/video and all video clusters, all in one setups and force-feedback touchscreen displays...which I could see having a use in the car.
VegasGuy

Yea yea lol.....don't worry its certainly on the list. I covered the North hall and South 2,3 & 4 today. I'll hopefully cover the rest tomorrow. Anyone other then Visteon I missed?

**RipplingHurst** · 01-08-2010, 12:48 AM

Thanks for posting!

And I agree I would like to see AVRCP sooner rather than later.

Anything about opening CAN BUS data for developers (specially electronic/media related stuff?) We should ask for some APIs/message/translations for the ECU/CAN networks that controls audio, HVAC, lights, windows, etc...some day...if we don't ask, they won't even think about it...

**VegasGuy** · 01-08-2010, 12:48 AM

I pounded the alleys over in the China and Korea sections some today, but there could easily be some cool stuff at the component level still lurking about. It's just hard to get past all those cool 3d HD TVs.

I think I pretty much have to agree with your overall assessment. Lots of technology moving into the car, but not a lot of innovation coming with it. I've lived with 4g in the car for 6 months now, and I can say for a fact, that it's very nice to have, but it is NOT the solution for all your infotainment needs. How long has cellular service been around? 30 years? So why are there still numerous places in Las Vegas where you get little or no cellular signal? Now take that and replace cellular with 4g. Yes, I can stream audio and video to my car, and when the signal is good, it looks and sounds great. but move into a fringe area, and suddenly things don't work so good. Out on the highway? Fuggeddaboutit. And I'm not optimistic either. Like I said, we're 30 years into cellular and they still haven't got it so it works all the time everywhere.

Anyway, have a great day!

VegasGuy

**justchat_1** · 01-08-2010, 12:51 AM

I spent about 20 minutes just standing in front of those no glasses required 3D screens over the information kioks and another 30 just staring at the 9mm LG flatscreen so I know exactly what you mean.

**soundman98** · 01-08-2010, 08:23 AM

great info, keep it coming!

**Bugbyte** · 01-08-2010, 08:37 AM

I've been consistently disappointed with innovation of technology in the car precisely because it is usually about building a proprietary in car service on either a subscription model or a device basis or worse, both.

This focus on the device is foolish. The future is in customizable user experiences. The problem is that innovation takes place when users can....well, innovate. Not work within the proprietary confines of a manufacturer's network or company's device.

The auto folks need to be real careful or they are going to lose the race to someone whose business model is not built around stuff in the car but rather a mobile experience that continues whether one is in the car or out. Of course, there is plenty of evidence that shows incumbents are almost universally toppled by disruptive technologies while they are quite good at evolutionary ones. That's probably why all you are seeing is extensions of stuff you've already seen.