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  • Kia and Microsoft Uvo system hands-on and video

    by 
    Tim Stevens
    Tim Stevens
    01.07.2010

    Tucked in between the Nexus One and a display of storage cards at an event last night was something a little unusual - an SUV. Not a jacked-up, tricked-out, neon-dragging customized one that we typically see around these parts but a bone-stock, 2011 Kia Sorento. Well, stock except for one option: Uvo. The recently-announced partnership with Microsoft has been realized in the plastic and we got a chance to check it out. While on its own it is impressive -- but just hours after sitting down with Ford to check out the latest Sync and MyFord technology it's a little less soo. Ignoring the competition for now, Kia's offering does look good. It's functionally comparable to early Sync, enabling easy access to media on 1GB of internal storage, on a USB-connected drive, or even on a CD. You can rip from CD straight to internal memory or to a thumb drive, an interesting feature we're not sure is particularly useful. The touchscreen display is a nice improvement over the two-line Sync readout, but mind if you get this you'll have to opt out of in-dash GPS. Good thing you splurged and got that Droid, right? Check out some screens in the gallery below, and there's a quick video demo after the break. %Gallery-81884%