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Audi's latest models add Amazon Music to the dashboard
If you're an Apple CarPlay or Android Auto user, you've no shortage of music streaming services baked into your dashboard. But, if you're relying on your vehicle's default control panel the choices start to dwindle. While, automakers like Ford have started offering Apple and Google's infotainment systems (which play nicer with smartphones) as an alternative to their own interfaces, Audi is going it alone with a little help from Amazon. The German automotive giant now lets you access Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited on the dashboard inside 2017 and 2018 models.
Hands-on with Audi's all-digital dash for the 2015 TT and likely home for its Smart Display tablet
Audi's TT, considered by the German maker as its design icon, gets revamped for 2015 and its dash and all-digital cluster made a break from cover at CES. What's immediately apparent when you hop into the curvy leather-wrapped interior setup at the booth is that the traditional center stack is completely absent. All the information that was once viewable by the entire cabin now seems reserved for the driver alone. It's decidedly odd that the front passenger no longer has access to the display so we'd suggest that the mysterious Audi 10.2-inch Smart Display we saw earlier this week will feature prominently in the next TT, possibly as standard equipment. The entire system is simple to use with the 12.3-inch TFT displaying bright colors and easy-to-read fonts. The display features two main modes, including a driving-centric mode where the tach and speedometer are in the foreground; when in navigation mode, they move out to the edges of the screen to offer as much real estate to the maps as possible. The digital dash navigation is done via either steering wheel-mounted controls or the redesigned rotary push-button control mounted on the center tunnel console. A really swish feature of the jog dial sees the top surface of the control act as a touch surface for entering text by scribbling with a finger when required. Now we just need to see the car to wrap around this interior and we'll be all set, but until then, have a look of the video of the next TT's infotainment equipment in action.
iPad 2 installed in Ford F-150 truck, does FaceTime while you roll over stuff (video)
SoundMan Car Audio's done it again, and this time on day one -- they've stuffed an iPad 2 into the dashboard of an unsuspecting vehicle, in this case a 2010 Ford F-150 pickup. While that doesn't sound like the most exciting hack in the world, we have to give credit where it's due -- Doug and company now have a truck that can make FaceTime video calls, browse to world-class technology websites (we're blushing) and play Pandora too. See the SoundMan crew show off the fruits of their labors in a video after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iPad gets fitted into car dashboard, makes you an instant carpooling superstar (video)
Let's face it, the Toyota Tacoma has a long way to go before being considered glamorous, or even remotely cool, but jacking an iPad into its console might be a good start. That's what the good people of SoundMan Car Audio over in California have done with a little bit of elbow grease and knowhow, and we've got video of how it all came together after the break. They've yet to wire it up to the Audison Bit One sound processor and McIntosh MMC406M 6-channel amp that are intended to receive the iPad's audio goodies, but the important stuff of fitting and molding the dash to its new 9.7-inch centerpiece is all done. Alright, so the glossy black screen and the demure grey plastic don't exactly sing in harmony, but surely the funky aesthetics can be forgiven for the sake of accessing all your media on the move. Right, dawg?
Futaba thinks Field Emission Displays are still the future
Sony may have given up hope on the future of Field Emission Displays (FEDs) -- CRTs that rely on flat electron emitters, ditching the cumbersome tube and the bulk that goes along with it -- but Futaba is still moving forward, demoing a series of displays for Engineering TV in a video embedded for your viewing pleasure below. The company isn't exactly well-known in consumer display circles (head down to your local hobby shop for a schooling on its most famous products), but despite that seems to be no slouch, able to make these things as slim as 4.2mm while delivering the image quality and contrast ratios of a CRT, all at a lower energy consumption. Could this be the future of the car dashboard? Right now we'd just be happy with some more responsive servos for our RC10; we'd be even more of a force to be reckoned with at the local 1:10 scale dirt track.
