Audio Visual war?

[Mr Brooksy]

Commodore gets touch screen Commodore gets touch screen Commodore gets touch screenCommodore gets touch screenCommodore gets touch screen Total photo(s): 3 - click to enlarge Prev Next Play Close Commodore gets touch screen words - Feann Torr GM Holden has signed off on a deal to replace the current infotainment systems in its Commodore and Statesman range of cars with high-tech touch screen systems with iPod and iPhone connectivity discount new cars » Get the best price on a new Holden Get ready for a more involving Commodore experience later in the year when Holden updates its entire range of large cars, from the base model Commodores to the range-topping Statesman and Caprice. At a recent press conference for German tyre maker Continental, CEO Zoran Angelkovski confirmed that it has signed a new deal to supply the infotainment units to GM Holden's Commodore from June this year, and we could be seeing them on the road as early as September. Continental, the world's fourth largest tyre maker, owns Siemens VDO, which currently engineers and manufactures various car componentry, such as instrumentation, heating/cooling control units and other interior elements for all three Australia car makers. And an updated Holden Commodore infotainment system with touch screen functionality can now be added to that list. "We've given them [Holden] the features that are seen on some European cars. [We've designed the new infotainment units] to make the driver feel more comfortable," Zoran Angelkovski told the Carsales Network. The CEO of Continental added that the new system is "an improvement on the Bosch Blaupunkt [infotainment] system" and will come with a range of features that will put the Commodore ahead of the Falcon in terms of audio-visual in-car technology. "Our unit has more functions and features. The most important thing is touch screen. At the moment you cannot get touch screen on the Commodore. Our new unit offers touch screen, more connectivity options with iPod and iPhone," said Angelkovski. On top of iPhone and iPod functionality, Angelkovski explained there would be several 'grades' to the new touch screen in-car entertainment systems and though he couldn't elaborate on the particulars, he suggested that all models would get touch screen functionality. This would be a major coup for Holden. "So we're starting at the basic level, with the Commodore, and going right up to the Caprice. So the family of new infotainment units has the low end and high end touch screens, but in between you have other models too." Until recently, more than two thirds of VDO Siemens local revenue stream came from Ford, but the new deal with GM Holden will see the revenue split 30-30 between Ford and Holden, with the last third coming from Toyota [Camry] and BMW Motorrad motorcycle instrument clusters. We caught a very brief glimpse of the new look touch screen systems being integrated for Commodore, and it's safe to say the new system will be a massive step up from the current setup. Holden spokesperson Scott Whiffin told the Carsales Network "We're always looking at how we can improve our cars, but we've got nothing to announce at this stage."

How the iPhone is changing the car words - Joshua Dowling The Apple revolution is about to revolutionise the appearance of car interiors discount new cars » Get the best price on a new Mercedes-Benz It wasn't that long ago that car makers thought they were cool by making sure their cars were available with iPod connector cables -- to woo the young and the young at heart. But the global iPod revolution is about to change car interiors in a way that no-one was expecting. And it's got nothing to do with using an iPod or even how it integrates with the car. That's old news. The iPod's graphics have become so good and so user-friendly that car makers are now trying to emulate the iPod look in other features of the car. As touch screens become more affordable and more widely used (including in an update of the Holden Commodore in the second half of 2010) car makers have begun employing graphic designers whose job it is to make the displays look sharp. Previously in-car graphic design was done by the car designers themselves. But now they're getting outside help. German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has even gone to the trouble of setting up a graphic design department at its research and development centre in California -- purely so it can hire staff from Apple and Microsoft to work on its cars. Speaking at the Geneva motor show, Gordon Wagener, designer of the F800 concept car and the recently appointed vice president of design, Mercedes-Benz development cars, said Apple was the design benchmark for graphics. "I have always been a big fan of Apple," says Wagener. "Apple is really the benchmark for clean design and rich, valuable graphics. "As we see more and more screens in the interior, the graphic design will become more and more important and become more luxurious looking." He said customers of all ages around the world have effectively learned a new language, by quickly understanding what a small simple iPod application graphic depicts. "We must learn from this. We don't copy it of course, but we can learn from it and do it in a crisp, clean, luxury way that is easy to understand at a glance," he said. "For the first time we at Mercedes-Benz have our own graphic design department to come up with the latest and most luxurious graphics. "In our North American research and development operation we just opened a telematics department. And inside that division we opened a graphic design department just to get some people from Apple and Microsoft into the company, to appeal to them, so we could get new influences." Mercedes is also trying to find a way to update its software more frequently. Cars are updated every six years or so, some phone and computer companies can update in as little as six months. "We are always behind the rate of change of the electronics industry because cars are so complex, but with our new experts we are looking for ways to make it easier to introduce updates rather than taking three years of programming as it currently does."

Interesting... it makes sence for car companies in Aus to try and get a leg up with our current IT obsessed new customers.