Autoblog

If you're buying an A8 this year, prepare to spend a lot of time getting to know your new MMI system. We have consistently thought that Audi's buttons-and-knob interface is the best, and it looks like they've put an entire NASA team on the job of making it better. A seven-inch TFT screen with 800x400 resolution is now controlled by an 8-position joystick. Moving from one screen to another is done via "elegant crossfades," which sounds a bit PowerPoint-ish, but we'll wait until we see it to judge. And among other improvements, navigational maps can be rendered in "birds-eye perspective" 3D, with topographical map coloration. The only thing missing is the Encyclopedia Britanica. You can check out the exhaustive press release after the jump.

[Source: Audi]

As previously reported, Suzuki has decided to include navigation on its SX4 Sport and Crossover before you make the first mark on the options list. That will make the $15,999 car the lowest priced car in America to come standard with talking maps. And now they're set to arrive in the SX4 Special Editions that arrive in Suzuki showrooms this month.

To recap, the nav system is called TRIP -- Travel, Real-time traffic, Information, and Play -- and incorporates several Microsoft features. Drivers can get traffic info, weather reports, headline news, stock quotes, movie listings, the lowest priced gas in the area, and directions to 500 nationwide Suzuki dealerships. If buyers go for the expansion module, they'll also get Fodor guide reviews of eateries and nightlife spots. It sounds like an awful lot to do in such a little car, but that's the march of progress.

[Source: Suzuki]

The UK's Department for Transportation (DfT) is trying to put an end to situations like the one you see above. A woman headed to a christening party, paying attention to her satnav -- and little else, apparently -- drove down a road marked "Unsuitable for motor vehicles," and then drove into a swollen river because that's what her navi told her to do.

The DfT wants satnav makers to improve their directions, and also wants them to start providing alternate routes depending on the particular car. In addition to consumer complaints, the DfT is also reacting to increasing incidents of truck drivers getting stranded on narrow country lanes. The 2,000 times it happens each year are estimated to cost £10 million and create 5,000 hours in delays.

The DfT will essentially issue a seal of approval that it wants buyers to look for as a sign of directional quality. We still don't know what they plan to do about drivers who ignore signs that say, "Don't drive down this road," and people who think its OK to ford a river just because the little voice inside their cars says so.

[Source: WhatCar?]

Those of you rolling in any new BMW model equipped with sat nav and Bluetooth connectability, save the Z4 and X3, can now integrate Google's useful, albeit sometimes erroneous, route plotting into your Bimmer. The joint effort between ze Germans and the search overlords allow users to log onto Google Maps UK, plan their route and then send the information to the vehicle's sat nav.

While that might seem like a redundancy, the truly sweet feature of the system is the ability to import ten RSS feeds into the BMW's computer, allowing you to check up on the happenings of the automotive world from your go-to obessives at Autoblog. Just try to avoid gawking at galleries while in route to pick up the kiddies.

BMW's full press release is posted post jump.

A little while ago we reported on BMW using Google Maps to help motorists who might be directionally challenged. These BMW owners can conduct a trvael search on their home computer and beam the destination straight to their Bimmer. It makes entering the destination into the car's navi unnecessary and the whole process a little safer and error proof.

Well, now we can officially declare this a trend between mappers and automakers. GM has teamed up with Mapquest to allow Turn-by-Turn Mapquest search results to be sent directly to an OnStar-equipped vehicle. According to the press release, "This new Turn-by-Turn service enhancement, OnStar Web Destination Entry, will allow subscribers to conveniently use MapQuest.com to research and plan their driving destinations with more than 15 million points-of-interest available through the number one mapping Web site." More than two million 2007 GM models will get the upgrade and another 3 million will be added in 2008. The service upgrade will start with a pilot program this summer and will be opened up to all OnStar subscribers with Turn-by-Turn navigation-capable vehicles by the end of the year. In the interest of full disclosure, AOL is the parent company of both Weblogs, Inc. and Mapquest.

[Source: GM]

OK, we know how useful you're finding your sat/nav system, but please ignore it. That seems to be the message being sent to motorists passing through the village of Exton in Hampshire. Seems the navi tells drivers to take a road that is just 6 feet wide. Not a problem for most, but for drivers of large vehicles, especially trucks (or lorries, as the Brits call them), the result is usually a stuck rig. So the town has put up the country's first signs warning drivers to explicitly ignore their systems.

Poor Beacon Hill Lane has had its fill of flattened bushes and flowerbeds. So the residents pressured the council to do something about it. The council put up the signs last year and the residents have said it has improved the situation markedly. It's scary when obeying technology overrides our common sense, but this seems to be a trend. Cell phones are an obvious target, but GPS has been to blame in France already, and German motorists seem to be particularly adept at driving off piers or into construction sites when prompted by the voice in the box. Let's be careful out there, folks.

[Source: Daily Mail via ARBROATH]

Though the isle of Britain isn't that large in terms of square miles, it still contains 24,000 potential speed traps (about the same number in Ohio, we think). The Rossini Navigator and Camera Spotter is a satellite navigation unit that has each one of those traps plotted on its digital topography and will audibly warn a driver if one is fast approaching. The unit also does the whole door-to-door, turn-by-turn navigation thing, but the addition of such comprehensive camera spotting technology moves it to the head of the class. The distributer of the Rossini Navigator, Car Parts Direct, has also decided to guarantee the device will keep you ticket free in the UK by offering £60 cashback if the device offers no warning of a speed trap and a ticket is issued. Those purchasing the Rossini Nav system will also get free camera updates emailed to them through January of 2009, since most people don't bother to go get updates on thier own when they're made available. The unit costs £399 and is ready to use right out of the box.

[Source: Car Parts Direct]

Having reviewed many vehicles in my day, I can tell you unequivocally that not all satellite navigation systems are created equal. Just checking the sat nav box on the options sheet doesn't guarantee you'll be getting a system that's easy to use and will get you where you want to go. Those who know me will tell you that I've often sung the praises of Ford's sat nav systems, specifically the ones found in Lincoln models. My first experience with these factory-installed Pioneer units came from a review of the Lincoln LS I did back in the day, and I was happy to find an equally agreeable sat nav in the Lincoln Zephyr we tested back in March. So permit me to feel vindicated when I inform you that J.D. Power and Associates has just released its 2006 Navigation Usage and Satisfaction Study in which the Lincoln Zephyr's navigation system received the highest rankign. J.D. rates these factory installed nav systems in six areas that include (in order of importance) ease of use, routing, system appearance, speed of system, voice directions and navigation display screen. The Zephyr's Pioneer unit did particularly well in the those first three areas that are weighted the most. One feature of the system with which I became particularly infatuated was its ability to leave a trail of electronic breadcrumbs on the screen's map showing you where you've driven. And in case you're wondering, the same unit is also available in the 2007 MKZ.

[Source: J.D. Power and Associates]

We're kicking ourselves because we didn't get a chance to play with the DashDaq onboard computer at SEMA last week where it won a Best New International Product Award. Actually, to call it an onboard computer is generalizing its capabilities a bit too much. The small handhelt unit plugs into your vehicle's OBD-II port and can be used for data acquisition, diagnostics, as an extra set of gauges and as a good old fashioned handheld computer. The secret to this little guy's high must-have quotient is the fact it runs on Linux and comes with tools to help you write custom software for it. So besides what it can do out of the box, a clever programmer can have it be a GPS sat nav unit, multimedia player, or even an actual onboard computer. The fact that its maker, Drew Technologies, is keeping the DashDaq open source gives it a huge advantage over other devices, most notably high-end sat nav systems, that come with similar features but can never be modified to do more.

Aside from the flexible software, the actual hardware is impressive too, particularly the 4-inch TFT LCD screen that displays 16.7 million colors (that's all of 'em) and features 480 x 272 resolution. Follow the jump for shots of how good the screen images look, as they are completely unaltered from what you would see on the actual unit. You can also check out this movie of the unit in action and DT's webpage where computer nerds who are smarter than us will appreciate all the things this little grey box can do. Drew Technologies is hoping to have the DashDaq on the market by early 2007 at an MSRP of $595, which, with a little help from a thriving open source programming community creating killer applications, could have the big boys in the satellite navigation and data acquisition markets asking for directions.

[Source: Drew Technologies]

Garmin has scored a major coup by buddying up with Hyundai to sell its nüvi 360 personal navigation device at all of the automaker's 725 dealerships across the U.S. The nüvi 360 not only navigates, but also features hands-free Bluetooth calling and other travel specific features like a database of over 6 million points of interest, a currency converter and an MP3 player with picture viewer. The small pocket-sized device mounts on your vehicle's windshield, though it can be detached and used while traveling on foot, as well. At $857.00, however, the cost of the device is anything but diminutive.

This could be a very smart move by Hyundai as well, which knows that redesigning and engineering a dash to accept a nav system and Bluetooth compatibility wouldn't be cost effective for many of its models like the lower priced Accent and Elantra. The South Korean automaker doesn't actually offer a satellite navigation system on any of its vehicles, so this could also be a stopgap measure to satisfy customers interested in such technology while Hyundai works on rolling out a factory version for its vehicles in the North American market.

[Source: Garmin]