Autoblog

It's helpful if you like The Ataris. Hyundai is hoping to lure internet users with a banner ad that no doubt touts the free song. When clicked, the banner initiates a download, plays the song, and also pops up a 20-second commercial featuring the Elantra. You could also opt for the cellphone ringtone if you like the way music sounds over a 1/3" transducer. A second set of banners is going live as well, these to collect contact information on potential customers willingly fill out the form. A song by Secondhand Serenade is the prize for providing a free sales lead to the dealer organization.

Hyundai is angling to snag more of the 18-49 year old age group by running the banners at popular music sites like Pandora, Billboard, and Real Networks. Hey, a focused advertising effort is already better than the wide-net thing we all have to sit through on TV.

[Source: Brandweek]

We could spend hours watching the videos on YouTube or Comedy Central, but a new past time may rise out of the primordial ooze that is the Internet. The TV blog, trivialTV, stumbled upon a trademark filing by SPEED channel for Speed Garage. What is Speed Garage? The filing states it is for "downloadable television programs and audio visual content." That makes you want to stroke your billy goat beard, doesn't it? SPEED content on the web, and perhaps even FREE! We're champing at the bit to see what they have to offer.

They have speculated over at trivialTV that the Speed Garage site will be off the main SPEED TV site, somewhere near the Speed Store in the site navigation bar. If you can't wait for the Speed Garage free site, and perhaps you're not lucky enough to get the channel on satellite or cable, iTunes has some of SPEED's shows available for purchase. There are some videos on the site now, but we hope the new video site provides downloadable content as well as a more dynamic design.

Thanks for the tip, MikeV!

[Source: trivialTV]

TechnoRide recently navigated using OnStar's new "Turn-by-Turn" navigation system to see how it worked. Turn-by-Turn works by OnStar downloading a route's directions into the vehicle. Voice prompts are uttered where to go, turn, etc., like a standard navigation system. TechnoRide used a Cadillac STS as their test vehicle.

The driver found the system worked. Voice prompts would notify when approaching a turn and which direction to go. But lack of visual cues, either maps or text, could make things confusing. And if the driver misunderstood the directions and had to turn around, OnStar would notify them, for example, to turn 'south' and leave it to the driver to figure out where 'south' was.

General Motors, which owns OnStar, plans to roll out the Turn-by-Turn option for all its 2007 vehicles. Pricing has not been announced thought it's expected to match a similar feature available on cellphones.

[Source: TechnoRide]