The Smart-Tech Future Beckons
Las Vegas — Look around. How many computing devices do you see? Your phone, probably; maybe a tablet or a laptop. Your car, the TV set, the microwave, bedside alarm clock, possibly the thermostat, and others you’ve never noticed. Much of that computing isn’t doing much while segregated into individual devices. But many of these gadgets have the potential to get smarter by connecting to their fellows, which in turn could open the door...
Consumer Confidential: Carmakers’ Focus on Connected Lifestyle May Lead to Distracted Driving
Ford and Fiat Chrysler apparently have concluded that safety takes a back seat to amusement when it comes to pleasing drivers. The two carmakers announced last week amid the hoopla of the CES consumer-electronics show in Las Vegas that state-of-the-art infotainment systems in new vehicles will include both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Ford’s system “allows customers to bring the smartphone technology they’re comfortable with into a...
Wheels: Volvo Steering Toward a Safer Future
Traffic-safety advocates have long regarded Volvo as the gold standard of driver and passenger safety in automobiles. The reason can be found in the company’s guiding mantra: “Cars are driven by people.” That being the case, the corporate thinking goes, it is best to make people as safe as possible within the womb of a Volvo automobile. That mission, a hallmark of the Volvo car company since its inception in 1927, continues under...
Smooth, Sporty and Spacious
Quick question: What’s your favorite Scion model? Odds are, you’ll probably have to stop and think about it. Since its inception in 2002, Scion has produced a grab bag of models, from the forgettable (xA, xD), to the wonderful (tC, FR-S) and wild (iQ, xB). It’s a lineup that seems irrational. The models share little except a badge, a low price, their use of front-wheel drive and four-cylinder powertrains and the desire to attract...
Subaru Joins Assisted-Driving Wave
The idea is to prevent the unexpected from becoming the tragically final. That is the real story behind the outburst of acronyms characterizing the technology of the 2016 Subaru Forester 2XT Touring and hundreds of other new cars and trucks. After decades of pretending that safety does not matter, that more horsepower is always better, that the only real driving concern is finding an empty road on which to “take corners,” the...
