Automakers Pull Into CES, Show Off Cloud-Based Auto Upgrades
I’ve heard it over and over again: Where’s the flying cars? The Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Jetsons was set in the year 2062 (in my book, not that far off) and we still are far from zooming into our pristine little garage space at Skypad Apartments.
Our four-wheeled wonders are still firmly nailed to the ground (unless you take a speed bump way too fast), but increasingly auto manufacturers are finding ways to connect to the Cloud.
With both the Detroit Auto Show and the Consumer Electronics Show in full force this week, it only makes sense for Cloud-based services and our cars to come together. With each passing day, it seems one more of these technological mashups are coming to fruition, from streaming entertainment systems to real-time systems status reports.
Ford literally has been sending auto enthusiasts through the roof at the Auto Show with an elevator lift to a 360 degree immersive experience, showing them how cloud-based services will enhance its cars, over the next 10 years or so, including features to auto-start and warm up your car, and even lock the house when you drive off.
Of course, Ford has already been moving its drivers over the last decade to the Cloud with such services as MyFordTouch and Sync which offers hands-free calls, turn-by-turn directions, music and even a vehicle health report. Ford is even said to be building a tech research unit in, of all places, Silicon Valley.
Mercedes had something new and tangible to provide CES participants now - a streaming entertainment and informational system known as mBrace2, tying together Google maps, hands-free Facebook and more, all available in its 2013 model lineup.
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