Soon after it hits dealers' showrooms next spring, the 2011 Audi A8 will not only be the first production car to feature Google Earth maps, but also the first hybrid nav system to use both a hard-disk for mapping data and an Internet connection for downloading up-to-date info and preforming a live search.
Controlled through Audi's next-generation Multi Media Interface that adds a touchpad and will be called MMI Touch, the A8's new tech tour de force will include a hard disk to handle nav, phone, audio data and graphics processing duties required to recreate the high-quality 3D images for Google Earth, while an optional GPRS/EDGE modem will manage online content.
According to Audi, the new MMI Navigation plus system will also predictively analyze data and parse the info out to control units in the car that manage components such as cameras and adaptive cruise control with Audi's Stop & Go feature. So, for example, if a driver ahead turns on the right turn signal to exit the freeway, a camera on the A8 would recognize it and the nav system would acknowledge the location of the exit and choose to automatically slow the car -- or not -- depending on the space between the two vehicles.
The optional Internet modem will be used for live local searches via Google, and Audi claims that a search can be done with what it calls "free text search queries." Just by saying a phrase such as "coffee shop" or "sporting goods," the system will bring up results for an area and offer the chance to set the desired one as a destination. Like many other navigation and telematics systems, there's also a feature that allows sending an address found on Google maps or via an Audi web portal to the nav system.
The system won't get the Internet connection -- and Google Earth capability -- until mid 2010, a few months after the A8 is launched in the U.S. Audi says the optional UMTS modem will offer quick data transfer and simultaneous voice and data transmission, as well as enable integration of the Google Earth mapping graphics.
At that point, forget maps for just the U.S. and Canada and a few million Points of Interest on a DVD or hard drive. Google Earth capability will bring detailed 3D maps of the entire globe to the 8-inch screen of the A8, as well as the ability to view photos, articles and other data on POIs on Google Earth.
And there will be no monthly data charge -- at least not initially. Owners will insert a SIM card into the MMI Navigation plus system or pair a Bluetooth phone with a SIM-access-profile, although an Audi spokesperson did say that it ultimately may be marketed in the same way as satellite radio and a monthly charge could kick in after a free trial period.
By kingkhalas
on December 18, 2009
07:14 PM
I want one.