Korea's Hyundai is joining the list of car makers supporting Apple's Siri Eyes-Free technology, according to a CES announcement. The company hasn't identified specific car models yet, but says that upcoming vehicles with dashboard consoles will get the technology. Using Eyes-Free requires a mobile device running iOS 6.
Smartphone users could one day find their handheld devices replacing yet another item that took up space in their pockets, as Hyundai has been showing off a concept car that lets smartphones double for the keys that open and start the car. The technology relies on Near Field Communication tags, which communicate with the smartphone, allowing the device to perform many of the activities now normally built into the security chip on a physical key. The concept was developed by Hyundai and Broadcom, and it could be showing up in vehicles as soon as 2015.
A number of major automakers and telecommunications provider Verizon have joined together to form the 4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars. It aims to develop open standards that will bring 4G LTE systems into vehicles. Car builders who have signed up include BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota, with North American companies conspicuously absent.
The American branch of Hyundai is abandoning its program of giving out free iPads as Equus owner manuals, according to CEO John Krafcik. The promotion was originally announced in April 2010, at the same time as the first iPad was launching in the US. The campaign has also been a central element of TV ads for the Equus.
Security researchers from iSEC Partners claim to have found a way to unlock vehicles from four large manufacturers using a cellphone and a text message. Don Bailey and Mathew Solnik can access remote control and telemetry systems from BMW (Assist), GM (OnStar), Ford (Sync), and Hyundai (Blue Link). They reverse-engineered access using off-the-shelf parts and a few hours of their time.
Hyundai IT Japan today revealed its newest LCD monitor, the 22-inch W220S. The monitor uses the company's TriDef technology that constitutes a built-in 3D filter and polarized stereoscopic glasses to produce 3D videos and images. Included with the monitor is 3D media conversion software as well as Google Earth 3D, a few 3D games and a demo mode to show off the monitor's abilities.
Microsoft Auto software will find its way into Hyundai and Kia vehicles in North America, the South Korea-based automaker announced on Tuesday. The news came during Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' trip to meet South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and will involve the two companies develop and integrate infotainment systems for the vehicles. The deal was two years in the making, and would result in a system similar to the one Microsoft developed for Ford, where it is dubbed Sync.
