T-Mobile has always been the data provider behind Audi’s Connect infotainment system, which some would call the best connected car system on the market. But the two companies have announced some new data plans which could help Audi owners save a buck or two on connectivity. The new plans let customers purchase unlimited data for $30 month-to-month, or sign up for yearly contracts at a… → Read More
Generally speaking, I don’t care much about cars, but Audi Canada, together with Toronto-based ad agency Zulu Alpha Kilo and Slot Mods USA have managed to use cars in a way that piqued my interest by building an iPad-controlled test track. The best part? Players get a driver-perspective point of view of the RC cars in action in real time. → Read More
The Audi A7 is different. The executive five-door fastback sits nearly atop Audi’s lineup, starting out at $59k with my tester wearing $80k on its window sticker. Excluding limited run sports models, a fully decked-out A7 is the third most expensive car Audi sells, placing only lower than the massive A8 sedan and R8 supercar. Still, even looking like a modern and practical station wagon, the A7 is… → Read More
Audi has just announced details of another EV to be produced under their e-tron moniker in the form of the A3. The A3 e-tron is a battery electric vehicle, similar to the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster. The Audi has a front mounted electric motor powered by two lithium-ion batteries, one in the middle and one in the rear, with 26.5 kWh of total energy. Total output of the A3 e-tron is just over… → Read More
Earlier this week we saw that McLaren got together with Specialized to make their exquisite Venge road bike. Apparently Audi felt left out of the party, and has announced the fruits of its collaboration with Portland bike-maker Renovo: the “duo” series.
The bikes’ primary differentiating feature is, of course, the wood frames. Audi has built them out of “woods selected to match the look of Audi… → Read More
High-end Audi vehicles pack more technology than many office complexes and the company is going to tap the services of T-Mobile (now AT&T?) for constant Internet connectivity. The Audi Connect infotainment suite brings real-time news, weather, traffic, fuel prices, WiFi hotspot along with Google services such as Local Search and Google Earth to the car. The vehicles will come with a six-month… → Read More
Audi was once known as the German car that came with all-wheel-drive. That notoriety is changing and Audi is becoming a huge player in the tech game; their interfaces are fantastic and run with exceptional speed and style. And now, they are bringing the internet to their navigations systems: the Google maps of navs, if you will. → Read More
Green vehicles were the focus of this weeks North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Many carmakers are finally coming out with product lines full of new electric or electric-hybrid vehicles. And by “many,” think “everyone” in some way — even Porsche. So, it comes as no surprise that, along with the new Audi A6, comes the A6 Hybrid.
The A6 Hybrid is part of Audi’s Electrification… → Read More
One of the greatest things about the tech industry is that it’s dynamic, mainly because it follows Moore’s law. The auto industry on the other hand is relatively static and in more recent years have taken a back seat to in-car electronics. Why? Well first, it’s quite an investment—more than you might think. The electronics must pass certain regulations and try to keep the driver’s eyes… → Read More
The first ever electric vehicle with Quattro is still a few years away, but we were invited to Ingolstadt, Germany to try one out. E-tron is the name of Audi’s new line of electric vehicles including an R8 and an A1. We didn’t get to drive the red concept E-tron that’s all over the internet, instead we drove one that looked and drove more like a real production car. The supercar… → Read More
Here’s another round of iPhone car monitoring apps, this time from Audi. It’s no secret that VW and Audi are gunning for top positions on the market, and if they keep up on their technology it might just happen. Take for instance this iPhone app, it works by using the cars OBD-II port to read out large amounts of data. The data includes everything from emissions information like how much CO2 the… → Read More
The automotive space is quickly turning into a gadget wonderland and so it feels right to have the chairman of one the world’s most advanced auto makers speaking at next year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Ruper Stadler joins the list of keynote speakers that includes Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, CEA President Gary Shapiro, Verizon’s CEO Ivan Seidenberg, and Samsung’s President and GM of Visual… → Read More
When you think of a supercar, speed and power are usually the things that jump to your mind — not gadgetry. Keeping that in mind, when I was invited to drive Audi’s new R8 Spyder, I jumped at the chance. It wasn’t until later that I started looking into the vehicle and realized that while the R8 is a supercar, it’s a special breed of supercar that uses technology to allow… → Read More
With the Super Bowl yesterday came the time-honored Super Bowl commercials, each costing $2.5 million for a 30-second spot. Even Google got in on the game with its first ever spot receiving rave reviews (although the commercial wasn’t new). But which commercials went beyond TV to score on the Web? Reprise Media released a report that ranks Super Bowl advertisers based on the level of… → Read More
Cars are increasingly becoming more circuits than gears and the 2011 Audi A8 is a prime example of this transformation. There is likely more tech packed in the full-size Audi sedan than the International Space Station. In fact, if you think the laptop steering wheel table is the ultimate driver distraction, click the read link below to see what the flagship Audi packs. → Read More
Volkswagen is taking great strides in making the roads safer and remove the dangerous fun from driving by developing fully autonomous vehicles. I had a chance to talk to Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, director of the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) about the future of the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL) at Stanford University and how the technology developed there is… → Read More
The Chevy Volt is “a car for idiots.” Really? Dem be fightin words, Johan de Nysschen. → Read More
It’s not quite as exciting as you want it to be, but an Audi dealership in Sydney has added a hologram of sorts to its sales department. It’s not projected by a maintenance droid and it’s probably just a 2-minute loop, but it’s still kind of cool. → Read More
Generally, convertible owners concede audio fidelity when the top is down but Bang & Olufsen’s new audio system will should let drivers rock-out topless. The system uses some crazy digital processing that involves a dashboard-mounted microphone that compensates for road noise. Currently the 12 speaker, 10 amp’ed, 500 watt system is only available in Audi’s A5/S5… → Read More
HD Radio seems to be drifting along, picking up supports in a leisurely fashion with Audi being the latest manufacturer to pick up the format. The alleged next-gen radio technology should be standard on most Audi vehicles by the 2011 model year as the luxury carmaker strives to deliver the best of the best. Sirius Satellite has been standard for a while now on most Audi models but HD… → Read More
Audi is working on a system that uses Wi-Fi to communicate with traffic signals to ensure that you always hit green while going down a straightaway. The system tells drivers how fast to drive in order to make each traffic signal on the green. It will reduce idling at stoplights and make people quite happy as they tool, unperturbed, down the streets of major European capitals. → Read More
Some companies are better at building user interfaces than others. Nissan recognized this and hired Gran Turismo folk for the GT-R control screen. Then Futuremark strolls in with a dashboard concept that simply kick-ass. The system is a full, live dashboard environment all shown in 3D graphics. From the gauge cluster to the GPS screen, the entire thing can all change on the fly thanks to OpenGL… → Read More
This isn’t Burt Reynolds car. There are so many gadgets seamless built into this Audi R8 that it blows our, and Alex Roy’s, mind. If there ever was a car built specifically for underground, coast-to-coast, high-speed racing, this is it. Kind of makes you wonder if it was built to beat Roy’s 31 hour, 4 minute New York to Santa Monica Pier run. What we think is the Audi’s… → Read More
We can’t think of a more fitting partnership than sticking ridiculous overpriced and over-engineered Bang & Olufsen speakers into a ridiculous overpriced and over-engineered Mercedes-AMG motorcar. The gadget gods above must be smiling down that two of their greatest creations are finally working together. B&O-equiped cars have been rolling around for a while now — notably Audi… → Read More
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