The 2014 Audi RS 7 is being touted as the most powerful amongst all RS models that are available in the United States, and was first shown off at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Now the pricing for the model has been revealed, with prospecting buyers looking at a starting price of
Giovanni Ribisi had better hope he doesn’t botch a job anytime soon. Flavio Garcia from the University of Birmingham cracked the security system that pairs an owner’s key to their Porsche, Lamborghini or Audi, and Volkswagen’s parent company wants that research to remain unpublished. The UK’s high court sided with VW’s owner and granted an injunction protecting the Megamos Crypto system. Afterward, Garcia was offered to print his findings, but without the all-important decryption codes. He refused, saying that the public has a right to see the holes in the systems it relies on and that this wasn’t an attempt to give criminals a hand in boosting cars. While the court’s logic is sound — once revealed, all manner of “if this ever fell into the wrong hands” situations could arise — it’s unsettling to see government bend to corporate request. At least we know Eleanor can sit in the garage for just a little longer now.
Filed under: Transportation
Via: BoingBoing
Source: The Guardian
If committing the requisite funds for an Audi R8 coupe seems like a stressful ordeal, NVIDIA and Christie have created an augmented reality purchase experience to lend a hand with the selection process. Under the hood, the whole lot is powered by NVIDIA GPUs, Christie projectors and RTT DeltaGen software for car configuration. Using a 3D-printed, one-fifth scale model of the R8, a series of projectors and projection tiles utilize a 3D WARP mesh to outfit the car with paint, wheels and even headlamps. A tablet UI then allows the eager customer to toggle colors, rim options, side panels and turn the lights on and off. In addition to customizing the car itself, the system also shows how the R8 will look in different environments, from dusk by the water to the rural open road. For a quick video demo from the SIGGRAPH show floor, join us after the break.
We’ve seen LEDs, OLEDs and even frickin’ lasers used in automotive lighting, but Audi‘s just cranked things up a notch with the world’s first 3D OLED tail lights. The prototype system was developed in collaboration with Philips, Merck and the University of Cologne, and the research was funded by the German government. What’s 3D OLED about, exactly? It’s the application of OLEDs to curved glass surfaces, which enables complex shapes with multiple layers and transparency. For the project, Philips invented new manufacturing techniques to produce OLEDs on formed glass using wet chemistry, and Audi then designed tail lights for a TT Roadster to validate the technology. While there’s no word yet on the longevity or efficiency, we figure it’s only a matter of time until 3D OLED lighting comes to production vehicles.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: OLED Display, OLED Info
Finding parking is one of the most annoying facets about driving a car, especially when you’re in a big city where a parking spot is hard to come by. However, Audi wants to at least make the experience somewhat bearable to those looking for a parking space. The company is sending out an OTA update
While there are smartphones apps that take some of the hassle out of finding parking, Audi’s bringing similar time- and frustration-saving features to a different screen in your ride, through its Audi Connect infotainment systems. Announced at the Telematics Detroit conference, Audi is tapping Inrix’s parking spot data so you can find car-friendly floor space from within its dashboard navigation platform. After telling the car where you want to go, you’ll have the option to see parking info at the journey’s end, including the nearest locations, operating hours, prices and real-time space availability, depending on what data is available from each garage. The sat-nav will also direct you straight to the entrance of the lot, and should you want to know what that entrance looks like, Google Street View will show you. Audi’s new parking feature should start hitting Connect-equipped cars from today via an OTA update, so the “finding a space was a nightmare” excuse won’t fly next time you’re late. But don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.
Update: Turns out that Inrix gets its data from ParkMe, the makers of the app we link to in the first sentence, which explains why Audi’s new feature is so similar.
Filed under: Transportation, Software
Source: CNET, Seattle Times
As it was with the Acer Enterprise-esque spot that turned out to be a rather strange Windows 8 computer by the name of Aspire R7 last month, so too do the stars of Star Trek appear this week in a video spot for Audi. In their newest crossover appearance, both original Spock and new-age Spock have a bit of a battle on the road, complete with so many Star Trek references your head will spin. This spot is also home to a driverless / self-driven Audi vehicle in addition to the Audi S7, as driven by Zachary Quinto.
What the audience will find in this push for the film is an advertisement for an Audi vehicle stocked with infotainment system, light-up bits and pieces, and a presentation that makes Leonard Nimoy’s ride look like a bit of a joke. Of course that’s the point, as the new age – with Quinto, aka Spock from the newest series of Star Trek movies – makes way as the old – Leonard Nimoy, stays cool.
You’ll find Nimoy making reference after reference not just to Star Trek in more form than one, but to his own professional (read: odd) past as well. For an extended period of his vehicle trip in this video he sings a new rendition of the classic “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins”, a song which he sang for a variety show in 1967 by he name of Malibu U. Because we live in an age where all things digital can be preserved, you’ll be treated to this epic masterpiece as well, right this minute.
Please mind the 60′s pixie women, if you can. Zachary Quinto meanwhile stays par for the course, ready to appear as Spock for the film Star Trek Into Darkness later this month – on the 17th of May, mind you. It’s also rumored that Quinto will be returning to the most terrifying television show of all for another season soon: American Horror Story. Can’t be too silly for that one.
Audi Spock vs Spock continues Star Trek crossover advertising is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
I drive a two-seat roadster known for its great handling. The last thing I want is for a machine to take the steering wheel out of my hands. My car company isn’t into self-driving cars, but others are: Ford, BMW, Audi. And, of course, Google is moving quickly forward with road-worthy autocars that have accumulated 300,000 miles with only one (human error) accident. The advantages of cars that drive themselves are multiple and compelling.
Automobile intelligence already assists the driving experience by warning of dangerous situations and taking control of parking, which is, for some people, the most difficult maneuver to perform. We are gradually ceding control to our cars. When a completely automated consumer car launches, some drivers will hand over the reins gladly. But for me and other enthusiasts, driving a car isn’t just about reaching a destination; it’s about the journey and operating a beautiful machine. Unfortunately for people who feel that way, the greatest social benefits of self-driving cars would kick in if everyone were herded into a new era of hands-off driving.
Filed under: Transportation, Google
Audi has become the first car manufacturer to have its LED headlights validated as contributing to fuel-economy, with the bulb alternatives shaving off over a gram of CO2 emissions per mile. The LED lights – which Audi uses on five models in its range, from the cheapest A3, through to the R8 coupe – were run through the EU Commission’s dynamometer and found to trim CO2 output by 1.61g/mile, as well as using less power than halogen lights.
A halogen lamp in low-beam mode, for instance, demands 135W of power, Audi points out. In contrast, the German company’s LED lights need around 80W, and the firm uses LEDs for the low-beam, high-beam, and license plate lamps.
The testing specifically looked at the Audi A6, with the EU putting the car through ten NEDC cycles. “As a result,” Audi says, “the EU Commission has officially identified the LED headlights as an innovative technology for reducing CO2 emissions.” It’s the first time a car manufacturer has been certified in this way.
However, not all of Audi’s cars come with the same system, nor indeed with the same amount of LEDs. The A3 has just nineteen to play with, switching between low- and high-beam modes; a separate module handles all-weather and cornering lights. In the A8 luxury sedan, however, there are 76 LEDs in each lamp unit.
It’s not Audi’s first flirtation with headlamp tech potential. Earlier this year it revealed its work on so-called Matrix LED lights, which pair LEDs with reflectors and lenses that are computer controlled to react to the surrounding environment. Data from sensors, cameras, and GPS are crunched, and the output of the lights – in addition to even the angle they project at – is adjusted according to daylight conditions, oncoming traffic, upcoming bends, and more.
Matrix LED headlights are expected to arrive on select Audi models before the end of the year, though the company isn’t the only one to be thinking hard about how LEDs make sense in cars. The 2014 Corvette Stingray, for instance, uses special down-firing LEDs and light-guides to blend the output into solid lines of light, rather than leave it as the individual points of brightness as on an Audi.
Audi takes lead in LED headlight fuel efficiency drive is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Back in 2012, Audi acquired Italian motorbike manufacturer Ducati under their Lamborghini arm, and with the acquisition, we guess it’s only fair that many are wondering if Audi has plans to start manufacturing motorbikes of their own in the future. While that may or may not happen, or if Audi will be content to let Ducati continue what they are doing, some designers have come up with an interesting and sleek concept of what an Audi-manufactured motorbike might look like.
Dubbed the Audi Motorrad, this concept was designed by Thibault and Marc Devauze, along with modeler Clement Couvreur. Based on its design, we’re guessing that this concept is targeting BMW who makes motorbikes as well, possibly giving them a run for their money. According to the designers, the Audi Motorrad will feature a Ducati-derived 850cc, L-Twin 4 valve-per-cylinder, Desmodromic 2-cylinder engine along with a double-clutch gearbox. The body of the bike will also be taking advantage of Audi’s technology and will combine carbon fiber with light alloys.
Not being a bike rider myself I can’t really speak for its potential comfort or power, but from a purely aesthetic point of view, it looks pretty good. What do you guys think?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Hyundai Unveils E4U Concept Personal Vehicle, Bugatti Type Zero Electric Car Concept, 
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