Hasta La Gadget!

This week the folks at Nokia are bringing on the next generation of their hardware and software integration talks with none other than their own Floris Van-De-Klashorst speaking about the future of automotive. The Connected Car, as they call it, is one which is a futuristic concept – this meaning that though we’ve got cars at the moment that are relatively connected, we’ve not yet scratched the surface. According to Nokia, it’s Points of Interest (POI) search capabilities that are at the center of the future for vehicles that use what they call “Intelligent Technology.”

Built-in phone technology as well as data connectivity is at the center of this concept as well – as Nokia sees the future, anyway. They’ve presented a video showing off some concepts as they sit inside the concept known as the Ford Evos. This vehicle is a blue beast, with no less than cloud services and APIs, search technology, mobile connectivity, and build-in communication technology as well. Have a peek at this concept video and see what the future holds.

Nokia is announcing this week via their Conversations by Nokia blog – or perhaps re-announcing for those of you that’ve followed along with the Evos rather closely- that they’re working with Ford as one of its main integrators of futuristic tech. This partnership will use Nokia’s own Location Platform to support the vehicle’s in-car location-based set of systems. This vehicle will, thanks you Nokia, not only know where you are and what businesses and places of interest are near to you at any given point, it’ll know which kinds of music you like to listen to on certain commutes.

You’ll also be working with Satnav maps to bring on your ability to avoid locations in your city (or wherever you’re driving) with heavy pollution. With detectors and reporting devices such as what we’re seeing here with this vehicle and its connected services alone, we’re hoping for a completely world-environment-aware vehicle in the very, very near future.

Have a peek at our hands-on look at some Nokia Windows Phone mapping technology that we saw back at CTIA earlier this year as well to get deeper into Nokia’s love for knowing where you are at any time – and what’s around you as well.

First have a peek at Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport:

Then get in deep with Nokia Maps, the center of the whole Nokia GPS universe:

Finally check out Nokia City Lens – an amazing next-generation vision on Nokia Windows Phone devices which will allow you to see tags on every business and building of interest around you – it’s fabulous!

Stay tuned for more awesome Nokia location-aware technology, and get ready for awesome Nokia-embedded vehicles as well!

Nokia gets connected with automotive futures is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There’s no question America’s favorite Motor Company faces a hefty amount of competition in the eco-friendly cars department, but the outfit is hoping to lure some green humans away from its adversaries with the upcoming C-Max Energi series. Interestingly enough, but not surprisingly, Ford’s touting the 2013 Energi’s cheaper price tag — when compared to something like a Toyota Prius V — as one of the ride’s features, though it’s also hoping its combined 550-mile range (PHEV-20) and expected 95 MPGe are good enough reasons for you to spend a cool 26k ($25,995, to be exact) amount of cash on this plug-in hybrid. Ford says dealers are now taking your orders, and that the C-Max Energi will be ready to hit the streets in a few more months.

Update: As one of our dear readers pointed out, the $25,995 price is for the C-Max Hybrid. Meanwhile, we’re still waiting to hear just how much the Energi will cost at the time of launch.

[Thanks, Lauren]

Continue reading Ford’s 2013 C-Max Energi rolls out 95 MPGe, arrives later this fall

Filed under: Transportation

Ford’s 2013 C-Max Energi rolls out 95 MPGe, arrives later this fall originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford has warned owners of the 2013 Ford Escape with the 1.6 liter engine to turn off the car and back away, after a fuel line flaw was identified that could cause a fire risk. The recall, announced this morning, is over an engine compartment fuel line problem on the 1.6 liter version of the Escape only; “customers who already own 2013 Escape vehicles with the 1.6-liter engine are being advised to stop driving their vehicles and to immediately contact their dealers” Ford says, advising not even to risk driving the car to a service location.

Instead, the dealer will organize safe collection of the car, and the loan of a replacement vehicle while work to rectify the problem is undertaken. According to Ford, that repair is “straightforward” and should take less than an hour, though parts availability could become an issue; the loaner deal will be in place until the owner’s car is fixed.

“The recall is being taken to replace an engine compartment fuel line, which could split and leak fuel, potentially resulting in an underhood fire; no injuries have been reported” Ford points out. “Ford is advising affected owners not to drive their vehicles and to contact their dealers immediately for the needed repair. Dealers will deliver a loaner vehicle to customers and will then transport their 2013 Escape to the dealership until the repair has been completed.”

If all owners are prompt in contacting their deal, Ford estimates the fixes could be complete within two weeks. “It is extremely important that affected customers not ignore this recall” the company insists; those unclear as to what to do about their Escape can find details at the Ford owner site or by calling 1-866-436-7332.

11,500 cars are believed to be susceptible to the flaw, primarily found in the US. Ford will be ceasing test drives and deliveries of cars until the problem is addressed.

Ford warns 2013 Escape 1.6L owners to park up immediately over fire risk is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I’ve never really sat back and thought about how you could realistically and repeatedly determine how comfortable the interior of a vehicle is. Sure you can sit in one car, then sit in another, and come up with an arbitrary decision that one is more comfortable than the other is. However, if you want hard data to prove scientifically just how comfortable things are between two vehicle interiors, how exactly would you pull that off?

Ford has a scientific method of measuring vehicle interior comfort, and the automaker does this with an interesting robot dubbed RUTH. RUTH stands for Robotized Unit for Tactility and Haptics. The robot looks a lot like the ones you see welding on the assembly line in a Ford factory. The robot uses mathematical evidence to prove that the interior in a Ford vehicle is comfortable, and that Ford is capable of reproducing the same level of fit, finish, and comfort on vehicles it produces.

The robot can determine that the feel of the trim and the touch of the buttons inside the car are just right. Ford says that it uses RUTH to ensure that the interiors of designs are comfortable feel correct down to how the buttons feel when pressed. RUTH is a giant robotic arm with six joints that is programmed to poke interior trim, turn the knobs, push buttons, and interact with the vehicle’s interior areas just like a person would. Check out the video to learn more about RUTH and how Ford uses the robot to ensure its vehicle interiors are perfect.

Ford uses RUTH robot to quantify interior comfort is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

That’s RUTH. In the end, she really amounts to a big robot arm with six joints, but Ford clearly has a soft spot for the faceless employee. First utilized in Europe, the Robotized Unit for Tactility and Haptics is currently at work helping to tweak the interiors of the company’s 2013 Fusions, turning data collected from customers across the world into the hard to define concept of “quality,” touching the trim, pushing buttons and turning knobs in the interior of the vehicle, in order to help provide what Ford says is, “the same type of quality they might feel if they were to buy a high-end luxury car.” The version of the arm dubbed Ruth 2.0 is currently being used by Ford alone in North America, and the company has extended her quality checking to include seat comfort in the vehicles. Check out a video of the long arm of the car company after the break.

Continue reading Ford wants you to meet its touchy, feely interior quality robot, RUTH 2.0

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

Ford wants you to meet its touchy, feely interior quality robot, RUTH 2.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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