Hasta La Gadget!

This week at the 2013 New York International Auto Show we’ve had the opportunity to have a hands-on experience with the next-generation Buick Intellilink infotainment system. This system has been revealed as coming with the 2014 LaCrosse as well as the 2014 Regal, both vehicles working with nearly identical implementations of infotainment and media playback throughout. It all begins on an 8-inch touchscreen display that sits front and center of the vehicle, able to be accessed by the driver or the copilot with ease.

Buick’s next-generation IntelliLink infotainment system works with wireless connectivity for your mobile devices, customizable options galore, and an easy-to-use user interface from start to finish. And it’s all builds on a hearty connection of both safety and security with OnStar. If you’re an OnStar user, you’ll be able to access city-by-city weather reports and ultra-simple embedded navigation using their “traditional Blue button” – rather handy.

You’ll be working with connectivity to a selection of apps for music, starting with Pandora. With Pandora you’ll have a collection of custom-built radio stations with new music coming in by the day – you’ll also be working with a set of 60 “favorites”, starting with radio stations outside of Pandora. These stations can be AM, FM, or XM, and you’ll have plenty of space left over to store “favorites” in contacts, destinations, and music from media aside from radio.

You’ll be able to connect with your media and your apps for control of the many various things IntelliLink works with using your touchscreen or by controlling your system with your voice. IntelliLink employs natural language voice recognition allowing you to control most anything you’d be able to control with your finger. You can enter destinations, browse media, safely place calls, play music, and control a variety of other functions as well.

If you’re a fan of using your touchscreen interface, you’ll find the controls to be rather familiar. You can do what Buick calls a “fling” through your lists, swipe up and down, and drag all around – basic control cues you’ll have learned well by now due to your everyday use of your smartphone or tablet devices. You can also control your music, set destinations, and more with IntelliLink’s connection to your smartphone – this done with a USB cord or Bluetooth wirelessly.

Of course the audio experience you’re going to have with the output this IntelliLink system is controlling depends entirely on the vehicle you’re driving. With the 2014 Buick Regal you’ll be working with a new nine-speaker Bose sound system including “strategically placed” tweeters and a fabulous subwoofer – you’ve got an acoustically optimized interior as well. With the 2014 Buick LaCrosse you’ve got seven standard speakers including the, again, “strategically placed” tweeters as well as a subwoofer all coming together to complement a quiet, acoustically optimized interior – with optional 11-speaker Bose Centerpoint Surround Sound being available as well!

Have a peek at our Buick tag portal for more information on the IntelliLink system as it appears in more vehicles through the future, and don’t forget to check the rest of our Car Hub for auto action from here until forever!

Buick’s next-generation IntelliLink Infotainment system hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the 2014 Buick LaCrosse has been shown for the first time at the 2013 New York International Auto Show, complete with a suite of design and technology innovations you’ll do well to adore. This vehicle has been designed from start to finish to be a luxurious ride, starting with a new interior design that continues the success of this long-lasting sedan line and bringing with it a set of advanced safety and in-car connectivity technologies. There’s also a special Ultra Luxury Interior Package you’ll want to take a look at if you want to go above the fold.

With this full-size LaCrosse you’ll be working with Buick’s next-generation integration of IntelliLink, their infotainment system for entertainment and voice-activated control of your vehicle. You’ll have a newly upgraded, even more intuitive than in past iterations, user interface and control, complete with natural voice recognition – speak as you normally would! This vehicle also works with a collection of camera-based safety features including:

• Side Blind Zone Alert
• Lane Change Alert
• Lane Departure Warning
• Forward Collision Alert
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert
• Automatic Collision Preparation

These features each work with GM’s patented Safety Alert Seat – that’s a vibration from the seat from the direction of a potential crash threat. Quite helpful when you need more than a half-moment’s notice of impending doom.

This vehicle has been enhanced with some fabulous new design cues both inside and out, starting with new front and rear styling – signature wing-shaped LED daytime running lamps as well as LED wraparound tail lamps are in place to, as they say, “complement [the 2014 LaCrosse’] sculpted exterior design.” Inside you’ll find new seats, a redesigned central instrument panel and console, and enhanced materials used throughout.

The Ultra Luxury Interior Package is one you may be lusting after. Included is a sangria seating color, ebony accents, all work semi-aniline leather (both seats and trim), with Shadow Tamo Ash wood decor. This package’s semi-aniline leather covers the seats, console armrest, door armrests, and is complemented with a bit of synthetic suede in both the headliner and door pillars. This color and material combination is exclusive to the LaCrosse and this Ultra Luxury package.

The Buick 2014 LaCrosse is being offered in front-wheel-drive as well as all-wheel-drive models and will have two powertrain options available. The first is a 2.4L engine with eAssist light electrification technology. The second is a 3.6L engine with direct-injected V-6. Both models are paired with a six-speed automatic transmission, and both will have Adaptive Cruise Control available as well. With Adaptive Cruise Control, the system is able to sense traffic in front of the vehicle and adjust vehicle speed in real time, stopping the vehicle when traffic is especially heavy, and accelerating when traffic becomes light once again.

The details will continue here on SlashGear as we see more of the 2014 Buick LaCrosse at the New York International Auto Show 2013. We’ll be seeing more IntelliLink, more of the innards and surroundings of this and other Buick vehicles – and whatever else you’d like us to check out! Have a peek at our Car Hub for more information, and stick to the New York Auto Show 2013 tag portal as well!

Buick 2014 LaCrosse official with IntelliLink and Ultra Luxury options is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Chevrolet officially unveiled the 2014 Corvette Convertible at the Geneva Motor Show this week. We obviously already saw the regular fastback version of the car when it was initially unveiled back in January, but now we finally get to see the car with its top down, ready for some summer driving on California’s Highway 1.

Chevrolet says that the convertible features “an all-new, fully electronic” top that can be lowered and raised using the car’s key fob, meaning you don’t actually have to be in the car to activate it. The top can also be opened or closed while driving as well, at speeds of up to 30 mph. Who knows what would happen at faster speeds, but we wouldn’t dare to test it out.

Of course, unlike other expensive convertibles, the 2014 Corvette convertible comes with a soft top rather than a retractable hard top, and this has been a Corvette staple for many years, so it makes sense that Chevrolet is wanting to stick with tradition. However there are a few changes to the car besides just the top being chopped off, although they’re rather minor.

The side vents located by the rear wheels are gone from the convertible version, apparently so that the car can make room to store the top, which features a hard tonneau cover to protect the top when it’s down. And sadly, the convertible loses the awesome fastback style of the 2014 Corvette coupe, but we suppose that’s a tradeoff when you want the wind in your hair.

Chevrolet officially unveils 2014 Corvette Convertible is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There have been an onslaught of trade secret thefts and espionage strikes that have affected many U.S. corporations, including General Motors, Ford, DuPont, Dow Chemical and Cargill, as well as many media news outlet including The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg news. All of the attacks seem to be originating from one area in China, and that’s the HQ for the People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398.

The White House said that the trade secret thefts “threatens American businesses, undermines national security and places the security of the U.S. economy in Jeopardy.” According to Mandiant, a U.S. security firm, there is strong evidence that support that these attacks were coming straight from Chinese hacker groups that have links to the Chinese government. Mandiant’s collected evidence amounts to a 60-page report.

The White House released a report that listed a dozen cases of trade secret theft by Chinese companies and individuals, which is a lot more than any of the other countries mentioned. They stated that “the pace of economic espionage and trade secret theft against the U.S. corporations are accelerating.” The new strategy that the White House will implement “coordinates and improves existing U.S. government efforts to protect the innovation that drive the American economy of cyber assaults”.

U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, made a statement on the cyber attacks, saying, “For an economy like ours, that’s going to win based on our innovation of what we produce and create, this is a critically important issue.” Many of the affected companies have moved their corporate operations back to U.S. soil, in which Kirk says, “If you’re going to take our core technology, then we’re better off being in our home country.”

[via Reuters]

U.S. to implement strategy against China trade secret theft is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Chevrolet has made great efforts to use new technology in its cars. And in a bid to reduce weight in the Corvette, the company has announced it will be using a lightweight shape memory alloy wire to replace motorized components used to open and close a hatch release vent. So what exactly does this lightweight shape memory alloy wire do? Basically it’s a wire made from copper-aluminum-nickel or nickel-titanium.  The wire’s chemistry allows it to change its shape when subjected to heat, electric current or pressure. The smart bit is that the wire remembers its original shape and goes back to its original form when deactivated. (more…)

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