Gadgetory

now increasingly car makers are going to the cabin to differentiate their vehicles yes power and efficiency and pricing and sheetmetal still matter but the cabins becoming in many ways the defining statement of the car maker so here at four SIA this year at the LA Auto Show they're showing a concept of a cockpit that they call Preta port a and among the key technology features we're looking at are this sort of soft cover upholstery based flip-up lid which is a idea for them to give the passenger as much technology as the driver normally this is kind of a digital ghetto over here but check this out here's a rear projection screen they're envisioning or it could also be a flexible OLED screen dedicated to the passengers mobile device which would live down here in a tray that has wireless charging inductive charging which is on the market but hasn't really taken root yet this could also have a wireless data link to bounce out the signal using like iPod out or the connected car consortium technology to give me a nice reliable interface from the device but I needn't even see it it could all be projected right here even the lowly air vent gets a little bit of a technology touch you know today you've got something with little slats and louvers or you rotate this eyeball around and it always looks like it's kind of cockeyed in this case nothing here moves but the actual airflow can be changed up down left and right because of special guts they've engineered in the dash this always looks the way the designer intended it let's go to the driver's side now here in the cockpit of course this is concept car stuff but the idea is give me either a rear projection or an OLED screen like we saw on the passenger side and this is truly all contiguous screen again that could also bring in elements of the drivers mobile device while combining them safely and intelligently with automotive information also here a vent thing going on here in the structure of this central pod is the air flow technology structures that bring it right to your face where you're always trying to get it but you got to use these vents on either side that sort of barely reached where you really got the sweat working we've also got a central controller here and again wireless connectivity for the drivers mobile device here for either char or for data connection from apps to the car and vice versa one more thing I'll show you it's kind of low tech high tech but how many of you have asked me about this why is the door armrest always in the wrong position for you here is a power operated armrest move it up move it down get it where you want it