Gadgetory

most of us do want the latest tech in our cars but what do we really want we say that what really separates great car infotainment from I'm Brian Cooley with the top five great attributes of excellent car electronics our data comes from GfK research one of the largest consumer research firms in the world that's recently asked us Japanese German and Italian customers these are four big car making cultures what they really value in car infotainment systems beyond the specific features here's what they learn see how well it matches to your gripes and delights number five is Believe It or Not waterproofness I think Americans universal habit of Nursing a damn cup of coffee or a bottle of water every second they're behind the wheel is spreading around the world in particular US and Italian drivers were really vocal about waterproof car electronics expectedly those Tidy Germans cared the least about it they don't even trust cupholders yet number four replace ability in other words can you upgrade the text that comes in your car we used to do this a lot back in the 70s and 80s with new car stereos today this could be either another better head unit for your vehicle or lately it might just mean a tablet sitting on a slick car mount we started thinking about what's going to be better tomorrow thanks to how good our phones are today and tomorrow number three is colorful this may sound silly but it's not hop into a car with a monochrome or a two color display then get anyone with a full color display and you get it instantly it's not about pretty colors per se it's about how information design really falls into place when color is well used by designers to delineate functions and features on the screen now consumers don't put in those terms but they get it number two is easy access this mostly refers to how easy it is to access what you want the system to do now some folks laugh at recent chrysler units for almost looking kind of cartoony in their simplicity but don't laugh too hard because they also score tops on consumer satisfaction because no one likes a system they can't figure out no matter how many things it could do if you just knew how number one is enter operability interestingly enough globally more and more consumers are saying I want tech in the car that works with the other stuff I already own my phone my tablet this is outranking almost any other attribute whether you have an iPhone or an Android phone or if you're one of those nomadic tribes still using blackberry or using a Windows Phone this is fascinating because it underscores how much the carmaker's and audio format makers are now the tale that gets wagged our mobile devices are what we want our car to wrap around high-tech cars and modern driving that's all we do at CNET on cars comm i'm brian Cooley thanks for watching