August 1, 2012

Tech Times #2

This Issue Includes:

Tech Updates Product Reviews App of the Week Tech Trivia

Team SymBITion

The Car without a Driver

AutoNews By Nick Bunkley Self-driving cars have become a hot topic, but it will be long times before drivers can sit back and let the car do all the work. Even so, while few drivers may realize it, the technology that ultimately will permit an autonomous revolution has been creeping into cars for decades. Some cars already can park themselves and automatically adjust their speed to keep pace with the traffic ahead. Indeed, no-hands, no-feet driving is already on the horizon. And a handful of automakers are working to combine adaptive cruise with automatic steering so a vehicle eventually can battle traffic on its own. Before that happens, though, the industry must hash out numerous issues that selfdriving cars raise, including legal and regulatory ramifications, insurance issues and public skepticism. Among the biggest hurdles is automakers' fear of being held responsible -- either in court or just in the public's eye -- when an autonomous vehicle they build crashes. Few in the industry can even agree on what to call such vehicles. Many who attended the inaugural Driverless Car Summit in Detroit last month objected to the term "driverless." But they say progress is steady, in spite of the obstacles. "The legal issues, insurance -- these things will work themselves out," says Voss, whose group organized the conference.

"The technology is so close and is making such great strides that I think it's going to come a lot faster than people realize," says Lindsay Voss, senior program development manager of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

In-vehicle Siri has Dealers, Consumers Buzzing

AutoNews Apple Inc. has revolutionized the music, mobile phone, computer and tablet markets. Now, some dealers and drivers expect the company to do the same for incar telecommunications. These dealers and iPhone users are enthusiastic about having Siri, Apple's voice-command software introduced last year on the iPhone 4S, in vehicles. "I wish we had the product today," said Scott Sharrow, general manager of Rohrich Chevrolet in Pittsburgh, citing customer demand for Siri.

On June 11, Apple said that it was working with eight automakers -- Audi AG, BMW AG, Chrysler Group, General Motors Co., Honda Motor Co., Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota Motor Corp. -to include in-vehicle Siri capabilities.

Honda and GM have confirmed that they plan to include Siri in their vehicles. The feature, called Eyes Free, will enable drivers to make phone calls, send text messages, get directions, play music and use other Siri functions by speaking.

Honda Plans Smartphone-based Web Connectivity on New Accord

AutoNews By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Honda Motor Co. will launch a new connectivity system this fall on the redesigned 2013 Accord that will enable drivers to access Internet content in the car via a smartphone. include Internet radio stations, podcasts, audiobooks, audible Facebook or Twitter updates, and local restaurant listings. Honda unveiled the system today. Competitors, including Ford, Toyota and Hyundai, already have in-car connectivity systems on the market and in some cases have offered them for years. Until now, Honda has been a high-profile holdout in launching a unique, branded system to manage in-car Internet-based content. The HondaLink system will bring the automaker in line with competitors when it launches first on the 2013 Accord and later on the 2013 Crosstour.

The system is called HondaLink. It relies on the driver's iPhone or Android smartphone to connect to the Internet. Honda says the system's content will

GM Working On Cars That Use Smartphone Signals to Detect Pedestrians

Motor Authority By Viknesh Vijayenthiran

Several automakers have introduced advanced technology in their cars that can read the road ahead and anticipate whether a vehicle in front is slowing down or a pedestrian or cyclist is nearby. Most of these systems rely on cameras or radar systems monitoring the road ahead, though these can be inhibited by other objects such as cars, trees or walls. General Motors is working on its own crash avoidance technology potentially capable of detecting pedestrians and cyclists on congested streets or in poor

visibility conditions before they are even in view. The feature relies on Wi-Fi Direct, the peer-to-peer wireless standard that allows devices like some smartphones to communicate directly with each other rather than through a shared access point like a cell phone tower. Some examples where the technology could help drivers is when pedestrians might be stepping into the roadway from behind a parked vehicle, or cyclists who are riding in a cars blind spot.

Hamilton wins Hungarian GP

CNN Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, prolonging McLaren's dominance on the slow and winding Hungaroring circuit. Hamilton completed the Formula One race in 1 hour, 41 minutes, 5.503 seconds more than a second ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen. Romain Grosjean, also of Lotus, was third. It was McLaren's sixth win here in eight years. Rounding out the top 10 were defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, overall leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, McLaren's Jenson Button, Bruno Senna of

Williams, Mark Webber of Red Bull, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg of Mercedes. It was Hamilton's third win in Hungary and second of the season. His victory from pole position again demonstrated the advantage of starting first on a track that has few opportunities for passing.

Formula One Standings

As of: Hungarian Grand Prix 1 Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 2 Mark Webber - Red Bull 3 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull 4 Lewis Hamilton - McLaren 5 Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus 6 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes 7 Jenson Button - McLaren 8 Romain Grosjean - Lotus 9 Sergio Perez - Sauber 10 Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber Points 164 124 122 117 116 77 76 76 47 33 Behind Wins 3 40 2 42 1 47 2 48 0 87 1 88 1 88 0 117 0 131 0

Product Reviews
Toyota Launching TMG Performance Brand For Future Sports Cars
Carscoop Say hello to the new TMG (Toyota Motorsport GmbH) EV P002, Toyota's pure electric racecar with which the Japanese brand will compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado on July 8. The EV P002 is the racing version of Toyota's road-legal EV P001 prototype that set a new lap record for electric vehicles at the Nrburgring Nordschleife last year with a time of 7 minutes and 47.794 seconds.

Toyota's Germany-based motorsports division says it spent the past months developing an improved electric powertrain that is more powerful and more durable than its predecessor. The EV P002 continues to use a Radical chassis modified by electric car specialist e-WOLF, but this time, its two axial flux

motors deliver 469hp (350kW) and an impressive 900Nm (663.7 lb-ft) of constant torque through its single-speed gearing. In Pikes Peak configuration, the racecar is said to have an estimated top speed of 240km/h (149mph).

BMW 3 Series 2012 Launched in India

Zigwheels By Rahul Basu

Starting from a price of Rs 28.9 lakh for the base 320d Diesel model, the new sixth generation BMW 3 Series has grown in size as compared to its predecessor and offers all the bells and whistles you could expect from an entry level luxury car and more. At first glance the new 3 Series indeed adorns a prettier face featuring flatter headlights, with LED accents above the twin corona rings stretched all the way to the large kidney grille. Its a complete shift in terms of design language from Bangles vision for the outgoing model. Moreover, unlike its current competition the

new BMW 3 Series that has now been officially launched in the country is not merely a facelift but a completely new car and changes, upgrades and improvements are all across the board. For starters, the BMW 328i petrol model comes fitted with a 2.0-litre engine that boasts of TwinPower Turbo. It develops 245PS @ 5,000rpm and a peak torque of 350Nm from as low down as 1,250rpm all the way up to 4,800rpm. Mated to an 8speed automatic transmission the BMW 328i shoots from standstill to a hundred km/h in just 5.9 seconds, and offers a healthy fuel economy which tip

toes around the company claimed 6.4 litres per 100 kilometers. On the diesel front, the TwinPower Turbo 2.0-litre diesel unit has been further refined in order to offer an even more efficient outcome. It develops 184PS @ 4,000rpm and a very impressive 380Nm of torque between 1,750rpm and

2,750rpm. Also mated to an 8-speed gearbox it can complete a 0-100km/h sprint in a scant 7.5 seconds. With an average fuel consumption of just 4.5 litres for every 100 kilometers driven its no surprise that this diesel has such a strong fan following.

App of the Week

INRIX Traffic INRIX, a leading international provider of traffic information and driver services, introduces a new app for the iPhone and iPad that helps drivers take control of their commute and avoid traffic. INRIX Traffic is powered by the same company relied on by leading global automakers like Audi, Ford and Toyota. INRIX covers more roads with greater accuracy than any other traffic service delivering time and fuel-saving insight to drivers for more than one million miles of highways, interstates, city streets and heavily traveled local roads in the U.S. and one million kilometers across Europe. INRIX uniquely combines insights from the world's largest community of more than 100 million daily drivers with hundreds of other sources to deliver insight accurate within 2 mph of actual traffic speeds under all driving conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Tech Trivia
Approximate 80,000 components come together to make an F1 car. The cars have to be assembled with cent per cent accuracy. If it were assembled 99.9% correctly, it would go on the track with 80 components wrongly placed. Indias F1 track, Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida is first in India and 68th in the world. The total track length is 5.14 kms with good straights, quick corners and elevation changes. It is designed by German Herman Tilke, a very Famous F1 Track designer who also designed track for Malaysia, China, South Korea F1 tracks etc. The F1 track is not only built for F1 races however it can also accommodate MotoGP and Superbike races as well.

Last Weeks Answers

Secret Word of the Day Migration Quiz 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

d) a) d) c) c)