Hands-free

Kia teams with Microsoft to develop the UVO voice controlled in-car infotainment system

By Mick Webb

21:55 January 13, 2010 PST

In addition to its recent 7-year / 150,000km warranty announcement, Kia has created further interest with the showing of its UVO in-car voice and touch activated communication and entertainment system. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, the system offers users an easy to use interactive hands-free alternative that uses speech recognition for making and taking calls, sending text messages and managing in-car music. Featuring a 4.3” full color touchscreen display and built-in 1GB storage with the ability to rip CD’s and MP3’s onto the system’s “Jukebox”, the open platform UVO system also doubles as a rear view camera when the vehicle is in reverse. Read More

I see what you're saying - NEC's ‘Tele Scouter’ retinal-display translation glasses

By Darren Quick

20:13 October 29, 2009 PDT

The days of a Universal Translator like the one that made chatting between alien species a non-issue in Star Trek might be some way off yet. But a new device from NEC is definitely a step in the right direction for those of us on planet Earth looking for a way to communicate with other language speakers that doesn’t involve a human translator or a well-thumbed phrase book. The prototype device called a “Tele Scouter” is a glasses type display that translates the foreign language being spoken by a partner and projects the translation onto a tiny retinal display. Read More

TXTBlocker lets parents and employers disable texting while driving

By Paul Lester

01:58 October 3, 2009 PDT

It should come as no surprise to hear that texting while driving is a particularly dangerous thing to do. Recent studies have shown that drivers are 23 times more likely to get into an accident if they are texting and an astonishing 46% of teens have admitted occurrences of driving while distracted as a result of fiddling with phones.

A new product called TXTBlocker addresses these issues directly by disabling a number of phone functions, with the specific impact decided by a choice of settings available from an account page online once you subscribe. Read More

Parrot RKi8400 car stereo designed with iPhone in mind

By Jeff Salton

22:25 September 17, 2009 PDT

Parrot has released a car stereo at IAA designed for iPhones and iPods. The Rki8400 uses Bluetooth, has a USB port for hard drives or USB keys, SD Card reader and a double line-in socket for analogue sources. It provides hands-free telephony functions and another great feature is a storage compartment behind the removable front panel that hides and recharges your iPod or iPhone. That means no more cords tangling around gear shifts, or iPhones sliding around the vehicle during braking or cornering maneuvers. Plus, of course, a bit of extra security. Read More