CES is the world’s largest consumer electronics trade show held every year in Las Vegas in January. This year, recent advancements in vehicle, navigation and telematics technology made this area one of the most exciting parts of CES.
Here are highlights of the new vehicle, navigation and telematics technologies showcased at CES 2011:
Navigation
Garmin unveiled a new, large-screen version of its Nuvi navigation GPS system. The all-new Garmin Nuvi 2400 Series GPS system has a five-inch screen and the latest-generation Garmin features, including myTrends predictive routing that learns your favorite routes.
TomTom also displayed its Go 2505 GPS model with a new traffic service.
JVC showed a video receiver that displays navigation from a smartphone with the MotionX GPS app, creating a cheap way to add nav. And Pioneer debuted an iPhone cradle enabled for smartphone GPS navigation.
BMW announced a deal with Nvidia to power its next-generation infotainment systems. BMW also had a prototype of its 3D navigation system in a BMW 550i. I’ve driven a BMW 6-series with similar technology. The GPS system in that car was amazing. The directions appear in 3-d on your windshield as you are driving, making it very easy to keep your eyes on the road.
Telematics
In-car connected services are the next big thing, based on some of the new telematics services that came out of the show. Toyota showed off its new Entune app, which won Best of Show in the Car Tech category. The Entune app brings five Internet services into the car.
Hyundai presented its new telematics service called Blue Link. Blue Link can contact emergency services in the event of a collision and can also read turn-by-turn directions out loud.
For more information, please go to CNET.