This is reprinted from the “Motor Authority” Blog. I ran across this while doing some research on the gaming aspects of the driver interface for the Nissan GTR and Nissan’s Infiniti line of cars. This is extremely cute, but it has the looks of a toy for toddlers or for people who like very cute things like Disney and Hello Kitty. I don’t think I could drive with this much cuteness in front of me. Anyhow, as I dig into this further, I am finding that the future of in-car dashboards and controls is quite interesting and scary at the same time.
I like the idea of trying to create a personal experience between drivers and their cars. I wonder though, could some of the potential interactions be as dangerous as talking on a cell phone while driving. I also wonder can we create a similar personal experience between our products and the customer. What would that look like? Does it have to be this darned cute?
Nissan has set itself a clear goal: to become a technology leader in the auto industry within the next ten years. We’ve already seen the launch of the new bird’s-eye view camera system and ‘self-healing’ paint on the Infiniti EX35 crossover but according to CEO Carlos Ghosn this is just the top of the iceberg.
Here’s an article from the Hollywood reporter. Could this be the beginning of the end of the Blue-Ray HD DVD war? Will Blue-Ray win? I’m more concerned about the viability of High-Definition DVD formats in general. The number of players sold in the world seems mighty low to me. Hmm … I’m so glad I didn’t get that HD DVD add-on I was looking at for XBox360.
A panel discusses the future of content on mobile phones. What stuck out to me in this article is the idea of location based advertising enabled by having GPS in mobile phones. Rejoice or cringe, this is a great idea. But I guess we are a ways off from blending this with video content due the mentioned obvious shortcomings of current cellular networks. I think, though, regardless of whether there is mobile entertainment, location based advertising is coming your way. I have already experienced it Singapore, where I recieved several spam SMS’s while touring the city/country.
As for the Olympics, I’m looking forward to being able to view the events I care about in more depth, hopefully without commentary, over the Internet from my PC (which is connected to my TV). I think that being able to access results over a mobile is a good use of mobile technology. I’m not sure whether I would get much enjoyment out of watching tracking and field, gymnastics, or pool events on my tiny postage stamp of a screen on my mobile.
Last year was a big year for video gaming. Check out some of the numbers! WOW! There is no mention of PC gaming in this article, so it is not clear to me whether PC gaming is included in these numbers.
BTW: My husband is anxiously awaking Halo 3 on the PC. A Halo 3/Blackbird combo would be right up his alley :).
More Rambling 