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We open the year with a double header from what I think are the two biggest car events in the U.S. each year: The Consumer Electronics Show and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The latter makes total sense in a show like this, but CES has also moved up the ranks as a major moment for car tech. I mean, Ford and GM climbed all over each other in a battle to be the first major automakers … Read more

Uber began operation in Germany today, giving Berliners their first taste of the fast-growing private car-summoning service.

The service, which the company said is being conducted by "Secret Ubers," is in the testing phase, with more drivers being added each day, Jena Wuu, an international launcher, wrote in a company blog post today. The new service, which allows users to request rides via their smartphones, will apparently be limited to the capital, at least initially.

Interestingly, the service's first passenger was Alexander Ljung, cofounder of the steaming audio host SoundCloud, who was mysteriously "spotted" and … Read more

Do you still use your smartphone behind the wheel? At least a third of people polled do.

Among two thousand drivers surveyed by McKinsey & Company, 35 percent revealed that they do use their smartphones while driving. And it's likely more people do but just didn't admit it.

Out of the drivers who fessed up, 89 percent said they use their phone for calls, 68 percent for navigation, 39 percent for instant messaging, and 31 percent to check e-mail or the Internet.

McKinsey's "Mobility of the Future" report also found that younger people tend to … Read more

Irritated by your car's built-in GPS? You're not alone.

More car owners are less happy with their factory-installed navigation systems than in the past, says a report out today from J.P. Power and Associates.

A survey of drivers conducted late last year found satisfaction with their navigation systems down 13 points from the prior year. The level of satisfaction was down in all of the six factors measured, but ease of use was the biggest complaint, dropping in score by 25 points.

The other five factors included in the study were routing, navigation display screen, the speed … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As hints leaked that both Lexus and Audi would be showing autonomous cars at CES 2013, no less a publication than the Wall Street Journal hyped the story. However, those expecting to see cars driving themselves around the Las Vegas Convention Center were disappointed. This trend had no gas.

Lexus burst the bubble with a surprisingly short press conference. The company brought two of its LS sedans on stage, one of them fitted with sensors and processors to research advanced safety features. Lexus vice president Mark Templin described the company's research as focused on safety, which could be … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Almost every new car comes with a Bluetooth hands-free phone system, but SuperTooth believes there is still room for a Bluetooth speakerphone car kit, as evidenced by its launch of the HD Voice at CES 2013. And with the HD Voice's advanced features, SuperTooth may be right.

A spokesperson for SuperTooth suggested the call quality was so good, the HD Voice would be preferable to use in cars over the native hands-free phone system. A bold claim, but the HD Voice does come with two microphones and two speakers, hardware that will not only enhance call quality, but … Read more

LAS VEGAS--At its press conference at CES 2013, Audi didn't just vaguely announce that it was working on developing self-driving cars. Rather, the automaker boasted that is about to begin autonomous car testing on public roads in Nevada.

Ricky Hudi, head of electronics development for Audi, told us that the automaker is the first automaker to attain a license for testing self-driving cars in the state of Nevada and that it has begun testing automated driving and parking. Audi may be the first automaker granted this license, but it's still second behind Google -- the recipient of the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Lexus showed off a prototype version of its safety-focused research vehicle today at CES, and it's designed to be more aware of what's going on around on the road.

That translates to a car that's been equipped with a bevy of sensors and other technological goodies, including a roof-mounted Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) laser that can detect objects from 70 feet away.

Other additions include a trio of hi-def cameras that look out for nearby vehicles; a sensor that detects the car's speed and angle; and a GPS antenna that Lexus says can figure out which way your car is pointed even when the car isn't moving. … Read more