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Five million dollars up for grabs for inventor of 'ultimate iDrive'

Five million dollars up for grabs for inventor of 'ultimate iDrive'

Kevin Massy
In a rare insight into the minds of venture capitalists, Business 2.0 has published a list of the 20 design ideas that the tech investment community would like to see become a reality--and one of them is an advanced driver interface that will make use of heads-up display technology.

According to the article, VC veterans Howard Schulz (founder of Starbucks) and Jonathan Fram want to develop an in-car communications system incorporating a steering wheel-mounted keyboard, a projected heads-up display, and voice-to-text capabilities that would allow drivers to check e-mail without taking their hands from the wheel.

Fram apparently thinks that carmakers have been "too slow and risk averse" to develop this technology themselves. There's $5 million on the table for any budding entreprenuers who can develop a commercial prototype within three years. Any takers?