Going forward with technology in the automobile industry usually starts from the more expensive cars like the Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ford GT, but in this case it starts with a household brand by the name of Volkswagen. Audi is a part of Volkswagen or the other way around (who knows these days) so I'd expect this type of product to start in a high end brand like that. Better for the averge consumer I'd say and so I'm not complaining.
With a 7-inch touchscreen in the midle of your VW Jetta, Golf, New Beetle, or any other VW, you are pimping right there. It would honestly make me look twice at a vehicle that looks good AND comes with a crazy interface. Now the twist to this story is Apple has been recently collaborating with VW and if you look closely at the zoomed in picture of the display, you'll see some coverflow.
As Autoblog describes it, the concept touchscreen monitor "controls all conceivable functions" and is meant to demonstrate how future human-machine interfaces might look and operate.
-AutoBlog
Since it is developed by Apple you would think there would be multi-touch capabilites but there is no official word yet. Obviously this would increase the possiblity you'd be more focused on scrolling, or doing whatever on Space Up! that you'd completely forget that you're driving. There are going to be later posts on removing that possibility. 
The official word on it though is it will use sensors that react to gestures infront of the screen without touching it but it will also be capable of being touched which will be perfect to some late adapters or just old-fashioned people. The touchscreen is intuitive and makes for a great alternative to a GPS, MyGig, and Sync that are being offered on other cars. The beauty of this all is we won't have to wait until 2015 or an unannounced date for this to be on our favourite VW model, VW says it will be available on all 2009 models. Some say this is what Apple has in store for us in January at MacWorld but I say they will have another completely new product to blow our mind. Bring in the new year with a new Apple.
Due to the new knowledge of a wide base of Canadian readers I decided to offer a Canadian Edition article and what better way to kick it off but with our favourite wireless, cable, and phone providor, Rogers. I don't know about you but I hate Rogers so I chose Fido as my wireless providor and I've never regretted it (I know Rogers owns Fido). Rogers does however have the best service but they don't know how to treat their customers right which is the reason I'll take any chance to cut my ties with them. I do give credit to them for bringing in 4 new phones to their dismall lineup which is the reason why I'm writing this article today.
Sony Ericsson W580i
Technically it's not a new phone but to the general public in Canada it is. Rogers is now offering 
it for a measly $300 without a contractand $100 for a 3yr contract. This versatile offers Bluetooth, Infrared, Quad-Band 850/900/1800/1900 capabilities and uses Enhanced Data rates for the EDGE technology to give you hi-speed video / picture messaging and mobile Internet access. Download videos, ring tunes, graphics and games at speeds up to three times faster than dial-up. This truly is a high-tech phone and gives all the other providors a run for their money. The main feature that has been getting alot of attention are the fitness tools such as the pedometer. These features shouldn't be getting the most attention as there are plenty of other great things on the phone. The phone is only 10cm long 5cm wide so it makes for a great size phone. The main feature I believe to be on this phone is its screen. Similar to other Sony Ericsson���s models, the W580i utilizes mirror layer that improves its readability while in the sun and allows its picture to stay crisp and visible. The display boasts enhanced image sharpness and contrast.
HTC TyTN
While at first it doesn't look as good as the HTC Touch at first 
glance, if you look further it makes a great arguement. It's an "office in your pocket" that you've been waiting for. Exclusively offered by Rogers it will limit the learning tim required to get used to the phone. With the familiarity of the Windows platform, th TyTN operates on Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Edition. You'll be able to send email, text and multimedia messages with the stylish sliding full QWERTY keyboard and navigate easily with the 2.8" screen and stylus. View, capture, send, and save pictures and video with the 2 megapixel camera. It is HSDPA enabled so you can download at home-style speed. A huge feature is wifi, enabling you to connect anywhere possible. Windows Mobile 5.0 packs a lot into a relatively small package and should help the HTC TyTN compete with the Blackberry's and stem off Apple iPhone buyers if it comes to Canada.
HTC Touch
I did a review on this phone a month ago and never expected it to hit Canada. I thought I was seeing things when I saw the Rogers commercial. I am glad it is coming here because it's an absolutely great phone for a reasonable price of $200 with a 2yr contract and $400 with a 1yr contract(not offered for prepaid). I have a full review on the phone here. Now it is also offered by Bell Mobility. On a similar note, this probably means that Rogers, let alone any other carrier, will offer the Apple iPhone in Canada because the HTC Touch is a perfect replacement to it.
LG TU720 Shine
Finally we have the LG Shine with a price tag of $100 for a 3yr term and $410 for no-term. The
LG Shine has sleek design with a mirror finish and a 2megapixel camera to capture those Kodak moments. It is also used for video calling, one of Rogers new services, and provides many colours for a great video conversation. Mobile TV is one of the preloaded services that come with the phone as well as a Music store, radio, and VOD. There is plenty of space when you first buy the phone at 512MB plus the option of expanding it. Overall, it's a flashy phone that will get old very soon, but hopefully not before Christmas. This cell phone, unlike Bell's version is capable of utilizing Roger's new high-speed network, 3G. Note: Rogers is the first to test the new 3.5G network in North America so look out for it.
Dell though might have a winner with different models to choose from that have somewhat unique names. On both sides are stereo speakers with media buttons down one side with a 20-inch widescreen TV down the middle. There will be four available systems that mimick an Apple name. The Essential One, the Performance One, the Music One, and the Entertainment One. All of these systems have 4 things in common; they all have an Intel Core 2 Duo running them and Windows Vista Home Premium operating them. As well a TV tuner and a remote come standard.
The Music One and Entertainmet One both have small differences to there siblings. Music One comes with wireless headphones for the music enthusiast. The Entertainment One will mimick a Home Entertainment system with all the best technology. There will be a Blu-Ray DVD burner and an ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro graphics card with 256M bytes of memory.
All these models are available on the Dell (CA)(US) website for pre-sale. Actual selling of the Dell XPS-One will take place next week.
Imagine downloading a music video or movie onto your phone and displaying it on a wall. That's not far from reality. Expected to debut in 2008 on game consoles and PCs, it will revolutionize the way we view videos. Right now, the big thing is watching TV and movie online but by the looks of it, that will all be transferred over to the mobile phone.
The first mobile phone will be projector equiped by 2009 with due help from Motorola to develop PICO projectors that were first invented by Microvision. The projectors use light scanning technology to display a colourful image all from a beam of light. If you open your cell phone and project the image from 12 feet away, the picture on the wall will be up to 120 inches which is incredible. Soon the picture will be HD and you'll have a mobile TV in your pocket. A PicoP engine will control the whole thing, the size of a mint, to control the intensity of te thousands of colours generated by the scanner. All on one phone charge, you'll be able to play "I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry." The estimated cost of intergrating all this onto your phone will be $150 and accessory projectors will be a higher price of $200.
