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VW's Touchscreen UI Looking Mighty Apple-y
Posted by Brian Lam at 5:28 AM on November 17, 2007
Some noticed that the VW Space Up! blue concept car at the LA Auto Show has a car computer that looks like an Apple coverflow UI. Could this result of Apple and VW launching a UI together per earlier talks? My eyes are screaming yes, but my brain tells me that an Apple alliance is the kind of thing VW and Apple would want trumpeted. Maybe at production time for vehicles with this system, come spring, or Maybe at Macworld in January.
Either way, it almost makes me consider a VW, and I'm hoping cousins at Audi get the hint soon and do something as slick as this in their non-touchscreen MMI system. The system has a 7-inch touchscreen is proximity sensitive, too, so it works on gestures in front of the console. Autoblog recalls that all VWs in 2009 model year are getting touchscreens. I like all this speculation, frankly, and would be pretty pleased to see solid Cupertino UIs on the road. [Autoblog Carspace via Engadget]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
ANoel
Posted 2:18 PM 16/11/07
Devices like this seem downright dangerous to the serious task of DRIVING unless it's operated by a passenger, or unless you're stuck in traffic...
sorry... NOW I get it.
ANoel
EMoShunz
Posted 2:13 PM 16/11/07
apple inside a vw with a diesel electric hybrid drive. sold, where do i sign?
wishful thinking, i know.
EMoShunz
madoublet
Posted 2:09 PM 16/11/07
Am I the only one who still prefers a list view?
madoublet
chopstickhero
Posted 2:05 PM 16/11/07
close, but not quite. although i'm wondering if the extra features in this UI add complexity to an already distracting navigation unit in most cars.
chopstickhero
Terminator12139
Posted 2:01 PM 16/11/07
Its Apple Front Row!
Terminator12139
bubba451
Posted 1:58 PM 16/11/07
That's not quite Cover Flow; that's just a "carousel" UI, something that I've seen in plenty of other places, including the front page of Amazon.
bubba451
Joseph
Posted 3:51 PM 16/11/07
The beauty of all that linear algebra that people thought was useless in college. Liner Transformations!
Joseph
EMoShunz
Posted 3:26 PM 16/11/07
@HoseHead: good point
EMoShunz
HoseHead
Posted 3:18 PM 16/11/07
ford gets microsoft
vw gets apple
need i say more?
HoseHead
DustyButt
Posted 3:11 PM 16/11/07
@EMoShunz: I hear ya... that's a bit too much for the business of driving. I guess it's Ok for the passenger.
But, I'd hate to be the one waiting for the stupid carousel to stop spinning...
...then checking the screen to make sure the right app is at the front...
...then selecting the app.
No thanks... I'll take my menu straight, no chaser.
DustyButt
ImTheKing
Posted 3:08 PM 16/11/07
@madoublet: yep lol
ImTheKing
mtopper
Posted 3:03 PM 16/11/07
@madoublet:
yes
mtopper
drewkkake
Posted 4:06 PM 16/11/07
While we're at it, why don't we drive our flower-rimmed beetles down to Starbucks and watch An Inconvenient Truth on our MacBooks?
drewkkake
EMoShunz
Posted 5:08 PM 16/11/07
@longshot: i'm an mcp. 3 of my 4 systems at home run linux, the last is an imac with leopard. i ran xp native for a long time, and run it in a vm now. i have used bsd, and plan to swap it onto one of my systems again soon. i am not a 'fanboy', just experienced. right now, in my very educated and experiential opinion, OS X is the best. does that make me a fan, i guess, does that mean that in 4-7 years (if apple makes little os improvements and stagnates) if OSS surpasses OS X i will scream bloody murder, no. it means my imac get formatted with that OS, and OS X gets installed on a virtual machine.
EMoShunz
longshot
Posted 4:57 PM 16/11/07
Gosh fuckin fanboys.
longshot
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 6:01 PM 16/11/07
What's not Apple-y these days?
MagnoliaBoy
EMoShunz
Posted 10:11 PM 16/11/07
@ruggels: you mean my comment about a diesel electric hybrid will be out in 2010? in north america? hook me up with a link!
EMoShunz
ruggels
Posted 10:06 PM 16/11/07
@EMoShunz: Not really, it'll be out in 2010, at least according to the vw big wig wondering about yesterday. the interface kicked ass too.
ruggels
ywpark
Posted 12:43 AM 17/11/07
Well I tried something similar with my iPod touch in FM transmitter dock while driving, and almost got into an accident. Touch screens simply don't work while driving; you have to take your eyes off the road since there are no physical buttons!!! I think the auto companies should spend more time developing something that aids driving and not distracting.
ywpark
coolrepublica
Posted 2:14 AM 17/11/07
I'm the only one who knows that Apple did not invent the concept of sorting through files that is being used in the video. Just for good measure let me say that Apple did not invent the touchscreen either.
What's next? Are people are going to start claiming that Apple gave birth to the baby Jesus.
coolrepublica
EMoShunz
Posted 7:53 AM 17/11/07
@coolrepublica: you have that backwards, jesus is the father of apple :P
EMoShunz
Galley
Posted 12:51 PM 17/11/07
I swear that one day I will hook up an Apple TV in my car (if only I could find a decent place for a 5-7" screen).
Galley
Barry99705
Posted 3:59 PM 17/11/07
@EMoShunz:
I thought Steve was Jesus. Aaanyway, for the Windows folks, at least you guys got a coffee table.
Barry99705