Jaguar Land Rover Offers Improved Cell Phone Connectivity

Jaguar Land Rover Offers Improved Cell Phone Connectivity
Five Things You Need to Know About the 2015 Toyota Mirai
Subaru Viziv GT Concept Revealed
Chrysler SUVs Temporarily Lose Color Options
Ford Issues Recall for 65K Fusions
Audi Opens New E-Diesel Production Plant

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Jaguar Land Rover announced its latest move in the ongoing fight to curb distracted driving today at the L.A. Auto Show.

Jaguar Land Rover is expanding its in-car smartphone integration with the launch of justDrive. Designed for use with InControl, the new justDrive system integrates voice control for multiple smartphone apps like Spotify, Twitter and Yelp.

InControl already enables drivers to plug smartphones directly into their vehicles and control many apps through the vehicle's touchscreen. In essence, it's like turning the vehicle's infotainment into into a giant smartphone. JustDrive takes things a step further.

Instead of just relying on touch controls, the new software allows plain natural speech to be used to control various InControl Apps. This means phrases like "find me a gas station" or "is this pizza place any good?" would be fed through the appropriate app, followed by a response from the system.

2014 LA Auto Show Coverage

You will also be able to ask for songs by name and dictate tweets or text messages through justDrive with simple voice commands like "This traffic is horrible." The system can also read all messages back to the driver before they are sent as well as reading new incoming messages aloud.

Based out of Silicon Valley, CloudCar is the company behind the development the new justDrive software. Using state of the art voice recognition software, CloudCar claims the new program is one of the most advanced systems when it comes to recognizing natural speech.

justDrive marks the 17^th app now available for Jaguar Land Rover's InControl infotainment system, continuing the trend of further smartphone-to-car integration. For 2015, justDrive will be available on the Jaguar F-Type and any of Land Rover's 2015 vehicle line-up. The company expects full integration of justDrive for all its vehicles by the 2016 model year.

Initially, justDrive will be available for Apple iOS8 users while Android users will have to wait until early 2015 for justDrive to be available.

Five Things You Need to Know About the 2015 Toyota Mirai

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Known for bringing hybrid cars to the masses, Toyota is looking to revolutionize the industry again with the 2015 Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell powered car that can have zero carbon emissions.

That zero emission future also comes with sustainability, meaning we can fuel our cars without relying on fossil fuels like oil. While the Mirai isn't the first hydrogen fuel cell car to be offered for sale in the US, it has a number of important advancements in performance, availability and support. Before we go into what you need to know about the Mirai, lets start with how it works.

Basically, the car houses two tanks that can be filled with compressed Hydrogen gas. The Hydrogen passes through something called a Hydrogen fuel-cell stack, which adds Oxygen to the Hydrogen. This process creates electricity through a chemical reaction, which powers the front wheels. The only by-product is water, which comes out of the back of the car. It's like having an electric generator in your car, but powered by hydrogen. In fact, the Mirai could act like a generator for your house in the case of an emergency, providing enough electricity to power the average household for a week.

Sound interesting? Then read on to find out more key details you should know about the Mirai.

Subaru Viziv GT Concept Revealed

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Subaru is the latest automaker to reveal its Vision Gran Turismo concept.

Heading to Gran Turismo 6 in update 1.14, the Subaru Viziv GT Vision Gran Turismo concept is based on the Viziz 2 concept which was revealed earlier this year. But like all other Vision Gran Turismo concepts, Subaru took it to a whole new level for the virtual world, outfitting it with an extremely aggressive design, massive rear spoiler and carbon fiber throughout. The concept weighs less than 3,050 lbs despite having heavy batteries and electric motors that complement the 2.0-liter turbocharged Boxer engine.

The Viziv GT Vision Gran Turismo has a total system output of 591 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque and will surely be a blast to enjoy virtually in Gran Turismo 6 on the PlayStation 3.

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  Discuss this story at our Subaru forum

Chrysler SUVs Temporarily Lose Color Options

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Those looking for a colorful Jeep Grand Cherokee or Dodge Durango will have to hold out for a few months.

Chrysler is updating the paint shop at its Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit to allow for more complex colors. Until the process is finished sometime around February 2015, Chrysler customers will only be able to order the SUVs in black, white, silver or gray.

Supply may also get a little thin, as the plant will fully stop production for about three weeks starting on Dec. 22 to accommodate the updates to the paint shop. When all is said and done, Chrysler says the new painting process will allow for better paint jobs and more color options that will slowly become available once the plant is back up and running.

SEE ALSO: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Review

This color hiccup shouldn't influence purchases too much, as just 19 percent of all unsold Grand Cherokees are painted something other than black, white, gray or silver. Likewise, just 8 percent of unsold Durangos are painted a real color.

[Source: Automotive News]

Discuss this story at our Dodge Durango Forum

Ford Issues Recall for 65K Fusions

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Ford is calling back about 65,000 Fusion sedans over a programming issue.

The problem is the key can be removed from the ignition after the car has been turned off for 30 minutes, regardless of whether or not the car is in park or not. Thanks to this, certain 2014 and 2015 Fusions are not in compliance with regulation involving theft protection and rollaway prevention.

Ford is not aware of any injuries or accidents as a result of the problem. To remedy the issue, dealers will reprogram the vehicle's instrument cluster at no cost.

Discuss this story at our Ford Fusion Forum

Audi Opens New E-Diesel Production Plant

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Audi is working towards developing renewable ways to power its vehicles, and the brand has just taken a step forward.

Audi, along with its partners Climeworks and Sunfire have opened a plant in Dresden, Germany that produces e-diesel, a synthetic diesel fuel that is created using just carbon dioxide, water and electricity as raw materials. The e-diesel ignites very easily, allowing it to be blended in with fossil diesel or to act on its own as a drop-in fuel.

As it operates right now, the plant can produce roughly 96 liters of e-diesel every day. Audi already has an e-gas plant in Werlte, Lower Saxony, that produces synthetic natural gas that is available for purchase by A3 Sportback g-tron drivers.

With this new plant, Audi and its partners are demonstrating two new innovative processes: CO2 capturing from the ambient air and the power to liquid process for the production of synthetic fuel.

Discuss this story at our Audi Forum

Car Reviews

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Jaguar Land Rover Offers Improved Cell Phone Connectivity

Jaguar Land Rover Offers Improved Cell Phone Connectivity

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