New technology displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show makes automobiles safer, greener and more fun

By Bill Howard

For one week a year, what happens in Las Vegas not only doesn't stay here, it actually spreads around the world and sets the agenda for all the gadgets you'll buy in the next year or two.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held here in early January, is a leading indicator that TVs will get bigger, the price of personal GPS (global positioning system) units will fall further, and cars will be safer and more entertaining. Here's what happened of interest at CES 2008 in the automotive world.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner gave one of the half-dozen keynote speeches at CES. This was the first time an automaker has been a keynoter, and he used his address to unveil the Cadillac Provoq (pronounced provoke) concept car, which combines hydrogen fuel cell technology with a lithium ion battery. The car runs up to 300 miles on a single fuel cell and can reach speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. It could be on the market in three to four years, Wagoner said.

What it means: New technologies (electronics and alternative fuels) will be the differentiator for cars in the future.

Also on display at the show was Ford's cool car technology, Sync, which provides hands-free telephone calling using Bluetooth technology, plus a plug (USB) that connects virtually every music player to your car and allows you to control it with voice commands. At CES, Ford announced a free enhancement, called 911 Assist, that uses your cell phone to automatically call for help if your airbag deploys.

What it means: Ford has put pressure on GM's OnStar, which has integrated phones for Mayday calling, but OnStar comes with a price of $15 to $30 a month.

Chipmaker Intel offered rides in SUVs with high-speed Internet access using a technology called WiMax, which doesn't require a cell phone. The signal is rebroadcast within the car using the same WiFi you have at home. In a demo, one passenger surfed the Web, while others watched a wireless video and listened to Internet radio.

In theory, WiMax antennas could be 10 to 25 miles apart, bringing wireless services to roads (and homes) in more rural areas. To gain market share, WiMax will have to undercut the $50 to $80 a month charged for cellular data plans. For occasional users, day passes costing $5 to $10 a day would be available. They would not be limited to one location.

What it means: Competition will push down the cost of wireless data services. Intel promises that WiMax will arrive later this year.

Every maker of portable GPS systems had new models: some with more features, and some with fewer capabilities to appease buyers who complained about the unneeded features in previous systems that added unwanted complexity. Several models at the show offer real-time traffic information that alerts you to problems ahead, and many have Bluetooth for hands-free cell phone calling.

What it means: The price of basic portable GPS units pushes below $200, but the best devices still cost $400-plus.

In a separate Consumer Telematics Seminar (telematics is a fancy term for car electronics that communicate with the outside world) held in Vegas that week, participants said the cost of in-dash navigation systems is being forced way down by portable GPS and cell phone-based navigation systems. "Only in premium cars will you be able to justify a $2,000 price in the future," said Phil Magney, an industry analyst.

What it means: $1,000 car navigation systems will be available by 2010, maybe 2009.

Sirius Satellite Radio showed Travel Link, a premium service that provides weather in the form of radar maps, traffic and accident information, fuel prices, movie listings and sports scores. Look for it starting this summer on new Ford and Lincoln-Mercury cars.

Competitor (for now; they're hoping to merge) XM showed XM NavWeather with a similar menu: radar weather, sports scores, stock prices and NavTraffic (already available).

What it means: More information for safety, convenience and entertainment, with an additional monthly fee expected to be $5 to $7.

Audiovox demonstrated DVD2Go, a do-it-yourself rear-entertainment system ($700) that slips back-of-the-headrest monitors on the front seats, with beige, black, or gray fabric shrouds holding them in place. One display has a DVD player; the other can also play the DVD, or serve as a display for a videogame player or video iPod.

What it means: There's an affordable entertainment system that you can move to your next car.

Delphi, a supplier of components to many automakers, showed a modified Apple iPhone that can talk to your car from up to a mile away via the key fob remote. It can be used to start the engine to warm or cool the car before you get in, roll down the windows, tell you how many miles until the next oil change and even tell you if an intruder broke in while you were away.

Separately, Delphi showed how safety technologies can be better and cheaper. Active cruise control (ACC) keeps pace with the car in front, as long as both are going more than 20 mph. The newer stop-and-go ACC takes your car to 0 mph and back up to speed, but requires a second costly radar tuned for close distance. Instead of using a second radar, Delphi developed a cheaper windshield camera to measure near distances. It does double duty and warns if you're about to drift across a lane without your blinker on.

What it means: You can get two safety tools for less than $2,000 (eventually less than $1,000), instead of $3,000.

National Public Radio demonstrated radio for the deaf, or more specifically, closed caption services transmitted over HD Radio receivers ($100 and up) along with the broadcast. Radiosophy will have such a table radio with a big display this fall, and Delphi showed a car LCD display that projects the text only in the direction of the passenger. The same system could broadcast emergency warnings to the hearing-impaired.

What it means: "Now I'll know why [my husband] Fred is laughing ... when he listens to Car Talk," says Cheryl Heppner of Virginia, who lost hearing as a child.

The self-driving car might be just a decade away. General Motors displayed the Carnegie-Mellon-built SUV that covered 60 miles of urban territory (all unoccupied) in six hours to win the DARPA Urban Challenge for "autonomous driving" vehicles. Larry Burns, GM's vice president for R&D, said refinements to lane departure warning, active cruise control, highly accurate GPS and other technologies might allow for self-driving vehicles on well-marked highways such as high-occupancy vehicle lanes.

What it means: Within limits, the driver could be a passenger in 2018.

Bio: Bill Howard is an experienced automotive writer and the editor of TechnoRide.com, the car technology site produced by Ziff Davis. Previously, he was PC Magazine's executive editor. Howard is also vice president of the International Motor Press Association.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Progressive Casualty Insurance Company or its affiliates.