A Porsche you could talk to

Paul Leroux
I have a confession to make. The day before QNX Software Systems unveiled this technology concept at car at 2012 CES, I leaked the news on the On Q blog. Mind you, the leak was unintentional. I had been editing a post that described the car and, instead of hitting Save, I hit Publish by mistake. Dumb, I know.

I immediately took down the post and informed my colleagues of the error. Fortunately, my RSS feed didn't give me away, and the launch, which had been strictly under wraps, went ahead as planned. But boy, did I feel stupid.

Now that I've got that off my chest, let's see what the hubbub was about. The car, based on a Porsche 911 Carrera, came equipped with an array of features built by the QNX concept team, including one-touch smartphone pairing, high-definition hands-free calls, rear-seat entertainment, and a digital instrument cluster.

So, you ready for a tour?

The car
Let's start with the exterior. Because man, what an exterior:



The instrument cluster
Once you got behind the wheel, the first thing you saw was the instrument cluster. But
this was no ordinary cluster. It could dynamically reconfigure itself — in response to voice commands, no less. It could even communicate with the navigation system to display turn-by-turn directions. And it was designed to honor the look-and-feel of the stock 911 cluster:



The head unit
To your right, you could see the head unit. Here is the unit's main screen, from which you could access all of the system's key functions:



And here's another screen, showing the system's media player:



The front-seat control of backseat infotainment
The Porsche also showcased how a head unit could offer front-seat control of backseat entertainment — perfect for when you need to control what your kids are watching or listening to:



The voice recognition
The Porsche was outfitted with cloud-based voice recognition, which let you enter navigation destinations naturally, without having to use artificial grammars. Check out this Engadget clip, taken at an AT&T event in New York City:



The car also included features that neither words nor pictures can capture adequately. But let me try, anyway:

One-touch Bluetooth pairing — Allowed you to pair a phone to the car simply by touching the phone to an NFC reader embedded in the center console; no complicated menus to wade through.

Text-to-speech integration — Could read aloud incoming emails, text messages, and BBM messages.

High-definition voice technology — Used 48KHz full stereo bandwidth for clear, high-fidelity hands-free calls.

The car also ran a variety of apps, including TCS hybrid navigation, Vlingo voice-to-text, Poynt virtual assistant, Weather Network, and streaming Internet radio from Pandora, Nobex, Slacker, and TuneIn.

The point
The point of this car wasn't simply to be cool, but to demonstrate what's possible in next-gen infotainment systems. More specifically, it was designed to showcase the capabilities of the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment. In fact, it did such a good job on that count that the platform took home the 2012 CES Best of Show award, in the car tech category:



Netherlands November 2013

3.000 Reservations delivered and 7.000 still to go. This Mitsu is something of a Case Study in the Netherlands... 

Outlandish Outlander Edition

Just when you thought that Norway would be the undisputed king of plug-in share, with more than 11% in November, the dutch results struck a fantastic 12,3% share, with some 5.000 units sold this month (The best monthly score ever outside the US), pulling the YTD share to 3,35%, three times higher than a year ago. Sources say that December will be even more impressive, because it will be the last month before much of the plug-in incentives end.

This level of sales (And Share) needs to be compared with the Global Ranking, so let's look at it:

At #1 with 6,8% share(!) comes the Mitsu Outlander and sources say that 2.600 of all 2.766 sales are from the PHEV version, and in #6 is comes the Volvo V60, again sources say that 1.100 of all 1.253 registrations are from the Plug-In version, so we have two Plug-In Hybrids in the Top 10, both heading their category (SUV's for Mitsu, D-Segment for Volvo), a comparable scenery to what we've seen in Norway, although with different characters.

 Further down the general ranking, with more modest results, at around 400 units, comes the #25 Toyota Prius (#3 in the Plug-In chart) and the #27 Tesla Model S (Best Selling BEV and #4 in the Plug-In ranking). The american Sports Sedan collects another title this month, being also the Best Selling E-Segment vehicle, selling twice as much as the BMW 5-Series, that with 175 units, is the next best selling E-Segment car.

Finally, in #32 we have the Fifth best selling Plug-In, the Opel Ampera with 319 units. Considering what we've seen above, it might seem like peanuts, but it has been more than a year that the Opel EREV hasn't reached such heights, and it wasn't that long ago (August sales comes to mind) that it struggled to reach the 100 sales/month...  

Looking back at the YTD Plug-In Ranking, we assist the Outlander climbing to #2 and it might even threat the V60 Best Selling Crown in December, an exciting finish to see. Also rising is the Model S from Tesla, now #6 and holder of the Best Selling BEV title.

All these numbers lead to an even more strong domination of PHEV's over BEV's, with the first now registering 87% of all plug-in sales, making the Netherlands THE Plug-In Hybrid Country.

PlNetherlandsNov.YTD%'12Pl
1
2
Volvo V60 Plug-In e)
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV e)
1.100
2.600
3.889
2.900
31
23
N/A
N/A
3Toyota Prius Plug-In4151.945152
4Opel Ampera3191.505121
5Chevrolet Volt474063
6Tesla Model S4086195N/A
7Renault Zoe623423N/A
8Nissan Leaf5330624
9Renault Kangoo ZE e)1022325
10Renault Twizy e)511816
11Mitsubishi I-Miev
45013
12Fisker Karma
3308
13BMW i326270N/A
14Peugeot iOn
1307
15
16
17
17
Renault Fluence ZE
Citröen C-Zero
Think City
Tesla Roadster
1



10
8
5
1
0
0
0
0
10
9
12
14

TOTAL5.00312.729100

e) Estimate

Source: www.autoweek.nl; insideevs.com

Automotive technology

Automotive

Labels

1904 Columbus 1940 Ford 1964 Worlds Fair 1969 Camaro 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee 2014 2016 Sales 2017 The Bad 8 2017 The Good 12 3 wheeler 4 G 407 407 ex2 427 AC Cobra 440 six pack 442 4x 4x4 55 Chevy 57 Chevy 5th wheel AAR abandoned abs abuse by law enforcement AC Cobra Acadian accessories accident Acoustic processing Active noise control (ANC) Acura Acura Reviews adaptive cruise control ADAS Adobe AIR ads adventurers advertising aerodynamics Aircraft engines airlines airplane Airstream Alfa Alfa Romeo Alfa-Romeo All Cars Rankings All SUV Rankings All Vehicle Rankings Alpina Alpine AMBR winner ambulance AMC America's greatest photographers American LaFrance amphib AMX AMX-3 Andorra Andrew Poliak Android Andy Gryc anti lock braking system App World Apps Arab-Supercar area controller Ariel-Nomad ARM-based devices art Art Arfons Art Deco artist Asset management system Aston Martin Aston-Martin atv auction Audi Audi Reviews audio Augmented reality Austin Austin Healey Australia Austria Auto Accident Attorney auto car donate auto car donation Auto Donate Auto Donation California Auto hobby books Auto Sales By Brand auto show Auto Story in Pictures Wednesday auto taxi Autocar automobile automobile donation AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE automobile parts automobile safety system automobule donate Autonomous cars Awards awesome B 29 B 52 BAIC Baja racing Baker banners barn find barn finds barnfind barnfinds Barracuda Barris barum BatBerry Batman Batteries battery beautiful engine Beautiful paint before and after Belgium Bello's belly tanker Bentley Best Sellers Best Selling American Cars Best Selling Cars Best Selling Luxury Best Selling SUVs Best Selling Trucks Best Selling Vehicles bicycle bicycles Big 3 Swap Meet big wheel bike messengers bike rack biofuel biography BlackBerry BlackBerry Radar BlackBerry-QNX blink code blink code checkup blink code error blink code troubleshooting Blog blogs BMW BMW Audi Mercedes Benz Daimler jeep GM toyota Chrysler VW volkswagon nissan infiniti ford unique rare Bntley boardtrack Boats boattail Bonneville book review bookmobile Boss 302 Boss 429 brake brakes braking system Brand Marketshare brass era breedlove Brewster Brian Salisbury Bricklin bridge British Britten brochure Bugatti Buick Bulgaria burnout bus Buses buying selling cash tips money advice BYD c C-type Jag Cadillac Cadillac Reviews Camaro Can Am Canada Canada 2016 Sales Canada All Cars Rankings Canada All SUV Rankings Canada All Vehicle Rankings Canada Auto Sales Canada Auto Sales By Brand Canada Best Sellers Canada Compact Car Sales Canada December 2016 Canada Entry Luxury Car Sales Canada February 2017 Canada January 2017 Canada Large Car Sales Canada Large Luxury Car Sales Canada Large Luxury SUV Sales Canada Large SUV Sales Canada March 2017 Canada Midsize Car Sales Canada Midsize Luxury Car Sales Canada Midsize Luxury SUV Sales Canada Midsize SUV Sales Canada Minivan Sales Canada November 2016 Canada October 2016 Canada Premium Sporty Car Sales Canada September 2016 Canada Small Luxury SUV Sales Canada Small SUV Sales Canada Sporty Car Sales Canada Truck Sales Canada Van Sales Canada Worst Sellers car care car chase scene car clubs car collections car collectors Car Donate car donate california car donation Car Donations California Car or the Future car wash carbs carrozzeria cart caterpillar tracked vehicle CCS celebrities celebrity Certicom CES CESA 2012 CESA 3.0 Chademo Challenger Chaparral Charger Charity Charity auction charity car donation Charity Car Donation Program Charity Car With Your Credit Card cheating Checker Chery Chevelle Chevrolet Chevrolet Reviews Chevy 2 China chopper Christian Sobottka Christie Christmas Chrysler Citroen Citroën classics cleaning clip Cloud connectivity CO2 Cobra Cobra Daytona Coupe Cobra Mustang Cobra Torino COE Cogent collection collector College Colombia commercial common rail direct injection Compact Car Sales companies comparison compliment components components of anti-lock braking system concept Concept car Concept team Connected Car construction Consumer Electronics Show consumers Contest convertible Coronet Corvair corvette Corvettes Costa Rica coupe coventry cragar crash crde crdi Croatia Crosley crossover Cruise 4 Kids crypto cryptography CTS Cuda Cunningham Curtiss Aerocar Custom customer satisfaction cutaway display cycle car Cyclone Cyprus Czech Republic dacia Daihatsu Dan Gurney dart Datsun Daytona ddis DDS dealers Dealership Dean Martin December 2016 Degree delivery truck Delorean Delphi Demon Denmark Derek Kuhn design deuce devices Dick Landy dicor Digital instrument clusters digital spark ignition Diner with car theme direction injection Disney display diy Dodge domain controller Donate Donate A Car Tax Deduction Donate Automobile To Charity Donate Car To Charity Tax Deduction Donate Vehicles To Charity donation donation auto car donation vehicles to charity Doug Newcomb Drag racing drag strip Dragonsnake dragsters DREAM drifting Driven Driver distraction driving assistance drunk driver DS dtsi dual carbs dual engined dualie Ducati dump truck dvla E-type Jag ECC economy ECU Ecuador electric electric car Electric cars electromagnetic brake Elliptic Curve Cryptography EMF Emil Dautovic Endurance racing engine engine accessories Engine sound enhancement engines Entry Luxury Car Sales enzo Erskine Essex estate Estonia etc EUCAR Europe EV Business Case Evel Knievel event experience experiment extreme sports video F1 Factor-Aurelio Factory lightweight Factory race car Fairlane Falcon Fast boot Fast-Charging FCA FCEV February 2017 Ferrari Fiat Fiat Botafogo finance Finland fips fire engine fire fighting fire trucks Firebird Firestone firetrucks Fisker flamejob fleet management Ford ford escort Ford Reviews Fordson tractor Forecasts FOTA found around the neighborhood France Franklin Free Car Donation Freescale french fuel fuel injection fuel injection system Fuel Tanker fuel-cell fun Funny car Futurliner gadgets Galpin Ford game garage garner gas mileage gas stations Gasser Gauges GCBC Awards GCBC Most Popular Geely Gene Winfield General Motors German Germany give your car to charity GM GM MyLink GNX Go cart good news Goodwood Goodyear gourmet food vans GPU Graham Gran Prix Grand National Roadster Show 2017 Grand Sport Corvette Graph Great Wall Motors Greece green Green car Gremlin GT GT 350 GT 40 GT 500 gt40 GTO GTX Gulf race car Gullwing Guy Martin Hands-free systems Harley Harley Davidson hauler Hawaii helicopter hemi hemmings Hennessey Henry J hero Hertz hire Hispano-Suiza historical history HMIs Holden Hollywood Holman Moody Honda Honda Reviews Honda Sales Hong Kong Hood ornaments hood scoops Horizon 2020 horse carriage horse wagon host blog info about auto Hot rods Hot Wheels Housekeeping How To Donate How To Donate A Car For Tax Deduction How To Donate Car To Charity how to donation car to charity HRM HTML5 Hudson Hummer humor humour Humvee Hungary Hupmobile Hurst Hurst SC Rambler hybrid Hybrid cars hydrogen hypervisor Hyundai Hyundai Reviews Ian Roussel Iceland ID4 Car ignition IIoT immitation Impala india Indian Indianapolis industry news infiniti Infiniti Reviews Info infographic informative Infotainment Injury Lawyer Innotrans innova innovation innovative instrument panel insurance intake Intel interior International Harvester Internet of Things Internet radio invitation IoT Ireland iris iris details iris engine details iris technical Isetta Iskenderian Isky Isle of Man ISO 26262 Israel issues Isuzu Italian Italy ITS ITU IVI Jaguar January 2017 Japan Japanese Javelin Jay Leno Jean-François Tarabbia Jeep Jeep Wrangler JLR John D'Agostino John Deere John Wall Justin Moon jv Kaivan Karimi Kandi kawasaki Ken Block Kerry Johnson Kia kids Kim Cairns Kissel Kombi Kroy Zeviar Kurtis La Carrera Panamerica lace paint Lamborghini Lamborghini Revuelto Lancia Land Cruiser Land Rover Land Rover Sales land speed record holder Land-Rover Large Car Sales Large Luxury Car Sales Large Luxury SUV Sales Large SUV Sales Larry Wood LaSalle Latvia launch law enforcement lawnmower laws Le Mans legends Leno Lexus license plates Lidar Life Insurance limited Lincoln Lincoln MKZ Linda Campbell Linda Vaughn links lists Lithuania live Loans Locomobile logging train logging trucks Lola London to Brighton Looking for EV's Los Angeles Lotus lowrider LSR Luxembourg luxury Lyft Lynn Gayowski Mach 1 machine shop Mack Mad Max magazine magazines magic iris mags Malaysia March 2017 Mario Andretti Mark Donohue marketing Marketshare Maserati Matt Watson Maverick Mazda Mazda Reviews MB McLaren mechanic Megan Alink meme Memory Lane Men Micro Mercedes Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz Mercer Cobra Mercury Metallica Metro Mexico Miata microkernal Midsize Car Sales Midsize Luxury Car Sales Midsize Luxury SUV Sales Midsize SUV Sales Military Miller race car mini mini bike miniature Minivan Sales MirrorLink mission-critical Mitsubishi Miura MMI Mobile connectivity Mobile World Congress mod top Model Model A model T modifications Momo Monaco Monster Truck Moon Moon eyes Mopar Mopar parts Morgan Morocco morons mot Motor shows motor wheel Motorcycle Motorcycles motorhomes Mouse movie movies mpv Multicore Munsters Muntz muscle cars musclecars museum music video Mustang NAIAS Nancy Young Nascar Nash Navigation naza neglec neglected Netherlands new tv show New York New Zealand news ni Nissan Nissan Reviews Nomad Norway nos nose art Nova November 2016 Nurburgring Object Management group October 2016 off roading offenhauser Oldsmobile OMG Online College OnStar Opel Open source Open standards OpenGL ES option orders original owner Ormond Beach land speed racing pace car Packard Pagani Paige pamphlet panel paint Paris to Peking race parking parts Patryk Fournier Paul Leroux Paul Newman Paul Sykes Pebble Beach pedal car perodua personal Peter McCarthy petrol petroliana Peugeot Phoenix Injury photographer photography pics pictures Pierce Arrow Pike's Peak Pinin Farina pinstriping Pit row Pits Pixar PKI plank road PlayBook Plymouth Point Grey Camera Poland pole wheel police Polysynch Pontiac Porsche Porsche 917 Porsche Carrera Portugal POSIX pre 1930's gas station Premium Sporty Car Sales President of the USA Preview prices prius project prooject Proton prototype PSA Peugeot Citroen public key cryptography Pullman QNX QNX CAR QNX Garage QNX OS Qualcomm quiz quote race cars racing racing. LSR Radar radio Raid Data rail railcars railroad ralliart Rally rallying Ram range rover rant Rapid Transit System advertsing rare Real time Innovations recall recommended shop record setter Red Bull Sports Reference vehicle Reliability Rémi Bastien RemoteLink Renault Renesas Renntransporter rentals REO repair reports resarch research restoration restoration shop review Richard Bishop Ridler Award Winner rims river bank cars road and highway Road Runner roadster Robot OS Robot wars Roewe Roger Penske Rolls Royce Romain Saha Romania ROS Roth RTI RTI Connext rumble seat Russia Ruxton RV Safety Safety systems safety-certified sales Sales By Model Sales Stats samba sampan Saoutchik Satellite satnav Scaglietti scallops Scat Pack SCCA racecar School bus sci-fi Scooter SCORE Baja trucks Scott Pennock Scout sculpture Security sedan segway semi sensor extension cable sensor fusion September 2016 service service repair automotive vehicle car buying selling mission statement blog free broker shay drive locomotive Shelby shifter shop Show cars sidecars signs skateboarding Skoda slicks slingshot dragster Slovakia Slovenia Small Luxury SUV Sales Small SUV Sales Smart Smartphones snow machines snowmobile Soapbox South Africa South Korea Sox and Martin Spain spare tire spark ignition spark plug spark plugs Spatial auditory displays special edition Mustangs Speech interfaces speed limit Speed Record speedfest speedster sports car sports cars Sporty Car Sales spy shots spyker Sri Lanka SS SS/AH Stagecoach Stanley Station Wagon steam locomotive steam powered steam shovel steampunk steering wheel Steve McQueen Stig Stirling Moss Stolen streamliner street cars Street Van studebaker stunt stunts Stutz Stutz Blackhawk Subaru Sunbeam Super Bee Super Stock Superbird Supercar supercharger survey suv Suzuki Sweden Swift Switzerland System development Life Cycle Tablets Tach takeover tank tata tata magic iris tata vehicles tax Tax Deduction For Car Donation taxi taxi cab TCS tdi teardrop technical technology Telematics Telematics Detroit Telematics Update tempo Tempo Matador Terlingua Racing Team Terry Staycer Tesla test testdrive Texas Instruments The Race Of Gentlemen Thomas Bloor thoughts three wheeler Thunderbird ticket Tiger Tim Neil Tina Jeffrey tips tires tool tool kit toolbox tools Top Gear top ten list Torino tour bus tourbus towtruck Toyota Toyota Entune Toyota Reviews tractor trailer train train wreck trains Trans Am transmission Transporter Traval trike Triumph trivia trolley Troy Trepanier truck Truck Sales trucking trucks Tucker turbocharger turbojet turbonique Turkey tv tv cars twin spark type 1 type 2 tyres UAE Uber UK UK Auto Sales UK Best Sellers uk market Ukraine Unimog unique University of Waterloo Unser unusual unveil upgrade US US 2016 Sales US All Cars Rankings US All SUV Rankings US All Vehicle Rankings US Auto Sales US Auto Sales By Brand US Best Sellers US Compact Car Sales US December 2016 US Entry Luxury Car Sales US February 2017 US January 2017 US Large Car Sales US Large Luxury Car Sales US Large Luxury SUV Sales US Large SUV Sales US March 2017 US Midsize Car Sales US Midsize Luxury Car Sales US Midsize Luxury SUV Sales US Midsize SUV Sales US Minivan Sales US Navy US November 2016 US October 2016 US September 2016 US Small Luxury SUV Sales US Small SUV Sales US Sporty Car Sales US Truck Sales US US Auto Sales US Van Sales US Worst Sellers USA used cars V2X van Van Sales vauxhall VeDeCoM Vehicle Donation California Velodyne Vespa Video vintage vintage racing Virtual mechanic Virtualization VOIP Guide Volkswagen Volkswagen Reviews Volkswagen Sales Volvo Von Dutch vote VW VW bug W3C wagon train wall of death washer washer fluid Watson's Webinars website what is donation what is it wheel speed sensor wheelchair White williams Willys windshield washer wing Wireless framework women woodlight headlights Woody work truck working principle of anti-lock braking system workshop World Worst Sellers wreck Wrongful Death WW1 WW2 XK SS Yoram Berholtz Yoshiki Chubachi Z 11 Z-28 Z28 zamboni ZL1 Zotye