DIGITAL+INNOVATION+WITHIN+THE+AUTOMOTIVE+INDUSTRY

=Digital Innovation Within The Automotive Industry=

toc Automobiles have evolved and changed throughout time; they serve purposes other than just a means of transportation. Nowadays, many cars include GPS Navigation System, televisions and DVD players. Customized luxury cars include refrigerators, video game systems, and basically anything that can be imagined and paid for (even umbrellas built into the side of the doors).

The Automobile industry itself is evolving greatly and infamously. It is an industry that is unstoppable from the external features of the vehicle to the interior and the digital additions of it. Maybach serves as a great example for the digital innovation in this industry. Also, Volkswagen is thinking outside the box in which they are joining forces with Google in creating a 3D GPS System. Lastly, to show how this industry changed and evolved overtime, there will be a brief explanation of how the industry was back then and how it is now.

=MAYBACH and the Digital World=

"If this sounds like flying on a private jet, you wouldn't be far off. Except I wasn't in a Gulfstream V. I was in the new Maybach 62, perhaps the greatest non-flying accoutrement of the jet set ever devised." by Michael Frank

The Maybach is known for its ability to offer customization for the client, either interior or exterior. Some of the possibilities that the Maybach luxury automobile offers for interior design would be; color of furniture, the kind of trim used (wood, chrome, leather), vast variety of digital technology (DVD system, surround system, cable, computers, internet, GPS navigation system, etc), and much more. Some of the possibilities that could be done to the exterior are endless aswell, such as; more than one sunroof, digital alarm system, voice engine starter, or voice alarm system (used to scare away thiefs), and different accessories can be added to make the automobile even more luxurious as it already is. Maybach is clearly technologically advanced.

The Maybach is also equipped with an insatiable entertainment system; 21-speakers, 600-watt, 12-amp sound system. This system is made by [|Bose Sonic Network] in which it also directs all audio inputs into surround sound at every seat in the car, this effect is indescribable. There are dual 9.5-inch TFT flat-panel screens on the back of the front seatbacks and on the partition wall. These are sourced from [|Panasonic] and are, shy of plasma technology, the clearest monitors there is.

The screens are fed through the Alpine DVD player that rests in a compartment between the two rear-passenger seats, where also the CD changer and inputs for other devices, like video-in for a camera, MP3 player or laptop are located. That is not the end of it, Maybach officials say that all of these devices can be programmed into an onboard remote control for the entire entertainment system.

Maybach officials also say that if a customer ever wanted to use the screens as a computer by using a wireless keyboard, such a set up can easily be configured. This proves that this automobile is clearly one of a kind, even Rolls Royce or Bentley are no comparison.

Link to the actual article: [|Forbes Maybach Article]

=Gadgets Inside Everyday Automobiles=

[|Cnet] has a dedicated team who reviews not the performance of a vehicle but the gadgets inside the vehicle, this is because the digital innovation inside even the economy car segment has become a huge selling point. It is not uncommon for drivers to want DVD players, Navigation systems, Mp3 players, ipods and cell phones inside their vehicle. In an aim to beat competitors many automakers are using multimedia technology as the deciding factor to bring customers. The 2006 Honda Civic employs an MP3 and ipod input in all its models (Navigation on the ex Navi Model); this is important because the Civic is not a Maybach or BMW it is an affordable consumer automobile.


 * AN IMAGE OF THE NEWLY INTEGRATED 2006 HONDA CIVIC** [[image:https://ccit205.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/civic_2006.jpg width="288" height="186"]]

=Volkswagen and Google=



We are currently living in a technological driven society and as human beings, we are to adapt to all new technologies that come about. In relation, Google Inc. created a program called [|Google Earth]. In brief, this program basically allows the user to see any area on earth by a click of a button. You may ask, how is that possible? Well, Google installed a satellite in Space in which it encompasses a Planet's worth of imagery and geographic information enabling easy access.

Google decided to put this new program, Google Earth, into better use. Google and Volkswagen are planning to install 3D Navigation Systems in every new Volkswagen vehicle. This would be the first time ever where an automobile manufacturer (Volkswagen) teams up with an Internet search engine Incorporation (Google). This is not necessarily a bad thing, it might be a scary thing though for our current society, just because they might not be used to such a technologically advanced system in an automobile. The image above is a prototype that Google and Volkswagen created. As shown, the terrain, streets, and buildings are all in 3D, which allows a better visual for the driver. In addition to this newly integrated GPS system, there will be an indicator on the map allowing the driver to see where he or she is on the map.

This is clearly a great invention but unfortunately there are people that believe that this is not the best way to go. A person (#18) in the website called [|Engadget]said, "Microsoft's [|Live Local] beats Google maps in so many ways (full screen, wheel support, zoom box, much higher resolution satellite views, bird's eye view, route planning, ...)...So much unjustified hype with whatever Google does ..." Therefore, it is understood that there will be people unsatisfied with this new digital technology, but sooner or later they will have to acclimatize to it.

=Then and Now=


 * [[image:https://ccit205.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/old_cars.jpg width="263" height="177"]] __OLD[[image:https://ccit205.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/arrow_right.gif width="195" height="88"]]__ __NEW__ [[image:https://ccit205.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/jaguarrr.jpg width="266" height="174"]]


 * The Automotive Industry has been flourishing for 110 years straight. It is an industry that literally never gives up, and always manufactures vehicles that acclaim to the modern world. Throughout these years, we as a society went through so many ups and downs like the horrifying world wars, the baby boomer years, the Hippy decade and so much more. For every year that past, cars were made to fit that specific year. You may ask, how does that reflect back to digital innovation? Well, it is true that in the earlier years of the Automotive Industry or in other words the Vintage Car Era, there was no digital equipment added to the vehicles but without those antique and vintage cars, we would not have the technologically advanced cars that we have today.

There were several Manufacturing companies that started the rise of the Automotive Industry; and they are:


 * 1896 [|Daimler Chrysler]
 * 1897 [|General Motors]
 * 1899 [|Packard]
 * 1900 [|Mercedez]
 * 1903 [|Ford]
 * 1904 [|Rolls-Royce]

Most of these Automobile Manufacturing Companies are thriving immensely today, and every single one of them has incorporated digital innovation within their vehicles. This means, that these manufacturers have developed over the years to provide the best quality of transportation to society. Now, manufacturers equip their vehicles with the highest digital equipment there is to respond to their consumer's aspirations. We are living in the Post-Industrial Age in which technology thrives and never quits!

=In Addition...=

Related Links within Wikispaces:

 * Gadgets (corresponds to the gadgets used in the vehicles today)
 * Globalization (corresponds to how the Automotive Industry is taking the world by a storm)
 * Google (corresponds to the VW and Google section)
 * GPS Navigation System (corresponds to the VW and Google section)
 * Industrial Society vs Information Society (corresponds to the "then and now" section)
 * Innovation (corresponds to how endlessly the industry innovates its vehicles)

Works Cited:

 * Blass, Evan. “VW nav prototype incorporates Google sat imagery.” __Engadget.__ Posted on February 4, 2006. Accessed on February 18, 2006 
 * Frank, Michael. “Jet Set Dream Car.” __Forbes.__ Posted on November 11, 2002. Accessed on February 15, 2006 
 * Lamb, Annette. "Car Manufacturers." __42Explorer__. Last Updates on May 2005. Accessed on February 23, 2006 
 * Cooper,Josephine. "Future Cars." __DriveUSA.__ Last Updated on February 26, 2006. Accessed on February 25, 2006 

Where to Find These Images:

 * For the Maybach images [|click here]
 * For the Maybach Logo [|click here]
 * For VW Google Map image [|click here]
 * For VW Logo image [|click here]
 * For Google Logo image [|click here]
 * For Honda Civic image [|click here]
 * For Old cars image [|click here]
 * For Jaguar image [|click here]