Geneva Motor Show 2011: Saab hooks into Android for infotainment system

Saab is to tap Google Android to enable its in-car infotainment system, it announced March 1.

The Swedish automaker's new IQon system brings Android to the vehicle, allowing Saab drivers to download apps and use online services and multimedia functions in a similar manner to the way Android works on mobile devices.

They will be able to interact using an 8-inch color touchscreen display, revealed Saab, and will have the use of an internet connection whenever the car is switched on.

As developers will be given access to information collected from sensors inside the vehicle, Saab hopes that decision will spark a rash of innovative new apps designed for use on the go, which will then be sold in a Saab IQon store.

Plenty of automakers have been showing off their latest connectivity ideas at the Geneva Motor Show, ranging from BMW's ConnectedDrive concept to the wacky social network-linked beach car from Rinspeed, although one automaker opted for a different location.

As the Geneva press conferences got underway yesterday, Ford chief Alan Mulally was 800 kilometers away in Hanover, Germany, giving a keynote speech to the CeBIT technology show.

In the speech, he revealed that Ford vehicles in Europe will soon be able to call for emergency services in multiple languages, delivering a recorded message for assistance in the correct language no matter which country the driver happens to be in.

He also unveiled a tie-up with ViaMichelin, which will make the complete Michelin restaurant and hotel guide available through the SYNC system for drivers in Europe when it launches in 2012.

The Geneva Motor Show is open to the public March 3-13 in Geneva, Switzerland.

http://www.salon-auto.ch/en/

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