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 Space Up! Blue Could Be Apple iCar A few months ago, we posted an article on a rumored iCar coming into production as a collaborative project between Apple and VW. After seeing the VW Space Up! Blue concept car at the LA Auto Show this week, and after reading speculations from others, I’m starting to think this could be the high-buzz mystery car. The major contributor sparking the rumor fire was the touch-screen surfaces found in the vehicle. “The touch screen on the car is supposed to use proximity sensors that react to hand gestures like the iPhone, the only difference being that in this one, you’re not limited to only touching the screen,” Wired Blog reported. “You can also touch a menu feature that allows you to place your hands near the display and still move the icons on the screen, like magic. That’s trippy.” Check out the VW featured in my LA Auto Show highlights as well as the original post on the iCar.
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LA Auto Show Highlights (VIDEO)
The iCar - Apple To Team With VW (VIDEO)
Another sign of the Jesus car's possible arrival came from Walter de' Silva, VW's Chief of Design, who revealed earlier in the week that every single car in the VW line will include a touch screen UI starting next year. The vision is that all of the passenger systems in the car will be controlled through the screen, including the weather, navigation, and yes, the music and entertainment. VW did license some touch screen technology with tactile feed back from Immersion a couple of years back, but the video shows that VW's gone way beyond that.
The car generated a lot of buzz early in the auto show and even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger came by the VW area to check it out after he opened the show with some remarks. With the Governor's recent support of green cars in the news, this was definitely another photo-op for current and future zero emission initiatives, though he did not opine on the Apple-ish touchscreen.
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