Remember that mystical black box that stood like a great Monolith in the center of the North Hall of CES?
Well, I nervously crawled around the enigmatic structure like an ape from "The Dawn of Man," and managed to see what hides inside. All in an effort to give you a first-hand glance of what XM has on the horizon (ok fine, XM let me in without a batting an eye, but let's just pretend it was difficult).
Inside the box rested a souped-up 2008 Infinity QX56 armed to the hilt with gadgetry galore. From a huge touchscreen interface, to an electronic programming guide; not to mention streaming point of interest data like live local fuel prices and even flight departure times.
That's right, this is a behind-the-scenes look at the new XM Infotainment vehicle, which is set to be officially unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next week.
Follow the jump for tons of photos and details...
Here you can see the large touchscreen display. The gestures to navigate through the interface were very much an iPhone-style expression system. Place your finger and slide along to navigate, and tap to select. The transitions between menus were smooth and very impressive.
Here you can see the fully functioning XM NavWeather service. Note that the channel information is displayed in addition to the map data.
Below is the XM NavTraffic service shown on a separate screen (because, more screen = more gooder).
And here's one of my favorite features: the electronic program guide. Since the information is already being broadcast by XM, this is simply a reapplication of the interface - making 170+ channels far more usable.
I pray we start to see this in both OEM and retail applications sometime soon, because it is absolutely the coolest way to navigate through the satellite radio service.
In addition to XM NavTraffic and XM NavWeather, the new Infotainment vehicle is equipped with XM NavInfo - featuring live streaming prices from local gas stations.
XM NavInfo also displays streaming flight information - an especially useful feature for the frequent business traveler.
The data is all available right now in the XM stream, but it's just how it's being displayed that makes the world of a difference. Remember that this data also takes up very little bandwidth in comparison to the audio service, so none of this is at the expense of the core business of XM.
More to come...
Extremely cool...one follow-up question. How detailed is the program information? For instance, this Friday night would I see "Stand-up, Sit Down" listed on it's comedy channel, or would I see a listing that tells me that Kevin Meaney is the guest? Does it display the "theme" info for Dylan's show, etc?
Great pics.....I hope we can one day have the electronic program guide on XM channel 1 on most of our radios.
So fucking cool.
Typical XM management. With Sirius kicking our asses on subs (Near to passing us) They HIDE their new products behind a wall. Why not pay CES 22 million in stock to use their floorspace for a few days.
Sheesh...I look forward to the day Mel can fire these inept morons.
So you have this gigantic CRT box where the rearview mirror of the car should be? What exactly is wrong with integrating it into the cars GPS screen which is right below it, or making an OEM radio with a similar screen (albeit not the monster screen this has) right below the GPS. In an SUV this might work, but how many Honda Civics are you going to be seeing this in? And flight information will work out nicely when you're DRIVING!!!
No wonder satellite radio is in the position its in.
Sweet!! The EPG is the coolest feature of all. Being able to advance and schedule recording with one click. Instead of knowing the EXACT time frame. I hope the Inno II was it!
SO FUCKING AWESOME! Great job XM Satellite Radio!
WHO gets it after the Merger?????
WHO gets it after the Merger?????
WHO gets it after the Merger?????
nice - at least the affluent toy loving market will be served. SatRad is for the people. Plug n Play will exist for a long while. oem conversion will continue to be an issue for new car buyers. great gadget - good service?
Oh yeah - Howard's on Letterman tonight!
guys the merger isn't happening and better not happen. XM ROCKS!
Funny how the blogger for orbitcast writes so poetically when he describes the XM car. The sirius info car is like an afterthought. Is his name Ryan.....not sure. Talkabout fanboydom. Anyway, it is a nice car. I would get it in a Honda Oddysey if they merge with Siri. Till then, I will keep driving my 1995 Toyota truck. haha
Everytime I see the name of those stupid XM channels, "ethel", I get queezy in the stomach. Makes me wonder what kind of polyester leisure suit the creative executive was wearing when he came up with that channel. And how come the don't call the spanish rumba station Ricky.
Why isn't the infotainment system dialed into the led zeppelin channel. Now their is a good name for a channel.
@Albert: Wait... references to 2001: A Space Odyssey are now fanboydom? Holy geez.
Sirius' car wasn't actually labeled as an Infotainment vehicle. It was a display car in a massive booth, but I spotlighted it. I gave the Mini Cooper it's own post too. Wait a minute... that's 2 posts on Sirius' cars and only 1 post on XM's?! That must be a sign of fanboyism!! OMGWTFBBQ!!!!
Let me put it simply for you...
A mysterious black box in the center of CES = opportunity for movie references and "poetic" writing. But hey, think whatever you want.