Visteon shows off the future of automotive electronics with its e-Bee concept

There is a lot more to a car than the engine and wheels, and Visteon aims to show how little details, and a whole lot of tech, can make a car even better.

Features like navigation and infotainment systems are becoming increasingly important to consumers when looking for a car to buy, and automakers that make the best use of the newest technologies in these areas will having an ever-increasing advantage over their competitors. So to showcase where they believe these trends will be heading in the near future, automotive supplier Visteon has created a concept car, known as the e-Bee, filled with current and near-future tech.

The e-Bee is based on the Nissan Leaf, which seems like a logical choice as an electronics showcase, but there was even more to it than that. Visteon was also showing off a new climate control system that incorporates both the heating and air conditioning into one unit. This saves electricity, particularly in cold weather, thus improving the vehicle’s range while using the climate control. Much of the instrumentation has been replaced by screens, and touchscreens have also replaced the switchgear, infotainment and headlight controls. A screen even replaced the rearview mirror, offering a much wider field of view.

The car has the ability to sync with your various mobile devices as well, and can even read your calendar to determine whether you’re on your way to an appointment, and then automatically update the navigation system accordingly. The interior surfaces are made of recycled materials and manufactured by Visteon to save weight when compared to materials being used currently. Connectivity will be important, and as such, the e-Bee is designed to use open-source programs which can be updated regularly over the life of the vehicle. The car will be a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot, andwas built with the idea in mind that people would use it for ride sharing programs, and that these people would be able to get work done in the car.

These are some exciting ideas, although there are those would seek to further limit such communications equipment in cars as a safety measure. It remains to be seen whether it will be technological advancement or legislation which shapes the future of our cars’ interiors, but we like the e-Bee anyway. CNET reports that the car will be making an appearance at CES in early January, where we’ll likely get some hands-on time for ourselves.

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Nokia shows off the Lumia 920 at Photokina, who would have thought?

Nokia shows off the Lumia 920 at the 2012 Photokina camera trade show

Nokia is busy making the rounds promoting the Lumia 920 Windows Phone and this past week they set up shop at the 2012 Photokina trade show. If you aren't familiar with Photokina it is the largest trade show for the photographic and imaging industries. The equivalent for smartphones would be the annual Consumer Electronics Show or Mobile World Congress.

Nokia jumped on the opportunity to set up shop at the Carl Zeiss booth at Photokina to show off the Pureview Cameras on both the Lumia 920 and Pureview 808. A demo box was set up, like we saw at the New York reception, to demo the low light performance of these cameras.  Nokia reps also demoed the image stabilization and how it improves video quality.

While the Photokina coverage on the Lumia 920's performance has been positive, the fact that a smartphone camera has drawn so much attention at Photokina illustrates how far these tiny little cameras have come.

You have two Nokia smartphone cameras no larger than a quarter rubbing elbows with the likes of Canon, Nikon and Olympus.  At this booth you would see Canon's latest full frame digital camera, the 6D and two booths over you'll find a Windows Phone. While the Windows Phone camera may seem out of place, it is a sign of changing times. It's like Henry Ford driving his Model T to a horse and buggy show.  

Nokia's Pureview 808 and Lumia 920 cameras

I've been around cameras for as long as I can remember and have had my fair share of reservations on the smartphone cameras. Over the years I have seen these small cameras improve where they have gone from more or less a novelty to a legitimate camera. The last generation of Windows Phones showcased these improvements with the HTC Radar 4G and Titan II. The Titan II for it's higher resolution and independent processor. The Radar 4G for its BSI Sensor and large aperture lens.

These improvements haven't slowed down and the next crop of Windows Phones look to take our cameras to yet another level higher. Nokia leads the charge with it's Pureview camera that not only features a fast aperture lens but also optical image stabilization (OIS). HTC isn't relaxing either by continuing to use the BSI sensor, fast aperture lens and independent imaging processor in the 8X.

The technology that is in store for us with these cameras will make the way for better low light images, faster times in between pictures and a reduction in camera shake that blurs pictures.  I fully expect that the cameras on both the 8X and Lumia 920 will replace some of the point and shoot digital cameras many rely on.

While Canon, Nikon, Olympus and other camera manufacturers continue to take center stage at Photokina, it is nice to see the development of Windows Phone cameras reach the level to earn them a seat at the table.

Pureview camera photo via: CNET Asia, Video via: Engadget

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Windows Phone 8 latest SDK shows improved HTML5 benchmark, but still behind iPhone 5

Now that the Windows Phone 8 SDK is nearing full-public release and the OS is RTM, we can get a better idea of some of the HTML5 benchmarks.

We last compared these numbers a few months ago and while HTML5 compatibility has greatly increased from IE9 to IE10, it’s still not as robust as Android (ICS), iOS6 or BlackBerry 10.

The current build of Windows Phone 8 scored 319 (+ 6 bonus) on the HTML5 Test with iOS6 (via the iPhone 5) coming in at 360 (+9 Bonus). Of course all of that is ironically trumped by RIMs in-gestation BlackBerry 10, which has a super high score of 447 (+10 bonus) and while that is high, 3rd party browser Dolphin for Android (currently in beta) gets 450 (+3 bonus).

Some of the latest features in IE10

IE10 for Windows Phone 8 - 319 (+ 6)iPhone 5 - 360 (+9)BB10 (beta) – 447 (+10)Dolphin (beta, Android) – 450 (+3)

Does HTML5 mean that much? Yes and no. For one, the HTML5 feature list is in flux, although the test takes that into consideration when breaking down scores. In short, yes, having a higher score is better as it means when it comes to forms, data entry, rendering tables, etc. the more compatible the browser, the more accurate it will look. Does it mean that we will notice the difference? Maybe not but we wouldn’t lie in saying we wish Windows Phone 8 scored a little higher (even if it nearly tripled its IE9 score of 121).

Of course there are other browser benchmarks to consider, including speed and how the OS itself handles things. For that, we’ll have to wait a little longer. One thing though is for certain, the competition is not resting on its laurels when it comes to mobile browsers these days. And regardless of HTML5 tests, we're confident that IE10 on Windows Phone 8 will be a great improvement over its predecessor. 

Edit: A lot of people seem to be suggesting that the areas where IE10 on Windows Phone 8 is lagging are non-important, "experimental" features. This is quite far from the truth though. Most of the features missing compared to other platforms, including iOS6 are in fact 'Official HTML5 specifications'. Only 1 was experimental: Web Audio API.

Related and more information: iOS6 Safari currently beats out Windows Phone 8 for HTML5 features

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