Audi Shows Off Smartwatch Controlled Car

At this years Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2015), car maker Audio shows off their smartwatch controlled car.

Audi Prologue Concept header

With the popularity of Google Glass, the upcoming Apple Watch and even glowing neon apparel, the age of wearables is well and truly upon us. These hi-tech gadgets look great and cost a lot but are we getting value for money?

One of the biggest questions surrounding wearable gadgets is whether or not they are really necessary and if they are much more than gimmicks. The Apple Watch has been a recent focus of this as Apple’s next product only appears to offer us such innovations as ‘a dial that lets you zoom in and out’ and ‘an app that lets you arm wrestle’.

Also hoping to eschew any worries about wearables being a fad is car maker Audi. Famed for the quality of their cars over anything else, their latest innovation may have just given us all a reason to pick up a smartwatch this year.

That suggestion came at CES 2015 in Las Vegas, with the technological trade show allowing companies to show off what they’re working on. One of the things that Audi showed off this year is their Prologue concept car. Impressively, Audi used their very own smartwatch to bring the vehicle on stage.

Audi Prologue concept

That smartwatch that hasn’t been announced just yet but it’s being made in partnership with LG and runs on the Linux based operating system webOS rather than Android. In addition to this smartwatch they also showed off the the Audi Smart Display (which is a tablet that lives in your car) and explained that passengers will be able to control car functions and entertainment with it. They company says that the Audi Smart Display will debut in the Audi Q7 in 2016.

Audi’s Ulrich Hackenberg also talked up the Audi A7 which drove itself all the way from San Francisco to CES 2015 in Lass Vegas. That’s a trip of over 550 miles. There’s no on whether the aforementioned smartwatch will let you type in your location and have the car drive itself to you though, but that would be incredibly cool indeed.

Source: engadget

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