LAS VEGAS —
Auto manufacturers aren't just crashing the party at the world's biggest technology
convention, they're practically
stealing the show.
When Microsoft Corp. chairman
Bill Gates delivered his first keynote speech at the International Consumer
Electronics Show
more than a decade ago, it was the dawn of an era in which software and computer
technology would become mainstays of
consumer electronics.
As General Motors Corp. chief
executive officer Rick Wagoner took to the stage Tuesday night to address
the Las Vegas
gathering for the first time, many observers saw it as the beginning of a
new convergence between technology and motor vehicles.
In the text prepared for his address, Mr. Wagoner said companies like GM are using electronics to reinvent the automobile.
"The electronics industry stays
young by continually reinventing itself," he said. "At GM, we intend to stay
young by reinventing the
automobile … with a lot of that based on electronics.
"It's hard to think about today's cars without thinking about the electronics they already incorporate," Mr. Wagoner said.
Electronics manufacturers are
waging pitched battles for control of the living rooms, desktops and mobile
devices of their
consumers, but the next major frontier lies in the dashboard. Many of the
hot themes at this year's CES show are already making
their way into vehicles and some of the electronics industry's biggest players
are in on the action.
The evidence of this brave new
automotive world is everywhere at CES. An entire showroom of a size that would
rival most regional
auto shows is dedicated to in-car gadgets and electronics, running the gamut
from touch-screen monitors in the back of headrests,
to high performance audio equipment and WiFi capable in-dash computer systems.
By incorporating everything from
global positioning system (GPS) and Bluetooth capabilities to touch-screen
monitors built into
dashboards and something GM calls vehicle-to-vehicle communication — which
allows cars to "talk" to each other
— auto manufacturers are doing their best to recreate inside the car the
connected experience consumers can get at home
and on their wireless devices.
The significance of GM's appearance at CES is not lost on the company's head of research and development, Larry Burns.
"I think we're hitting a tipping
point," he said. "Consumers don't want to have a different experience when
they're in their car versus
when they're outside their car, so I think that tying in with consumer electronics
is going to be really important for the future of our industry. Connectivity
will be mainstream with the auto industry."
Microsoft and Ford showed off
the various facets of their SYNC technology during the Microsoft's keynote
address on Sunday night.
The technology allows users to make phone calls and control their music players
through voice recognition software, while others have
put touch-screen WiFi capable computers into the backs of headrests.
But there are also small startups that have seized on the digital auto trend.
In a small booth near the edge
of the auto showroom, Dave Dunphy and his partner Chris Leckie are working
the floor, talking to
potential distributors for the dash-mounted touch-screen systems they build
and install through their company, Arrow Systems,
based near London, Ont.
"The way we see the in-vehicle
PC going in the future is a combination of all technologies and devices into
one unit,"
Mr. Dunphy said of the Arrow device that features Bluetooth, WiFi, satellite
radio and iPod connections.
Across the street from the main
auto showroom, GM was demonstrating what it calls the "Boss" — a 2007 Chevy
Tahoe modified
to drive itself by using a combination of GPS, laser and radar technologies.
It can identify objects in the road, detect and react to the movements of other cars and obeys all traffic signals.
