bmw

Vote for the 2011 Tech Car of the Year

As 2011 rolls to a close, we look back at the cars we've reviewed over the last year to see which one should earn our Tech Car of the Year Award.

This year's nominees come largely from the luxury market, where automakers are pushing their best cabin tech and most-advanced driver assistance features. Connected features are also starting to appear, with online search available in navigation systems. All of these vehicles use advanced engines, but the Volt pushes the boundaries the furthest.

Please vote for the car you think should be the 2011 Tech Car of the Year, and discuss it in the comments. The Car Tech staff jury will place its own votes, voting closes on December 19, and we will announce the winner on December 21. … Read more

Car Tech Live 243: Chevy Volt is hot...in the wrong way (podcast)

Chevy Volt spontaneous combustion is investigated, Toyota and BMW swap tech, Tokyo Motor Show wows us with weird (duh), and Maybach is dead.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 243 SHOW NOTES

BMW and Toyota push the pedal on greener cars

Hybrid car leader Toyota and BMW are joining forces in pursuit of a better vehicle battery.

The two automakers today announced a research partnership around basic research to speed development of next-generation lithium ion battery cells.

As part of the collaboration, BMW will supply its "clean diesel" engines to Toyota for vehicles sold in Europe. The 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter diesel engines are slated for certain Toyota models in Europe starting in 2014, the companies said.

The joint research is designed to give the two companies a leg up on competitors for core technology in cleaner, fuel-efficient … Read more

Car Tech Live 242: Is the Volt on fire...or just catching fire? (podcast)

The Chevy Volt gets the feds look at the safety of all electric cars, Nissan makes a fast charge cheaper (sort of), Toyota puts Intel Inside, and Mercedes reworks the lowly windshield wiper.

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SHOW NOTES

2011 Frankfurt auto show: BMW i3 and i8 concepts

BMW's newest concept cars say one thing: dramatic change is coming.

BMW points at the next generation of vehicles that look toward efficiency more than luxury with these i3 and i8 concepts. The shapes are barely recognizable as BMW, and the power trains even less so. But for a company with its track record for technical innovation, we should expect nothing less.

(CNET's full coverage of the 2011 Frankfurt auto show)

With Mog, BMW adds on-demand music in the car

BMW announced plans to integrate on-demand streaming music in August, and this week the on-demand music service has finally been added to ConnectedDrive. But before you get too excited, the latest integration will only benefit Mog Primo subscribers.

Mog is an ad-supported streaming-music platform that one-ups Pandora by letting listeners dial up any song or artist they want to listen to online. For $4.99 per month, listeners can subscribe to the service and ditch the ads. If you want to access Mog's library of 13 million downloadable songs, you'll need to upgrade to Primo service for $9.… Read more

Car Tech Live 240: BMW head up display goes full color and full cooler (podcast)

MirrorLink ramps up for smartphones in cars, new Ford escape features hands-free door, survey says you want voice command and wall plugs in your car, and we drive the Mercedes SLK 350.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 240 SHOW NOTES

BMW Head-Up Display gets some color

It's now a little bit easier to focus on the road ahead while keeping an eye on your speed and navigation--BMW is making its Head-Up Display more prominent by adding color and more intuitive symbols.

Formerly a safety feature available only on the 5-series, BMW is expanding the optional BMW Head-Up Display to almost all of its vehicles. The new system improves on the old monochromatic graphics projection by adding more realistic and intuitive images and symbols, and displaying them in a full color spectrum. The brighter images are less tiring on the eyes and easier to read. These … Read more

Video list: Top connected car technologies

Here is an essential set of CNET videos to introduce you to what's happening in the connected car space. It's taking place on many fronts, so this is just a snapshot and can't possibly be complete so stay on top of all the latest in connected cars at Cars.CNET.com.

Toyota Entune shows a smart way of prepackaging a suite of apps so car owners don't have to manage them.

Cadillac CUE will debut in 2012 with a lot of cues from the smartphone home screen and computer desktop.

The GM OnStar Mobile App is … Read more