To ensure that electronics, governing everything from navigation to braking, do not become obsolete in months, engineering are creating vehicles flexible enough to be upgraded -- over the air via smartphone connection. The programs permit car diagnostic information to be sent by and from a satellite link to reprogram a transmission controller or recalibrate braking while the car is parked at home, without a trip to the dealer. Cisco has developed an experimental dashboard that consists of LCD panels instead of dials and buttons. It is one big touch screen where drivers can drag and drop instruments and information displays. It will be able to accommodate yet-to-be-invented systems that could give vehicle-to-vehicle collision warnings or apprise drivers of dangerous intersections ahead.
"The car is becoming the most sophisticated piece of computer equipment you own," said Dave Evans, Cisco's chief futurist.
[Source: UPI.com]