CES: Toyota announced Entune - internet connected infotainment system
01-04-11, 06:09 AM
#1
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
CES: Toyota announced Entune - internet connected infotainment system
Toyota Entune in-car infotainment system interfaces with your smartphone, does everything but drive
By Darren Murph posted Jan 4th 2011 9:00AM
Ford and Microsoft have been all over the smartphone-car integration scene with their SYNC system, but now it's Toyota's turn. The outfit is launching a major initiative here at CES to make your vehicle more than just a mode of transportation, with the Entune infotainment system offering Bluetooth, a host of mobile apps and the ability to read-back and replay text messages. Entune is expected to launch as an option on "select models" later this year, with featured apps including Bing, iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable and Pandora, not to mention location-based services such as personalized traffic, fuel prices, stock alerts, weather reports and sports scores. It'll rely on voice commands and in-vehicle controls, enabling users to be informed and empowered while traveling. Aside from giving motorists the ability to reserve a table as they're en route to an eatery and order a movie ticket for later, it's also a fully-featured entertainment center -- you'll get access to HD Radio, a CD player, USB connectivity and Bluetooth audio streaming. Best of all, the entire setup is firmware upgradable via OTA updates, so the risk of obsolesce is lessened a good bit. We're hoping to get some hands-on time with an Entune-equipped whip here on the show floor, and we'll be sure to share our impressions just as soon as we do. For now, feel free to get a closer look in the gallery below and the video after the break.
By Darren Murph posted Jan 4th 2011 9:00AM
Ford and Microsoft have been all over the smartphone-car integration scene with their SYNC system, but now it's Toyota's turn. The outfit is launching a major initiative here at CES to make your vehicle more than just a mode of transportation, with the Entune infotainment system offering Bluetooth, a host of mobile apps and the ability to read-back and replay text messages. Entune is expected to launch as an option on "select models" later this year, with featured apps including Bing, iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable and Pandora, not to mention location-based services such as personalized traffic, fuel prices, stock alerts, weather reports and sports scores. It'll rely on voice commands and in-vehicle controls, enabling users to be informed and empowered while traveling. Aside from giving motorists the ability to reserve a table as they're en route to an eatery and order a movie ticket for later, it's also a fully-featured entertainment center -- you'll get access to HD Radio, a CD player, USB connectivity and Bluetooth audio streaming. Best of all, the entire setup is firmware upgradable via OTA updates, so the risk of obsolesce is lessened a good bit. We're hoping to get some hands-on time with an Entune-equipped whip here on the show floor, and we'll be sure to share our impressions just as soon as we do. For now, feel free to get a closer look in the gallery below and the video after the break.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/04/t...-with-your-sm/
01-04-11, 07:55 AM
#4
So, I'm guessing that in Toyotas this will be touch screen and in Lexus it will be controlled via Remote Touch (when not using voice commands)?
With this type of thing, Remote Touch is just looking more and more like a complicated, unnecessary step IMO. I like the idea of Remote Touch, its the best of it's rivals, and I know Lexus had to do something a la iDrive, MMI and COMAND but truly, what's better/easier/more intuitive than just touching the screen and being done with it? If you can control almost anything via voice commands, grabbing the controller, scrolling to your icon of choice, then clicking seems really unnecessary. Touch screen is point and shoot.
With this type of thing, Remote Touch is just looking more and more like a complicated, unnecessary step IMO. I like the idea of Remote Touch, its the best of it's rivals, and I know Lexus had to do something a la iDrive, MMI and COMAND but truly, what's better/easier/more intuitive than just touching the screen and being done with it? If you can control almost anything via voice commands, grabbing the controller, scrolling to your icon of choice, then clicking seems really unnecessary. Touch screen is point and shoot.
01-04-11, 08:40 AM
#6
So, I'm guessing that in Toyotas this will be touch screen and in Lexus it will be controlled via Remote Touch (when not using voice commands)?
With this type of thing, Remote Touch is just looking more and more like a complicated, unnecessary step IMO. I like the idea of Remote Touch, its the best of it's rivals, and I know Lexus had to do something a la iDrive, MMI and COMAND but truly, what's better/easier/more intuitive than just touching the screen and being done with it? If you can control almost anything via voice commands, grabbing the controller, scrolling to your icon of choice, then clicking seems really unnecessary. Touch screen is point and shoot.
With this type of thing, Remote Touch is just looking more and more like a complicated, unnecessary step IMO. I like the idea of Remote Touch, its the best of it's rivals, and I know Lexus had to do something a la iDrive, MMI and COMAND but truly, what's better/easier/more intuitive than just touching the screen and being done with it? If you can control almost anything via voice commands, grabbing the controller, scrolling to your icon of choice, then clicking seems really unnecessary. Touch screen is point and shoot.
and this new setup looks sweet! a lot more graphical and seems like it's going to be nice!
01-04-11, 08:46 AM
#7
Lexus Connoisseur
Entune is good stuff. I actually use the iheartradio, Pandora and Open table apps on my iPhone regularly. I hate Bing though.
http://www.toyota.com/entune/
Source: TMS USA
http://www.toyota.com/entune/
Originally Posted by TOYOTA
Toyota Announces Entune Multimedia System at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show
• Toyota Offers the Largest Number of Mobile Apps with Bing, iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable.com, and Pandora
• Entune Boasts Industry-Leading Advanced Conversational Voice Recognition
• Toyota Entune Is Compatible with Most Smartphones and Feature Phones
LAS VEGAS, January 4, 2011 – Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) U.S.A., Inc. today unveiled the Toyota Entune™ multimedia system at the Consumer Electronics Show. Toyota Entune leverages the customer’s mobile phone to create a rich in-vehicle experience that offers fully integrated and upgradeable entertainment, navigation, and information services. By utilizing conversational voice recognition and in-vehicle controls, the driver doesn’t have to touch their mobile phone, allowing for safer connectivity. Toyota Entune simplifies the interaction for customers and will be available in select vehicles this year.
“Consumers have grown accustomed to having the world at their fingertips through their mobile phones,” said Jon Bucci, vice president of the Advanced Technology Department at Toyota. “And unlike other industry solutions, Entune allows the driver to interact with informative and entertaining mobile content without fumbling with their phone. We offer features that our customers demand and integrate them seamlessly in the vehicle.”
After downloading the Toyota Entune mobile application and pairing a Bluetooth capable phone with their Toyota vehicle, customers can begin accessing a wide variety of personalized content and services. Toyota Entune is wirelessly upgradeable, so in-vehicle applications are never obsolete. Ensuring that nearly all customers can take advantage of this new technology, Toyota Entune is compatible with a wide variety of mobile phones with a data plan. Toyota Entune key features include:
• Mobile Apps – Toyota Entune debuts Bing, keeping navigation continuously up to date with more than 16 million points of interest; OpenTable, make a reservation at one of 15,000 restaurants; and MovieTickets.com, buy movie tickets and read reviews. All destinations can be seamlessly sent to the navigation system. Making drivers’ lives even easier, Toyota Entune delivers customizable real time traffic, fuel prices, weather, stocks and sports.
• Music – Toyota Entune brings you more music in more ways with iheartradio’s 750+ hometown stations; personalized stations with Pandora; XM satellite radio 170+ channels with coast-to-coast coverage; and introducing HD Radio, digital broadcasts of your favorite terrestrial music. Toyota Entune also offers USB connectivity for portable media players and traditional terrestrial radio.
• Voice Recognition – Featuring a best-in-class, advanced conversational voice recognition system, Toyota Entune eliminates the need to memorize thousands of voice commands. The intuitive interface allows the driver to focus more on the road ahead.
“Toyota has always been a leader in the automotive industry, so it makes sense it would bring the latest in mobile technology to the car,” said Chris Daniels, general manager of Bing for Mobile, Microsoft Corp. “By bringing Bing Maps and Bing for Mobile technology to the car, we are helping Toyota enhance the overall in-vehicle experience to be as rich and robust as possible, which means personalizing the information to each driver’s needs.”
Safety Connect
Toyota Entune continues to build on the excellent foundation laid by Safety Connect, bringing peace of mind to drivers with an added layer of more personalized and convenience-oriented features. Safety Connect is the cornerstone of Toyota’s telematics systems providing Automatic Collision notification, Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance, Emergency Assistance, and Roadside Assistance on select Toyota models. Safety Connect combined with Toyota Entune offers comprehensive safety services and mobile applications not found in any other vehicle make.
Product Availability
Toyota Entune will be available as an option on select models this year. The featured apps of Toyota Entune include: Bing, iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable.com, and Pandora, as well as location-based services, such as personalized traffic, fuel prices, stocks, weather, and sports. Toyota Entune also includes support for read-back and replay capabilities for text messages. These are combined with a fully featured entertainment and communication system, which includes XM radio, HD Radio, CD player, USB connectivity, Bluetooth streaming and phonebook. A high quality JBL sound system is available as an option as well.
About Toyota
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of nearly 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers which sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in 2009. Toyota directly employs nearly 30,000 people in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com/entune.
• Toyota Offers the Largest Number of Mobile Apps with Bing, iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable.com, and Pandora
• Entune Boasts Industry-Leading Advanced Conversational Voice Recognition
• Toyota Entune Is Compatible with Most Smartphones and Feature Phones
LAS VEGAS, January 4, 2011 – Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) U.S.A., Inc. today unveiled the Toyota Entune™ multimedia system at the Consumer Electronics Show. Toyota Entune leverages the customer’s mobile phone to create a rich in-vehicle experience that offers fully integrated and upgradeable entertainment, navigation, and information services. By utilizing conversational voice recognition and in-vehicle controls, the driver doesn’t have to touch their mobile phone, allowing for safer connectivity. Toyota Entune simplifies the interaction for customers and will be available in select vehicles this year.
“Consumers have grown accustomed to having the world at their fingertips through their mobile phones,” said Jon Bucci, vice president of the Advanced Technology Department at Toyota. “And unlike other industry solutions, Entune allows the driver to interact with informative and entertaining mobile content without fumbling with their phone. We offer features that our customers demand and integrate them seamlessly in the vehicle.”
After downloading the Toyota Entune mobile application and pairing a Bluetooth capable phone with their Toyota vehicle, customers can begin accessing a wide variety of personalized content and services. Toyota Entune is wirelessly upgradeable, so in-vehicle applications are never obsolete. Ensuring that nearly all customers can take advantage of this new technology, Toyota Entune is compatible with a wide variety of mobile phones with a data plan. Toyota Entune key features include:
• Mobile Apps – Toyota Entune debuts Bing, keeping navigation continuously up to date with more than 16 million points of interest; OpenTable, make a reservation at one of 15,000 restaurants; and MovieTickets.com, buy movie tickets and read reviews. All destinations can be seamlessly sent to the navigation system. Making drivers’ lives even easier, Toyota Entune delivers customizable real time traffic, fuel prices, weather, stocks and sports.
• Music – Toyota Entune brings you more music in more ways with iheartradio’s 750+ hometown stations; personalized stations with Pandora; XM satellite radio 170+ channels with coast-to-coast coverage; and introducing HD Radio, digital broadcasts of your favorite terrestrial music. Toyota Entune also offers USB connectivity for portable media players and traditional terrestrial radio.
• Voice Recognition – Featuring a best-in-class, advanced conversational voice recognition system, Toyota Entune eliminates the need to memorize thousands of voice commands. The intuitive interface allows the driver to focus more on the road ahead.
“Toyota has always been a leader in the automotive industry, so it makes sense it would bring the latest in mobile technology to the car,” said Chris Daniels, general manager of Bing for Mobile, Microsoft Corp. “By bringing Bing Maps and Bing for Mobile technology to the car, we are helping Toyota enhance the overall in-vehicle experience to be as rich and robust as possible, which means personalizing the information to each driver’s needs.”
Safety Connect
Toyota Entune continues to build on the excellent foundation laid by Safety Connect, bringing peace of mind to drivers with an added layer of more personalized and convenience-oriented features. Safety Connect is the cornerstone of Toyota’s telematics systems providing Automatic Collision notification, Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance, Emergency Assistance, and Roadside Assistance on select Toyota models. Safety Connect combined with Toyota Entune offers comprehensive safety services and mobile applications not found in any other vehicle make.
Product Availability
Toyota Entune will be available as an option on select models this year. The featured apps of Toyota Entune include: Bing, iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable.com, and Pandora, as well as location-based services, such as personalized traffic, fuel prices, stocks, weather, and sports. Toyota Entune also includes support for read-back and replay capabilities for text messages. These are combined with a fully featured entertainment and communication system, which includes XM radio, HD Radio, CD player, USB connectivity, Bluetooth streaming and phonebook. A high quality JBL sound system is available as an option as well.
About Toyota
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of nearly 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers which sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in 2009. Toyota directly employs nearly 30,000 people in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than $18 billion.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com/entune.
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01-04-11, 01:55 PM
#12
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Excellent 
. Looks great, simple, easy to use and modern. This now puts Toyota and Ford as ahead of everyone else. In one move, all competitors with the exception of Ford look a whole lot more dated.
I agree with your concerns, but let's wait and see what they do with the Lexus models.
If you have a bad phone plan, sure 
. If you have a good plan that gives you lots of data, you have nothing to worry about 
.
I can't imagine that much would be locked out. I think at least some features should work while in motion, but we'll see.
. Looks great, simple, easy to use and modern. This now puts Toyota and Ford as ahead of everyone else. In one move, all competitors with the exception of Ford look a whole lot more dated. So, I'm guessing that in Toyotas this will be touch screen and in Lexus it will be controlled via Remote Touch (when not using voice commands)?
With this type of thing, Remote Touch is just looking more and more like a complicated, unnecessary step IMO. I like the idea of Remote Touch, its the best of it's rivals, and I know Lexus had to do something a la iDrive, MMI and COMAND but truly, what's better/easier/more intuitive than just touching the screen and being done with it? If you can control almost anything via voice commands, grabbing the controller, scrolling to your icon of choice, then clicking seems really unnecessary. Touch screen is point and shoot.
With this type of thing, Remote Touch is just looking more and more like a complicated, unnecessary step IMO. I like the idea of Remote Touch, its the best of it's rivals, and I know Lexus had to do something a la iDrive, MMI and COMAND but truly, what's better/easier/more intuitive than just touching the screen and being done with it? If you can control almost anything via voice commands, grabbing the controller, scrolling to your icon of choice, then clicking seems really unnecessary. Touch screen is point and shoot.
. If you have a good plan that gives you lots of data, you have nothing to worry about .I can't imagine that much would be locked out. I think at least some features should work while in motion, but we'll see.
01-04-11, 02:14 PM
#13
Speaks French in Russian
LOL. Hopefully they will at least let you control the features by voice which would be splendid. Its a very nice service and another option for those who do not want to use their smartphones for pretty much the same features. Hopefully it will be an inexpensive option.
01-04-11, 03:31 PM
#15
