CES: GM to open the dashboard to developers

At last year's Autoweek Design Forum, father of the iPod and Nest Labs co-founder Tony Fadell suggested that automakers concentrate on designing and building cars, leaving handset makers to handle infotainment. The latest announcements from Ford and GM -- in conjunction with the International CES -- suggest that automakers would rather treat the dashboard space as a handset. Yesterday, Dearborn, Mich., announced the Ford Developer Program, which opens up Sync to outside application development; now General Motors has announced a similar initiative.

Aston Martin Vanquish Ultimate Edition (2007) : first official pictures

By Jack Carfrae First Official Pictures 14 February 2007 11:07 Aston Martin Vanquish S Ultimate Edition: the lowdown After six years as Aston Martin’s flagship, the Vanquish S is bowing out gracefully with a final limited edition. But to say that the Ultimate Edition is a reworked car may be a little optimistic. On the outside there’s a new paint scheme called Ultimate Black, which suits the already mean-looking Vanquish rather well.

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

BMW has revealed a radical new concept set to be unveiled at the forthcoming Frankfurt motor show. Dubbed Vision EfficientDynamics, the vehicle is a showcase for the German automaker's new lightweight technologies and material adaptations. The prototype features a series of layered, flowing design elements which come together to create a lightweight vision for the future: a performance-oriented model created to not only conjure up emotion but to also epitomize BMW's 'EfficientDynamics' technologies.