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Meet the Jaguar/Land Rover smartphone

Jaguar Land Rover has announced a whole new host of apps that'll be available in vehicles by both brands later this year via the InControl smartphone integration system. With the help of Bosch and a number of third-party app developers, Jaguar and Land Rover will debut integrated in-vehicle app connectivity for phones with the Android operating system, as well as for Apple's iOS. Jaguar Land Rover is the latest company to bring apps to cars' infotainment systems, an innovation that will either greatly reduce distracted driving and make crucial information much more easily accessible or cause drivers to completely ignore the act of driving altogether.

Toyota Matrix likely to be dropped

Toyota will roll out Tundra and Corolla redesigns next year and will revise the RAV4, Avalon and Highlander, but there are some things the division probably won't do. For example, there is a strong possibility that the Corolla-based Matrix hatchback will not be renewed for the United States when the Corolla redesign comes next fall. "If we don't have the Matrix, it won't be the end of the world," said Toyota Division boss Bill Fay at the press introduction of the RAV4 in Phoenix.

Mercury gets a small car in 2011

Ford Motor Co. executives confirmed that Mercury will get a new car on the same platform as the Ford Focus. Ford executives told dealers Sunday at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando, Fla., that the small Mercury is coming in 2011, the same year the Focus arrives.