Volvo picks up Red Dot Design Award for new connectivity system

Volvo's Sensus Connected Touch connectivity system with the world's first voice-activated integrated Spotify connection has been awarded a 2013 Red Dot Design Award. The Sensus Connected Touch accessory turns the integrated 7-inch display into an infrared, beam-scanned touch screen that can be used even when wearing gloves. The system can be controlled using the touchscreen, the steering wheel or the center stack, while you can also voice-activate all music sources. Alain Visser, senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo, says, "The Red Dot Design Award confirms that this approach to an intuitive, human-centric user experience fulfils modern car owners' desire to remain constantly connected also when driving." The WiFi connection can be made using either a car-mounted 3G/4G-dongle or the driver's mobile phone, and the data is transferred by the WiFi between the phone and the Sensus Connected Touch.

Aston Martin One-77 (2009) : first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 28 October 2008 18:01 These are the first official photographs of the new Aston Martin One-77 – the most expensive supercar ever built by Aston. Predictably in this internet age, these pictures of the One-77 have leaked online ahead of Aston's planned debut. This is the first full view of the £1.2 million special after a string of carefully silhouetted and covered-up teaser shots.

Renault Twizy gets the Formula One treatment

Renault has applied the state-of-the-art kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) used in its Formula One drivelines to the pint-sized Twizy electric car. The result? A new zero-emission concept whose claimed 0-62-mph acceleration time matches that of the French carmaker's fastest production car, the RenaultSport Megane 265, at 6.0 seconds.