Cadillac CUE Wins Popular Mechanics Award

Only automaker to make magazine’s list of top gadgets at CES

DETROIT – Cadillac CUE, the new user experience for intuitive in-vehicle connectivity and control, received a Popular Mechanics Top Gadgets of CES 2012: Editors’ Choice Award at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Cadillac was the only automaker selected. The awards were announced on PopularMechanics.com at the conclusion of CES.

Each year at CES, the editors of Popular Mechanics select their top picks based on the level of innovation, potential industry impact and overall appeal. Cadillac presented CUE amid thousands of new products and innovations in the consumer electronics showcase.

“After seeing an earlier demonstration of the system at the Los Angeles Auto Show, I knew it would be a strong candidate for an award at CES,” said Andrew Del-Colle, assistant editor, Popular Mechanics. “The show offered a great opportunity to compare the CUE with many other OEM and aftermarket systems, and it stood out to us for its innovative use of new standards such as HTML 5, as well as for its intuitive user interface.”

CUE features the first automotive use of capacitive touch – the use of electrodes to sense the conductive properties of objects, such as a finger. It is a technology used by many of today’s most popular handheld mobile devices.

Other key aspects of CUE are natural speech recognition, Bluetooth connectivity for up to 10 devices and a motorized concealed storage compartment. The system runs on an ARM 11 3-core processor on a Linux open-source HTML5-based software platform CUE debuts in production on Cadillac’s 2013 XTS luxury sedan starting in late spring in North America. CUE will also be featured in the all-new 2013 ATS sport sedan launching in North American this summer.

Read More: http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2012/Jan/0123_gm_cue

2012 Detroit auto show video: 2013 Cadillac XTS

The Cadillac XTS, introduced earlier at the LA Auto Show, replaces two discontinued Cadillac sedans—the STS and DTS—with just one model. At first glance, the XTS might just manage to combine the best qualities of both.

The DTS was a big cruiser of a car, the kind that gobbles up highway miles. However, its dated platform really didn’t like handling the curves. Its big back seat and trunk made it a good livery car for the few operators who didn’t buy Lincoln Town Cars. At first look, the spacious XTS seems to be just as accommodating. The well-shaped front seats are a far cry from those less-supportive perches that made the DTS a rolling couch.

Meanwhile, the STS was a smaller rear-wheel-drive sedan with a cramped cabin but enjoyable road manners. Like the smaller CTS, the STS had responsive handling and a taut ride. Cadillac is stressing that the XTS emphasizes both handling and ride. Since the XTS is based on the same front-wheel-drive platform as the Buick LaCrosse, a big sedan that handles well in its top-trim form, we expect a decent driving experience.

But the XTS brings other improvements. Visibility is better than the LaCrosse—not a major accomplishment. Interior detailing goes several steps beyond what the STS and DTS offered. We’ll see if the CUE dashboard design, which eliminates most buttons and knobs for touch-sensitive screens that you can drag and swipe, makes us yearn for the comparatively simple controls of the older cars.

The XTS occupies a fairly unique space in the market. Almost all of the large sedan competitors from the Germans and Japanese are rear-wheel-drive cars on distinct platforms. With the demise of the Town Car, Lincoln is left with the relatively cramped MKS as their large sedan. Less-pricey and mostly less-prestigious large sedans like the Hyundai Azera and Toyota Avalon could be logical alternatives.



Read More: http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2012/01/2012-detroit-auto-show-video-2013-cadillac-xts.html

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