General Motors and Powermat announced Friday that they would team up to integrate cordless charging into the new Chevy Volt. Pictures from GM show an iPhone charging on a mat set into a recess in the center console. That means no more fumbling with those cigarette lighter chargers when your phone runs low on juice.
Quallcomm recently signed a letter of intent to work with Powermat to further develop its wireless charging technology, and GM hopes to put the chargers in future Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac products from next year.
While the Consumer Electronics Show isn't really the premiere venue for car innovations -- motorheads are likely more excited about next week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit -- automakers have been making a splash at CES 2011.
OnStar, the subscription emergency response auto system, announced that it will release a rearview mirror equipped with its service that can go in almost any car. OnStar has only been available in General Motors vehicles.
In his presentation, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said the automaker wants to improve sustainability with hybrid drive trains. And he said Audis will sport gadgety features such as driver assistance, a heads-up display, Wi-Fi hotspot technology, and Google connectivity. Plus, the company showed an Audi equipped with Nvidia's powerful Tegra 2 chip.
"We are taking the lead in matching horsepower with processing power," Stadler said, according to live coverage from the auto blog Intomobile..
Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally, is expected to make a big announcement today. What many believe to be an electric Ford Focus showed up on Ford's Facebook page on Monday.
