AUTO Connected Car News: Tech CARS Connected Car Tech Awards Nominees Announced

AUTO Connected Car News is pleased to announce the nominees for our annual Tech CARS (Technology of Connected Autos Rated Superior) Awards for connected cars and related products or services. Car media publishers tend to allow only a car make or model to be winner and it is usually a car that most people can not afford. Our goal at AUTO Connected Car News is to honor all the contributors to new connected car technology in vehicles in multiple categories. The Tech CARS Awards are for technology and features deployed in 2014. Votes are cast on AUTO Connected Car News on the web, people who use the technology will be the voters making the Tech CARS Awards the people’s choice of connected car tech awards.

The Nominees for Best Connected Car Tech of 2014 are:

Tech-CARS Award Category: Overall Best Implementation of Any New Car Tech to Make Lives Better or Easier

• GM and OnStar’s 4G LTE – GM and OnStar offered the first massive of deployment of 4G LTE in the world, we have hear that buyers solely bough a GM car for Wi-Fi hotspot features.
• Hyundai Smart Trunk – when your hands are full, stand by your trunk and it will open for you.
• Ford Active Park– found on the new Ford F-150 loaded with other smart tech, the Active Park, parallel parks the truck for you while you pump the brakes or gas.
• BMW i3/i8 Carbon Fiber Bodies –  to make the vehicles light and strong, the carbon fiber body is made by SGL Automotive in Moses Lake, WA (USA). Vote Now.

Tech-CARS Award Category: Best Implementation of Connected Car Tech with Smartphones

• Volkswagen Car-Net connects with drivers with health reports and reduces warranty costs.
• Nissan Connect – now deployed on most Nissan models this system allows for both Android and iPhone to connect to the vehicle’s infotainment system.
• justDrive Jaguar Land Rover– a free app that integrates many apps for voice control with the car currently only available for iPhone with Android coming later.
• GM OnStar RemoteLink this well rated app  in app stores allows car owners to remotely start their cars. It has been a godsend to those living in extreme weather climates.
• Ford SYNC AppLink Developer Apps – Ford has opened SYNC to smartphone AppLink apps to developers including app challenges for creating new apps that save gas and give discounts.

Best Electric Car Technology (Co-Sponsored by Electric Car Insider)

• BMW i3 for its carbon fiber body that reduced the weight by 1200 lbs.
• AWD Tesla S for Dual Motor All Wheel Drive making a fully powered vehicle for all road conditions.
• Nissan Leaf for providing public charging for two years for free.
• Fiat 500e for providing 36 days of free rental car vouchers per year.
• TransPower for reducing air pollution in the SoCal basin with a big rig truck that is powered by electricity only.

The Edsel Yugo* Award for Biggest Snafu in Connected Car Technology 2014

• Apple for Bluetooth Issues with iOS Updates 8-8.1 and iPhone 6/6+ – for wreaking havoc on on in car systems with Bluetooth issue causing a riot from car owners who were used to having their Bluetooth work properly. Fixes could take hours and may not work.
• GM Chevy App Shop Closed for Remodeling– announced at CES the App Shop never opened. First we were told that was delayed and then it was miss-reported that GM was looking at CarPlay and Android Auto to fill the void. This event had multiple Snafus.
• Takata Air Bags Recall – for making recalls in only some climates without any consideration for global warming and climate change.
• Hacksters Chris Valesek and Charlie Miller who find hacking cars to be fun, scarring people in dark mysterious videos. VOTE

Tech-CARS Award Category: Best ADAS Feature

• Hyundai Sonata – Hyundai is offering advanced ADAS features such as front collision warnings in a mid sized family sedan.
• Volvo City Safety – Volvo is dedicated to preventing all car accidents by 2020. Its auto braking feature will stop in several accident prone situations.
• GM Safety Alert Seat – when a driver is not paying attention, going out of the lane, etc, s/he gets a kick in the pants with a vibrating seat as a wake up call to action. Some people need a tap on the shoulder… or butt.
• Tesla S – comes standard with radar, forward camera, and 360-degree ultrasonic sensors hardware for a future ability for auto-pilot with a software upgrade. (Nomination was accepted because the hardware is already on the vehicles)

Category: Best CarPlay System Deployed in 2014

• Pioneer NEX Systems release in 2014 are upgradeable to CarPlay and new generations were announced in the fall.
• Ferrari FF – the only car that can driven off the lot with CarPlay in its dash.
• Alpine  iLX-007 – after Pioneer Alpine deployed the iLX-007, available through car installer.

Best OBDII Port Connected Car Device

• Mojio called sexy in the premier news release, mojio offers cellular data connectivity, discounts and open source to developers for new apps.
• Zubie – with funding by Nokia Growth Partners (NGP), Zubie is a major contender in this new space.
• Automatic – one of the first OBD port devices, it uses Bluetooth and is discounted on Amazon.
• Dash – is an open source Bluetooth connected OBDII device.

Best Distracted Driver Anti Texting Apps:

• OTTER App – OTTER silences text notifications when vehicles exceed 10 mph while sending automated replies. Phone ringtones are also silenced while driving unless Bluetooth is enabled.
• SafeCell 360 – enables teens and parents to block apps, text messages, emails and monitor them
• AT&T DriveMode –  a free app that helps drivers avoid distractions from incoming calls and text message alerts.  When this app is on, incoming alerts are silenced, text messages can’t be sent and incoming calls go directly to voicemail.

Best Car Tech Connected Car Trade Show Exhibition or Symposium

• CES International, Las Vegas Nevada.
• Connected Car Expo at the LA Auto Show.
• Telematics Detroit, Michigan.
• Telematics West Coast, San Diego, California.
• C3 Connected Car Conference at CE Week in New York, New York.

The public is invited to vote for their favorite winners at AUTO Connected Car News. Winners will be announced after voting has been tabulated and completed on January 15. If there is a tie in a category judges from the industry will help decide the winners. Winners will be notified via email if they subscribe to email when published AUTO Connected Car News-Letter. Otherwise winners can find out their status on AUTO Connected Car News.

*The award is named after the two biggest failures in automotive history the Edsel and Yugo.

Nominees were culled from the most responses on AUTO Connected Car News during 2014 and judges in the industry.