Turbo Zone

The prophecy that Apple will invade all aspects of our life seems to be getting truer than ever – the technology giant has officially unveiled their CarPlay system ahead of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

Described as a “smarter, safer and more fun way to use [the] iPhone in the car,” the CarPlay system will enable users to make calls, listen to music and access Maps via Siri or the car’s native interface. The system can also read messages aloud and allow the driver to dictate a response.

CarPlay will be available as an update to iOS 7 and will work with the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5.

The system will initially be supported by Ferrari, Mercedes and Volvo but will eventually gain support from BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota. Chrysler also issued a statement saying “Our companies are focused on iPhone and iPod compatibility testing with Chrysler Group’s current Uconnect Systems, and we continue to discuss and explore technologies that can further enhance the driving experience and keep drivers focused on the road.”

Clearly missing in the list is Volkswagen. We wonder – is the German carmaker a Microsoft or Android fan to disregard this feature?

According to Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS Product Marketing, Greg Joswiak, “CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car.” He went on to say “iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction. We have an amazing lineup of auto partners rolling out CarPlay, and we’re thrilled it will make its debut this week in Geneva.”

Whatever the case may be, we hope this technology reaches our shores too, and soon.

Digital rearview mirrors have largely been relegated to concepts and race cars like the Audi R18, but Nissan is looking to change that with their new “Smart rearview mirror.”

Set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show, the Smart rearview mirror is being billed as the “world’s first LCD monitor that not only provides clear rearward visibility under various conditions but also allows the driver the ability to switch between the LCD monitor and the traditional rearview mirror, depending on the driver’s preference.”

The system uses a high-resolution rearview camera and an LCD monitor that projects the image over the traditional rearview mirror. If the driver isn’t impressed with the techno-wizardry they can just flip a switch and convert back to the traditional setup. However, Nissan says the digital rearview mirror provides a wider and clearer view than the standard mirror. The company also says the digital mirror overcomes obstacles such as tall rear seat passengers and luggage.

According to Nissan Executive Vice President Andy Palmer, “[The] Smart rearview mirror will give our customers the best possible view no matter how tall the passengers in the back seat, or the road conditions. It also offers the possibility of new and exciting designs for our upcoming models because Smart rearview mirror is an alternative to a very wide rear window for good visibility. We’ll have the flexibility to create new shapes, and to further improve aerodynamics for better fuel efficiency.”

The Smart rearview mirror will become a dealer option in Japan this spring and Nissan will introduce it globally in 2015. With “new” Nissan Philippines starting operations today, we wonder if this will ever make it here.

Still reeling from the tragic bus accident in Bontoc that claimed more than 10 lives in February, another bus figured in a road mishap last Sunday.

A shuttle-bus fell off the elevated expressway’s southbound lane around 5:00 in the morning. Skyway O&M Corporation’s traffic management security chief Louie Maralit claimed that an SUV collided with the bus, causing the crash.

While there were no deaths reported, the bus driver and a passenger on the SUV were injured and taken to hospital.

It may seem insignificant compared to the Bontoc tragedy, but it still raises questions on when the spate of bus accidents — especially fatal ones — will end. The Skyway is no stranger to this, as just last December, a bus also fell from it, killing 19 individuals.

Officials said lack of engineering, enforcement and education are the main reasons behind the increasing number of deadly road accidents. In most cases, police blamed human error or mechanical defects as the reason behind the crashes. Complaints about reckless bus drivers weaving in and out of the monstrous traffic at top speed is common in the country where the drivers work on a commission basis.

Most of the bus drivers involved in the deadly accidents would say, “Di po namin kagustuhan,” and while this plea may not satisfy the relatives of those who died, there’s a ring of truth in their statement. The bus drivers are mandated to do one thing and one thing only: get as many passengers to ride on their buses so they can earn more. The hell with road safety and traffic rules.

Several proposals — and operative word, proposals — have been submitted to the government. However, in hindsight, perhaps the reason why this keep continuing is the lack of accountability among government regulatory bodies and bus companies.

If you think about it, how many owners — and not just bus drivers — have been put in jail because of major and fatal road accidents? What’s even scarier is — bus companies go scot-free as they can easily register for a new franchise with the same drivers and bus units.

This has been asked after every accident — how many more lives have to be lost before the government stops giving out these bus operators a license to operate, therefore, license to kill?

In your opinion, Kapuso, what should be done to stop these tragedy plying in our streets disguised as buses? (photo from GMA News TV)

Dream come true for car enthusiasts.

The team at NISMO wants you to mix their existing cars and generate weird new models. The ‘MASHUP’ campaign is available through the official Facebook page of the tuning studio and gives you the chance to see your ideas come to life digitally.

Designers and fans of the brand from around the world have already joined the funny promotion with hundreds of provocative projects. Finally the Japanese company’s artists will choose the best flashes and will recreate them into virtual NISMO vehicles.

We wonder — how about a NISMO GTR front-end mashed up with a Navara truck bed? This is a cool idea from Nissan to get their customers involved in designing the cars they want or like. Also makes the job of R&D easier in terms of coming up with new ideas. Only problem is, how NISMO and NISSAN can turn the mashed-up vehicles into real road-going vehicles.

For now, let’s just let our imagination run wild and enjoy what NISMO car we can create, virtually that is.

We can’t emphasize this enough: take care of your ride. It may be brand new now but if you don’t have it regularly cleaned and serviced, it will look, smell and run like a neglected public utility vehicle in less than a year. Here’s the continuation of the list of horrible things that will happen if you don’t take care of your car:

If you don’t service your brakes…you’ll hear a horrible screeching sound, then a tree will approach you much faster than you’d like, then you’ll make a horrible screeching sound, then a government employee will clean you up. You can take the cheap route with most things car related, but never skimp on your brakes. Get them serviced properly, and make sure there’s always plenty of pad on that rotor.

If you forget to test and replace your battery… all will be going great until you miss an interview for a six-figure-salary job because your car won’t start and your high school nemesis gets it in your stead. If your battery is getting close to being five years old, you need to swap it out. Once it’s about three years old you should test it every now and then.

If you don’t rotate, balance, align, and replace your tires… you’ll hear a horrible screeching sound, then a tree will approach you much faster than you’d like, then you’ll make a horrible screeching sound, then a government employee will clean you up. Tires are the single most important part of your car, since they are the only part of your car that acts upon the road. Buy good tires, and replace them when it’s time, not after it’s time.

If you never clean your headlights… you’ll be damn near blind when driving at night, fail to notice an otherwise obvious road hazard, and drive off a cliff into the Pacific ocean. There are a variety of cleaning products for headlamps on the market.

If you don’t refill your wiper fluid… you’ll get some nasty crap of some sort (grease/bugs/bird crap) on your window and you won’t be able to do anything other than smear it around, further impeding your view. As you focus more on the nasty crap and can see less of the road, you’ll run over some kid’s dog/cat/imaginary friend/grandmother. All this could have been prevented by simply pouring the contents of a cheap jug into a resevoir that’s clearly marked under your hood.

So there you have it. Can you think of any terrible repercussions for not maintaining your car properly? Share it with us.