Nvidia GPU powers Audis new Nav system

Audi's new Q5 sports navigation graphics empowered by chip maker Nvidia, along with a radically updated dashboard interface, which Audi calls the Multimedia Interface, or MMI. Integrated into the new navigation system is an automotive grade Nvidia graphics processing chip, allowing the Q5 to display 3D renderings of urban centers on its navigation system.
Along with outlined buildings, some landmark buildings in major urban areas will be rendered with textures, making them easier for drivers to recognize from screen to real world. Audi is also including 3D topographics maps, so you can get an idea of what the terrain ahead looks like. Traffic conditions will also be displayed on the navigation system. In the Q5, the maps are shown on a seven inch screen with LED backlighting.

Beyond the graphics upgrade, Audi is going to a hard drive-based navigation system, which allows more detailed maps and faster rendering over a DVD-based system. The car's 40 gigabyte hard drive will keep 10 gigabytes reserved for music, so CDs can be ripped to the car, a feature becoming increasingly common with a new generation of automotive infotainment packages.

Audi is also boasting new speech-to-text technology, which will not only let you enter addresses to the navigation system by saying full city and street names, but will also process the phonebook of a paired Bluetooth phone. With this system, you will be able to say the name of anyone in your phonebook, and have the car make the call. Audi has also upgraded the MMI hardware, adding a joystick onto the top of the console.

As if that wasn't enough, the vehicle's in-dash system will also boast support for external USB storage media, built-in Bluetooth, satellite radio, and even a SIM card slot that'll effectively turn it into a quad-band GSM cellphone much like Porsches current system in Europe.

Audi halts production in Hungary (Again)

"In line with the parent company, Audi Hungaria Motor Kft. will suspend operations for a week between February 23 and 28," spokesman Peter Lore said, citing "changed conditions on the market." He added however that no lay-offs were planned at the Hungarian plant, which employs 5,800 people.

Audi constructs the TT and TT Roadster sports cars and A3 convertibles in Hungary. It is also home for Audi's engine production line. Engines produced in Hungary are the 2.0T, 3.2 V6/VR6

Audi said in November it would halt car production for four weeks from mid-December and that engine production would also stop for two to four weeks, depending on the type of the engine.
The plant employs close to 6,000 people in Hungary, they also last year announced cuts in its temporary workforce in the country due to a decline in orders amid the global financial crisis.

Audi Declines by 9.3%

Audi, Volkswagen’s luxury brand, posted a 9.3 percent decline in December sales to 7,712 vehicles, burdened by a 23 percent drop in purchases of the Q7 SUV, the Ingolstadt, Germany-based unit said today. Sales for the year declined 6.1 percent to 93,506 cars and SUVs.

Porsche SE, which is taking control of Volkswagen, said U.S. sales dropped to 2,154 vehicles last month from 2,891 a year earlier. Full-year sales plunged 25 percent in the U.S., the maker of the 911 sports car said.

Source:Bloomberg