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WASHINGTON (AFX) – Satellite radio company XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it will display a vehicle with a personal weather tracking system at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week.
The system tracks specific, real-time weather conditions between your current location and your final destination. Plus, it provides the near-term weather forecast for your personal path. Rather than simply give general weather conditions for a region, the system focuses on the weather on your individual route. The weather information is continuously updated and delivered to the navigation system via satellite.
The weather technology, which is expected to be introduced in summer 2007, is developed by XM and its weather solutions partner Baron Services. XM and Baron, through its division WxWorx (pronounced “weather works”), currently offer professional weather services for airplanes, boats, and emergency responders, which have set the standard for mobile weather solutions in these markets.
“XM is offering the first system that alerts consumers to real-time weather threats on the road ahead,” said XM Satellite Radio advanced applications vice president Rod Mackenzie, “You?‹?“re not just getting the temperature and the forecast for a city. You get the weather that will impact your specific journey, and this information is constantly being updated. It?‹?“s a major breakthrough in providing consumers with comprehensive, personalized weather information.”
This new, real-time weather service builds on the success of XM NavTraffic, the real-time traffic service introduced by XM in fall 2004. XM NavTraffic informs drivers of current traffic conditions, such as travel speeds on major roads, accident locations, and road closures, on a GPS navigation screen. XM NavTraffic is available in vehicles from Honda, GM, Toyota, and Nissan, as well as various retail aftermarket GPS navigation products.
Beyond the new weather technology, the XM “infotainment” vehicle on display at CES will feature a broad variety of information and entertainment that XM can deliver to the automobile, including concepts such as in-car video.
The XM vehicle will have in-car video systems developed by XM and On2 Technologies that can receive video and audio from XM. XM will demonstrate how video content can be sent to the vehicle by the same satellites and ground repeaters that XM uses to deliver satellite radio.
Other innovations inside the concept vehicle are voice recognition and parking locator technology. XM will show the latest software for voice- enabled XM radios developed by VoiceBox Technologies, which offers voice controls for the radio, as well as commands for weather, traffic, stock quotes, and sports scores. ParkingLink, a project of XM, Quixote Transportation Technologies, and Standard Parking Corporation, locates parking facilities on the vehicle?‹?“s navigation screen and tells the driver how many parking spaces are currently available.
The XM “infotainment” vehicle will be on display at the XM booth (CES Booth #4606) in the Las Vegas Convention Center?‹?“s North Hall.
