(NECN/WDIV: Rod Meloni) - Many have heard the terms convergence and telematics... It's all about taking your personal electronics and marrying them with your car.
There's an avalanche of ideas coming in this area.
Yes, there are concerns in car electronics that they're getting too plentiful, but here's an idea whose time has clearly come: an iPad app to control your seat.
Now, say you want to lean back and raise the headrest at the same time. Just a couple of fingertip commands on your iPad and you're relaxing.
Tom Gould is Johnson Controls' industrial design director.
"Everyone has their mobile devices they're bringing into the vehicle, so to be able to provide an app that speaks through Bluetooth to the seat allows us to add a level of functionality that's very visual and gets the functionality directly to the seat," Gould says.
This works in the front or the back depending on your need. Say you want to use the leg rests. Well, there's an app for that.
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Need to charge your iPhone? You can, wirelessly.
Like your pop cold on a hot day? The cooling cup holder is just a swipe away. It also works at keeping your coffee hot too.
And if your lower back could use a message, an undulating lumbar support comes with the package.
Now all of this technology is portable. It can work built into the car or download to your iPad.
But you can't mess with your neighbor's car seats from say, your living room. This is all Bluetooth security protected.
“It's an exciting time to be a part of the car business. There's a lot of things that are coming at us from a lot of directions that are helping change our business but that's one of the things that's going to pay off for the consumer in the end."
