14 DAY TRIAL // Audi, the famous German car manufacturer, introduces its first mobile phone, to come with the future release of the A1 Metroproject Quattro Concept car. With a sort of a hybrid look between Apple's iPhone and Nokia's N95, the Audi phone has a touchscreen and only tree buttons, for menu, call and end-call. The device is Wi-Fi and 3G UMTS enabled and provides GPS navigation features, MP3 player and video player. Audi seems to have thought about all the things a good phone needs and much more, as the mobile device is packed with tons of extra features. Or maybe we shouldn't call them "extra" since it's a car phone... Nope, we shouldn't.
So, besides being a mobile phone, the new Audi handset is a remote controller for the A1 car. You can control almost anything, you can start and stop the car, manage the heating system or view snapshot pictures from the car's on-board camera. The last feature is an anti-theft one: the on-board camera snaps images when an intruder is suspected and instantly sends the images to the mobile device. Moreover, the phone can act as a tracking device in case someone actually manages to steal the car and leave with it.
It's not the first time when a car comes with a mobile phone by default, we have the Renault Twingo Nokia example. But the Twingo comes with the Nokia 6110 handset and not with an original phone. Audi wants to be original and mobile phone enthusiasts can only be thrilled about it.
The Audi A1 car, for which the Audi phone was created, is a completely electrical-powered vehicle and will be first presented at the Tokyo Motor Show that takes place between October 27th and November 11th 2007. Coming to replace the discontinued A2 model, the Audi A1 will be available for the market starting 2009.