2012 Ford Transit Connect

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It chalks up a few civilian sales a year, but the Ford Transit Connect van is primarily aimed at small businesses that put its very tall cargo area and somewhat rudimentary cabin to good use.

With just a few running changes this year, the Turkish-built Transit Connect still looks every bit like the very slightly modified commercial vehicle that's been sold in Europe for a few years. It's a utility vehicle in the most utilitarian sense, and its styling is limited to honing down some of the harder corners and dressing up the functional cabin in the barest amount of material possible. It's a smaller version but for sure, the Transit Connect has a lot more in common with the big commercial vans still offered by Ford, than it does with any of their luxurious crossovers.

The Transit Connect isn't a V-8-powered big boy like those Econolines. It's based off compact-car running gear, and sports a single drivetrain offering--a 136-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, teamed to a four-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels. It's just adequate for the urban duty cycle, and slow to accelerate up to highway speed, though passing is a little more secure and confident. The TC's fuel economy is 21/27 mpg, a vast improvement over the numbers you'd earn in a full-size van. A battery-powered Transit Connect electric van is being prepared for the 2012 model year, but we haven't had a chance to drive it yet.

The tall TC scores points with us for its maneuverability on city streets. The turning circle is tight, and the wheels are pushed out to the corners, giving it the squeeze-through ability that's absolutely necessary for its Euro duties. In anything more challenging, the Transit Connect's mass and height makes themselves known, as it rolls and leans into corners and runs out of suspension travel.

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Audi picks T-Mobile for Connect infotainment

Tuesday, Mar 22nd, 2011 @ 9:07 a.m.

Audi’s upcoming Audi Connect infotainment system will rely on service from T-Mobile, the German-owned telecom giant that could soon be swallowed by AT&T.

Set to be first offered in the Audi A7 that launches next month, Audi Connect will offer voice-activated access to Google Earth, Google Local Search and Sirius Traffic information paired to Google Earth’s imagery.

Audi Connect will also give drivers real-time access to news, weather and fuel prices, as well as the ability to become a mobile WiFi hotspot for Internet access on laptops and mobile phones.

The system will use a T-Mobile SIM card inserted into the Audi MMI Navigation Plus system. Buyers of so-equipped Audis will automatically receive the T-Mobile SIM cards at the time of purchase. A six-month activation will be included, but buyers will be on their own after the complimentary trial period is up.

Audi and T-Mobile have not announced whether the system will be transitioned to AT&T operation should the U.S.-based firm acquire the U.S. operations of its German-owned T-Mobile rival.

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T-Mobile Announced As Data Provider For U.S. Audi Connect Services

Source: AllCarTech.com

Luxury brand announces its technological sophistication by partnering with AT&T's now-downwardly-mobile 'cheap brand.'

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For those of us who have already been reading seemingly endless reports and speculation about the proposed merging of operations of two major U.S. cellular providers, it was hard not to see Audi's apparently-only-ill-timed release as that.

Audi gave the official nod to T-Mobile as its official U.S. service provider for its Audi Connect navigation and infotainment system—the day after it was announced that cellular provider AT&T had offered to buy T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion.

The automaker says that it chose T-Mobile for its reliable network, leadership in telematics, and strong record for customer satisfaction. Of course, that latter assurance now...well...needs some new assurance.

Last month, Audi revealed that the Internet connection the A8 gets uses that new LTE data connectivity standard, which allows higher data-transfer speeds of up to 100 Mbits per second—more than six times faster than standard 3G. The speed could in theory be used to stream video to the vehicle.

While most analysis so far has concluded that the deal can only be a bad thing for consumers, the AT&T-and-T-Mobile deal might actually be a good thing for high-speed data applications like this—if early speculation proves correct. As mentioned by the Dallas Morning News, AT&T plans to repurpose all of T-Mobile's existing 3G frequencies for 4G LTE—which could give AT&T subscribers a big boost in data speed and reliability, to the disappointment of T-Mobile customers who recently purchased smartphones. But with SIM cards that could easily be swapped out for AT&T, that could be a good deal in the end for Audi.

With Audi Connect's roll-out, on the all-new 2012 Audi A7, the system will include Google Earth, Google Local Search, and Sirius Traffic Information with Google Earth imagery. Users can get real-time news, weather, and fuel prices in addition to the traffic info, and the system can be turned into a Wi-Fi hotspot.

The system uses a 'ruggedized,' enhanced SIM card that inserts into the MMI Navigation Plus system. SIM cards come with the vehicle and they can easily be activated at any time during or after a six-month free trial.

Audi Connect will be available in the 2012 A7 this year, along with the 2012 Audi A8 this summer, as well as the 2012 Audi A6 and Q7 models. The upcoming Q5 Hybrid and other future models will also have Audi Connect, says the brand.

The press release from Audi, released more than a day after the communications-company news broke, didn't acknowledge the deal.

[Audi]

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