Video: First look at VW's Golf R Touch multi-touch smartcar at CES 2015

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Las Vegas - Volkswagen is a first time exhibitor here at the International Consumer Elexctronics show and they certainly made a huge splash during their first keynote. The automotive giant talked about their eGolf electric vehicle as well as various technologies that are coming to their line of cars. The kicker was showing off a smart concept of their Golf R sports hatchback.

Named a Golf R Touch, the car has all the specs and performance expected of a modern day GTI but also features a wide range of multi-touch, haptic, and even motion control features a la Microsoft's Kinect. I was one of the first journalists who was able to get in the backseat and record a working demo of the car's interior, navigation, and even gesture based mood-lighting features. The Golf R Touch also features integration with Android devices as well as Apple's CarPlay for a truly cross platform solution coming to market this year. Aside from this, parking assist is onboard and the Golf R Touch will be able to talk to smartphones, tablets and even smartwatches easily. This migh just be the "People's Tesla."

YouTube to add support for 360-degree video uploads

It shouldn’t be too far off before you can record those 360-degree videos and put them up on YouTube. The video streaming service confirmed they are working on ways to support this format. Cameras like the Ricoh Theta, Kodak SP360, and Bulbcam are a few of the devices that can record these fully immersive videos. YouTube is looking to take the results from these different cameras and make them work. They haven’t given too many details yet but it’s good to know that this is in the pipeline as well.

Source: Gizmodo

CES 2015: Lenovo introduces wearable with E Ink display

We were expecting more and more wearable devices to make their debut at CES. Throwing their hat into the ring once again, Lenovo just introduced the VIBE Band with E Ink display. This new wearable promises a seven-day battery life. It can display notifications for calls, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, and more but it can show you no more than 150 characters. It also works as a fitness band but it’ll just track the basics like steps and sleep. The VIBE Band will run with both iOS and Android devices running 4.3 and above out of the box. It’ll cost US$89, which is a pretty competitive price. No word yet on availability though.

Source: The Next Web

CES 2015: Volkswagen to support both Android Auto and CarPlay

Volkswagen is getting in on the connected car game by using both Google's and Apple's platforms. Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto will both be available later this year. These platforms will work on their MIB II dash electronics, which was launched in some countries last year and will come to the US and Europe later this year. There isn't a specific date for the launch yet but the dashboard will also support MirrorLink, a technology supported by Sony.

Source: Volkswagen | Via: The Verge