Plug and Play: VW Details New Lineup-Wide Modular Infotainment System

VW's current system (above) can now be considered old and busted—MIB is the new hotness Volkswagen's upcoming MQB vehicle architecture is going to underpin every new VW car—excluding the upcoming Phaeton, but including more than a few Audis—that arrives from this point forward. It's a component set of engines, suspension pieces, and transmissions, sure, but its adoption also will mark the debut of many other modular bits, including an infotainment system dubbed Modular Infotainment System, or MIB. (No Will Smith jokes, please.) The MIB setup—the name comes from from the German Modularen Infotainmentbaukasten—is basically a platform for in-car electronics, and it will be based on common, hidden hardware used across many vehicles. Hiding electronic hardware isn't new, of course, but using the same basic stuff in everything from budget boxes to expensive sleds is more novel, and it will allow for technologies currently found in higher-priced rides to trickle down to more lowly models. Even entry-level cars such as the Golf will have the option of an eight-inch touch screen, high-res 3D navigation maps, and free map updates. In Volkswagens, MIB will be based entirely around capacitive touch screens; as one example, this will allow VW to adopt Audi's navigation input system, whereby you write letters with your finger. As you may have surmised, VW's version of the technology will use the capacitive screen rather than a touch pad, as currently found in the Audi A6, A7, and A8. (Audi will stick with its button, knob, and touch pad MMI setup in the future; its version of MIB was previewed in the next-gen Audi A3 interior shown at last month's Consumer Electronics Show.) Volkswagen's MIB rollout starts with the seventh-generation Golf, which goes on sale in Europe this year. Another trick feature will be a sensor that knows when a hand is near the touch screen. This allows, for example, the navigation map to be completely free of options (e.g. zoom, orientation, and drop-down destination functions) most of the time, but when a driver wants to interact with the map, he needs only to reach for the screen and the functions will appear. And, taking a page from the Apple, scrolling between music tracks will be done with swipes of your finger, not tapping an arrow. The basic setup will involve a five-inch capacitive touch screen. To go bigger—5.8- and 8.0-inch screens also will be available—individuals will have to opt for more features, and, in the U.S., such MIB options likely will be bundled in a more expensive package. Wireless tethering via your phone will be available, and the systems also will feature the expected Bluetooth, SD, and USB connectivity. We're excited by the tech, but what we actually like most are the cost savings VW will reap from the system's commonality. With similar hardware found in all models, the individual unit cost will be relatively small. This will in turn free up cash for, say, additional chassis development, or perhaps better interior plastics for our American non-GLI Jetta. VW's plans for world domination may have just taken another step forward. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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