Digital Phablet

Tag: in-car

  • BMW Owners Furious Over ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ In-Car Ad

    BMW Owners Furious Over ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ In-Car Ad

    It looks like even your vehicle needs an ad blocker now! Recently, angry BMW owners took to social media to share videos claiming they received a pop-up ad for Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on their in-car screens.

    BMW clarified that the animation does not autoplay. Owners were taken aback by this news, considering BMW is renowned for its luxury vehicles, which can cost from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The backlash intensified as owners accused the German automaker of using their personal cars as marketing platforms.

    BMW owners outraged over in-car ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ ad

    A tweet reported, “BREAKING: BMW remotely pushed a Spider-Man movie ad onto customer vehicle dashboards, sparking outrage over unsolicited in-car advertising.” [Link to tweet]

    One owner posted on the German automaker’s subreddit, sharing a video of the Spider-Man ad and commenting, “Received this commercial in my car today as part of the Spider-Man – Brand New Day campaign.”

    Responses flooded in, with one user saying, “Spending $50,000–$100,000 on a car and still getting ads… guess we need adblockers for cars now?” Another joked, “Wait until the new U2 album OTA update arrives!”

    This development came despite BMW’s assurances that their in-car screens would not be used for advertising. According to The New York Post, owners encountered a banner every time the vehicle was started. Clicking on the banner led to a 19-second, full-screen ad featuring dynamic lighting, animation, and music, suggesting this was more than just a minor experiment by the automaker. The ad, which launched on July 27, is scheduled to run until August 10 in BMW models produced after July 2020.

  • Google’s New Agent To Power Mercedes’ Next Car AI Assistant

    Google’s New Agent To Power Mercedes’ Next Car AI Assistant

    The Mercedes MBUX
    Mercedes-Benz

    On Monday, Google Cloud unveiled its latest Automotive AI Agent, designating the Mercedes-Benz CLA as the pioneer model to be equipped with this technology later this year. This new Agent will enhance the functionalities of Mercedes’ MBUX Virtual Assistant, allowing for a broader range of conversational interactions with passengers.

    Last year at CES 2024, we were introduced to the next-generation assistant from Mercedes, although details about the underlying large language model were not disclosed at that time. This upcoming assistant offers more advanced capabilities compared to the existing MBUX system, which can currently manage around two dozen commands and gather information via sources such as ChatGPT and Bing. Presently, the MBUX is triggered with the phrase “Hey, Mercedes,” but it operates more like Siri or Google Assistant rather than ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode, delivering static responses rather than engaging in two-way conversation.

    The new Google Agent is powered by the Gemini large language model and utilizes Vertex AI, specifically designed to enable automakers in creating highly personalized and intuitive in-car assistants that transcend the limits of conventional vehicle voice commands. Notably, the Agent supports multimodal and multilingual input and can answer follow-up questions. For instance, it can inform drivers about nearby Italian restaurants, provide reviews of those establishments, and even highlight the most popular dishes available. Its robust design facilitates multi-turn dialogues, allowing it to recall details from previous interactions.

    Moreover, the enhanced MBUX assistant will source real-time information from Google Maps, delivering “fresh and factual data” about over 250 million points of interest worldwide, as well as current traffic conditions. “At Mercedes-Benz, we aim to deliver an outstanding digital experience to our customers,” stated Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, in a press release. “Our collaboration with Google Cloud will significantly enhance in-car navigation by merging sophisticated location data with generative AI.”

    In the future, Mercedes plans to expand the rollout of the new MBUX assistant to other models, although they have yet to announce specific vehicles that will receive this upgrade.