German automaker Audi arrived at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show with a plethora of high-tech toys and gizmos that’ll soon be available for sale. Yesterday, we covered Audi’s new improved MMI that will feature in the soon-to-be-launched 2016 Q7. Audi announced that the new system would also have support for smartphones and smartwatches to be used as a key fob along with additional functions. In fact, the German automaker showed off its own smartwatch that will let Audi owners communicate with their cars. No one expected Audi to reveal a wearable device at the show, but when Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, an Audi board member for technical development, announced the smartwatch, it received positive response.
Developed by LG, the Audi watch is still nameless and doesn’t run on Android Wear as it was speculated earlier. The smart wearable rather has a different software based on LG’s Open webOS. The watch was simply demonstrated as an unlocking device for the company’s A7-based “piloted driving” concept dubbed the Prologue. Audi said that the watch’s unlocking feature works via Near Field Communication (NFC) like many smartphones. But unfortunately that’s all we know about the Audi smartwatch as of now and expect Audi to divulge more information at the upcoming Detroit Motor Show.
[Via – Mashable]
