The concept, exciting as it may be (especially because it is the first such vehicle from Saab in a long time), packs another feature, revolutionary as the auto maker promises. Called IQon, the feature is no more, no less than a communications platform for future Saab vehicles, a first for the auto maker and an advancement in the industry as a whole.
Powered by the Android operating system, the IQon comes as an embedded computer platform in the car. Equipped with a modem, the computer connects to the Internet as soon as the ignition is switched on. Whatever the driver wants to use the system for is being rendered on an 8-inch touchscreen.
Nothing extraordinary until now, you might say. No, not really. But, unlike most of the other infotainment systems currently on the market, the IQon can be further refined by third party developers.
Saab intends to provide programmers with a vehicle application programming interface (API), which can be used to make the system even more complex. For instance, the over 500 sensors embedded into the Saab PhoeniX can determine anything and everything from the vehicle speed, location and direction of travel to barometric pressure and the sun’s position.
Even if the first presentation of the technology took place this week, and even if the details are so far quite scarce, Saab says that a beta version of the system is already being tested in a fleet of test cars.
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