Infotainment, distraction headed toward collision

LAS VEGAS -- If automotive companies need another reminder of the complexity of connecting the Internet to the automobile, look no further than last week's International Consumer Electronics Show.

About 120,000 delegates showed up for the weeklong technology fest and -- in a moment of pure irony -- most of the 120,000 smart phones in attendance failed.

No e-mail. Poor signals. Dropped calls. The works.

"Consider the future demands of millions of cars out there, and to think that at the CES you've got slow data and transmission," said Micky Bly, executive director of global electrical systems, hybrids, EVs and batteries for General Motors Co. "Now that's pretty disappointing."

But the fragile infrastructure needed to deliver a potential blizzard of information to autos -- e-mail, stock quotes, maps, traffic alerts and much more -- is mainly a technical issue.

Much thornier is the looming showdown over distracted driving.

In one corner: public safety and the government.

In the other corner: social media, Internet radio and applications -- and all the automakers and suppliers eager to satisfy drivers' cravings for information.

In other words, what the aftermarket brings, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood threatens to take back.

"People are just hungry for communication and information," says Peter Steiner, Audi AG's head of infotainment, who helped lead the automaker's first significant appearance at the show this year.

Audi, for one, is trying to stay ahead of the game by investing heavily in global customer clinics to see what causes distraction, studying the brains of drivers to see what makes them take their minds off the road.

"Can we allow a certain device during driving? Can they handle a situation or not? We judge all of that," Steiner says.

Audi also is working with Google to develop Audi's own "app pool" of safe technology.

"We want to prevent the situation where the government needs to regulate us," Steiner says. "We want to keep it to ourselves."

Others are following suit. Mini, Mercedes, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and GM all used the show to display leading-edge features and devices, such as in-dash applications and high-powered computer chips. But at the same time, they all want to avoid distraction.

Some think regulation will force suppliers and automakers to work hand-in-hand to develop common user controls that might reduce distraction.

"Automakers are having to develop to the lowest common denominator, and they have done some painstaking things to prevent distractions," says Chris Cook, executive director of the Mobile Electronics Retailers Association. "But, in the end, the consumer will do whatever the consumer wants to do. It doesn't make sense to squelch innovation."

Chris Preuss, president of OnStar LLC, sums up the tension this way: "There will be big breakthroughs coming," but "there's also the big, red blinking light of Ray LaHood."

Leslie Allen contributed to this report