Frankfurt Archives - 9to5Mac

Mercedes-Benz shows off “iPhone Interface Plus” concept, coming 2012

Jordan Kahn Sep 16 2011 - 10:09 am PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T67JQkf0OA&feature=player_embedded]

The concept video above shows off the Mercedes-Benz’ vision for the “future of multimedia online systems” using smartphones as a media hub, most of which seems to resemble the description of their newly announced “iPhone Interface Plus” concept.

Mercedes is showing off some pretty impressive iPhone integration at this year’s IAA Motor Show in Frankfurt. In what we assume is a major evolution of their Media Interface Plus accessory unveiled last year, the company is set to introduce an “iPhone Interface Plus” concept, available as a retrofit on every Mercedes Benz starting summer 2012.

Working together with a free app from the App Store, an iPhone will be concealed in the “glove compartment and fully integrated into the vehicle electronics”. You can then use hardware controls and the a larger display on the vehicle’s dashboard to control and view content with as little distraction as possible while driving.

The press release explains:

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Valeo’s Park4U remotely parks a Volkswagen with an iPhone

Jordan Kahn Sep 14 2011 - 2:14 pm PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeRUkNRyycA]

Looks like Bentley isn’t the only one unveiling some new Apple-related features at this year’s International Motor Show in Frankfurt. Auto-part and equipment supplier Valeo was showing off a variation of their Automatic Park4U system, this time remotely parking a Volkswagen using an iPhone.

Equipped with only the ability to brake and accelerate, CNET explains a “Valeo representative stood outside the car, a Volkswagen Sharan, and parked it merely by using an iPhone app.” We dug up the video above posted by Valeo that shows the iPhone app in action towards the end.

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iPhone 5s or fakes confiscated at German airport

Seth Weintraub Aug 13 2011 - 7:30 am PT

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Our German is more than a little rusty (and so is Google’s) but it appears that five devices that are suspected of being either iPhone 5s or knockoffs were confiscated at the Munster-Osnabruck airport on July 21st.

It still isn’t certain if they were real or fake but it is newsworthy that Germans are confiscating iPhones, real or fake, at the Airports since there are so many fake iPhones coming out of China, India and Sears these days. Maybe they were just Samsung Galaxies?

The men in possession of the devices were coming from Turkey.

It appears that the customs officials are working with Apple to determine the origin of the devices.

Benm.at has the story

Here’s another version of the story.

Update: Reader Till translated the important bits, below:

All the fanboys are currently waiting for the iPhone 5, which is expected to launch in fall. But there is – as always – a lot of mystery about it. So it’s even more spectacular that there might was an iPhone 5 between six Apple smartphones that were confiscated at the airport of Münster-Osnabrück. “It’s possible that one of the devices in an iPhone 5”, the customs spokeswoman confirms.All of it happened on July 21st, when two men that came back from Turkey were controlled. As benm.at claims, this was done because there was a knife in a bag seen thanks to the radiograph.

The customs officers weren’t sure if the smartphones were a rip-off, but a comparison with the so-called “E-Agent” made it seem possible. Of course, the appearance of an iPhone 5 was more spectacular. “We can neither confirm nor deny if it is a real device and consequently industry spying”.

Apple was informed about the found. “We are waiting for a response of the manufacturer that tells us what to do.” Photos of the found won’t be published until then. “It could be industry spying, so you have to handle such picture with special sensibility”, said the spokeswoman.

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