News Briefs

T he Mazda Motor Corp. has developed a concept car that would use a universal serial bus device, instead of a key, to start the vehicle and a USB port to program various automobile attributes. Mazda's Sassou uses a USB key stick that activates all interior systems when inserted into a USB port in the center console, a company spokesperson explained. Using the USB system, a joy-stick, and a display screen, the driver could operate all important functions. Drivers could also use the USB stick to download information, such as music files or maps, from a PC and then upload them to the car's hard drive or navigation system. Wireline USB is a high-speed, host-to-device, external, plug-and-play interconnect standard widely used with, for example, PC peripherals, handheld devices, and consumer electronics. The USB 2.0 specification supports data rates up to 480 Mbits per second. The Wireless USB Promoter Group has begun defining a specification with a bandwidth of up to 480 Mbps with a transmission range of 3 meters at peak speeds and 10 meters at lower rates. " Other automobile companies including GM and Ford, as well as many EU car companies, are using or evaluating using USB for consumer applications in the car, like audio, video distribution, and ignition. USB is easy to use, and the consumer already knows and understands how to work with it, " said Jeff Ravencraft, president and chair of the USB Implementers Forum. Mark Dixon Bünger, principal analyst with Forrester Research, a market analysis firm, said there are three major challenges to using consumer electronics and computer technology such as USB in cars: They may not be rugged enough to withstand the conditions in which a vehicle operates, they may add too much cost to an automobile, and they may become obsolete long before the car does. Sassou is a design concept that indicates a direction Mazda might take in lightweight vehicles for young, city-based, first-time car buyers, said corporate spokesperson Craig von Essen. The company presented the car at a Japanese trade show and plans to display another concept vehicle that uses USB at a show in the US in the near future. Because Sassou—a Japanese term for having a positive state of mind or looking ahead optimistically—is just a concept car, von Essen said, Mazda has not gone into technical detail on the USB system or other components. Volkswagen has announced …