Many people may think that the conceptive models of new vehicles presented on automobile shows are fantastic and even Utopian, but the trend and the development rate of advanced technologies make us think that many of those models are quite possible to appear in motorcar showrooms soon.
   Modern motor vehicles are equipped with a number of informational or entertainment devices. It is difficult to imagine a new model of any manufacturer without a mobile phone, CD-payer, TV-set and GPS*, a satellite navigation system, but this is only the start of new approaches in the motorcar industry.
   To produce intellectual vehicles to suit the requirements of motorcar fans, vehicle manufacturers maintain close cooperation with well-known companies involved in electronics, informational technologies and communications. Not long ago Toyota and Sony announced the concept of their future joint car, the Toyota Pod. The system is equipped with a self-teaching function to memorize the habits of the car-owner. The Toyota Pod registers the TV and radio programs used by the car-owner as well as the music listened to by him and the Web-sites he views at home or working-place. The intellectual system will use this information to choose interesting TV programs, music or Web-site for him while he is driving.
   The Toyota Pod has navigational functions: it allows the owner to define the shortest route to the place of destination as well as to display, when needed, restaurants and petrol stations on the map. As soon as a driver says “I'm hungry”, the car chooses his favorite restaurant and, when the driver's confirmation is received, sends an order to reserve a table with an indication of the time necessary to reach the restaurant.
   Toyota is certainly no exception. Nissan Motor Co. is also seriously involved in equipping future cars with informational technologies. According to Nissan marketing specialists, mobile phones will become such an integral part of motorcar owners' life, that the company engineers foresee a mobile handset as an alternative to a car latch-key: the owner will just have to put a mobile handset in a special holder to start the engine. A built-in display will show the 3D graphic images of the objects located on the driver's route on both sides of the street, which he may find interesting. Once an object is selected the driver can get the required details. However, the operation of a system based on such a concept will certainly need the existence of a corresponding city infrastructure.
   Motorcar manufacturers are not the only business people trying to attract motorcar fans by using technological novelties. Finnish company Nokian Tyres intends to use the new systems of communication to advertise its tyres. The company cooperates with Road Snopp Safety System, which has developed an equipment providing the driver with information on tyre status by means of Bluetooth**, a wireless data transfer protocol. The Road Snoop system consists of a special sensor, installed inside the tyre, not upsetting its balance and fed by a special battery with a 5-year service life.
   Of no less interest are the latest achievements of well-known German company BMW  from the point of view of equipping motorcars with informational technologies. iDrive, a completely unique piece of equipment, appeared in the seventh series of BMW cars. It is a velvet aluminum switch, placed between the front sits in the cabin. iDrive resembles a computer mouse, allowing the driver to move within 8 main items of the menu, fixing the chosen function by pressing the instrument. The instrument developed by San Jose's Immersion allows to move within 700 different functions, ranging from the advanced means of communication to climate-control in the cabin.
   One more point of interest: BMW engineers pay special attention to the implementation of new technologies. The Entertainment and Communications are separate sub-menus within the 8 main items of iDrive menu. The Entertainment menu makes it possible to switch on the radio, CD, MD and TV-set, while the Communications menu enables one to look into the phone-book, move to the 8 most frequently used numbers and view the numbers dialed last. Calling is possible both by hand-dialing and by voice command, which is certainly more comfortable while driving.
   BMW allows one to contact BMW Service, BMW Info and Inquiry Plus from a car as well as to receive information on traffic status on highways using Traffic Info. The vehicle has a built-in GPRS module and, if an operator makes such a system available (MagtiCom is the only company in Georgia having put the GPRS in operation), there is the possibility of using advanced technology to effect a high-speed data transfer.
   The management of the Company is optimistic about the future of the new system, because iDrive has combined a lot of switches or keys used in previous models, which drivers sometimes found confusing. One more important thing is that the new instrument will allow drivers to be more focused on driving, because they will have to deal with only one piece of equipment, thus decreasing the level of visual distraction. “I believe the iDrive is a bigger step forward than we can imagine,” mentioned the Chairman of the US BMW Board of Directors at the presentation of the system.
   In developing iDrive, BMW used the informational technologies of another German company Siemens VDO Automative AG, based on American corporation Microsoft's operational system Windows® CE. The high-speed data exchange between the equipment installed in the vehicle is provided by optical-fiber cable.
   BMW strategy with respect to the implementation of new technologies will become more apparent in the future. BMW Car IT, a new unit of the Company, started its operation in January 2002. This unit will be directly involved in the implementation of IT for vehicles. The Company is a member of the BMW group, and the concept of its operation has been worked out with the help of the Institute of Informational Sciences of Munich Technical University. In order to perfect the advanced systems and make them more interesting for wider segments of users, BMW Car IT departments have been established in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley (USA) and in Japan.
   BMW certainly does not intend to be satisfied by its achievements. The Company plans to start remote diagnostics of vehicles of its own production. GSM technology and the Internet will allow the damaged parts of a vehicle to be identified and spare parts ordered before the vehicle is brought to a technical maintenance station. One more novelty under development is the update of vehicle software, which will eliminate the necessity of visiting a technical maintenance station.

*GPS - Global Positioning System - is a system of defining location by means of a satellite. The system was initially developed for the US military, only later becoming widely used for civil purposes. The equipment gets information about its locality from a satellite. The information includes longitude, latitude and altitude (calculated to within several meters).