Take a close look at the photo above. You're looking at Audi's next generation MMI system being demoed during this morning's keynote at CES. The circuit board to the left is packing NVIDIA's Tegra chipset – the same processor powering a range of tablets and netbooks – and to the right is Audi's new scroll wheel, which has grown considerably. The reason for the added girth? Audi is incorporating the much-lauded MMI Touch interface directly into the scroll wheel. MMI Touch – which originally debuted on the A8 and is making its way to the A7 and all-new A6 – will continue to move down through the ranks of Audi's line-up and will debut on the next generation A3, likely to arrive within the next two years.

The revised MMI Touch will continue to include handwriting recognition, but will also handle scrolling and possibly gestures for panning, zooming and other functions. If you've used an iPhone, iPad or MacBook touchpad, you'll be right at home.

We also got a sneak preview of the Tegra's performance as it seamlessly rendered Google Earth, a new circular navigation menu and full 3D graphics. Audi claims to have over 100 engineers and user interface experts working on its infotainment software, and from what we've seen today, we believe them.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/06/c...o-new-audi-a3/

After spending some time with the Audi MMI and the new touch system in the A8, I must say I think that this WILL BE the infotainment system to beat in terms of ergonomics and ease of use, esp with the ingenious integrated touch pad with pinch to zoom etc.

 

I think buyers will be very divided on this. A lot of people love touch interfaces with pinch and zoom features, but also a lot of older buyers do not like modern touch interfaces. I personally know a lot of people that find smartphones with touchscreens/touchpads unnecessarily complex, and these same people would likely frown upon this Audi system. Unless Audi supplements the system with first-rate voice recognition and/or redundant buttons, they will get a mixed market reaction for this system.

The problem with touchscreens/touchpads is you get no physical feedback when utilizing them. You are forced to look at the touch area or the screen itself in order to know what you're doing.

 

good to see the improvement! and the touch pad directly on the ****, that's great idea