Automakers have become a major part of the International CES – the giant consumer electronics show held every January in Las Vegas. This year's show provided a lot for both gear- and tech-heads to love.
Motley Fool analysts Rex Moore and Austin Smith were in Vegas for the festivities. In this video, Austin shares the three most outstanding auto innovations from this year's show -- led by Google (GOOG 0.57%), BMW, and AT&T (T +0.00%).
A full transcript follows the video.
Rex Moore: You've looked around the floor. What are maybe the top three features that you've seen out here at CES?
Austin Smith: The three most impressive auto features that I've seen, Google's Automotive Alliance has to take the number one pole position here, connecting a lot of different manufacturers, a lot of people signing onboard, making things like autonomous driving much more plausible, once vehicles can communicate with each other on those common platforms, so definitely taking the pole position at number one there.
Number two, I've got BMW's self-driving cars. I know you took a test drive in one.
Moore: I drove it, baby!
Smith: Very, very cool stuff.
Moore: I was impressed, too. It handled well, a lot of pick-up. After test driving the Tesla (TSLA 5.46%) a few months ago I expected a little letdown, but no. I'm really impressed with that i3.
Smith: Very, very cool technology, and very cool interior. BMW looking around corners, definitely looking to the future, and even a little past it, with a car like that.
Then lastly, I'm going to talk about 4G connectivity. Really impressive, a lot of automakers pushing 4G -- GM (GM 3.28%), Audi, a lot of the manufacturers partnering with AT&T to offer 4G connectivity in cars -- really just making the car a much different experience for people than we've seen in the past.
You're sitting in the car and it's a relatively static experience -- maybe you're listening to the radio -- but when you have 4G connectivity, suddenly the world opens up to you. It can be a mobile office, a mobile school.
I can see anybody who is on the road for a large part of their job, that being an absolutely must-have. People like realtors or consultants come to mind as first-in-line buyers for that. This is virtually, in my mind, going to be essential tech for new cars, five years down the road.
Really good to see major manufacturers and major telecom companies getting onboard and making that partnership a reality.
Google, self-driving cars, 4G: Three things to love about autos, here at CES.
Moore: Thanks, Austin.
